Three firsts! Honeoye Lake, NY, 10 Jan 2010

[BlueDaksi]

My son and I finally got our ice fishing gear put together and went out for a couple of hours late this afternoon to do some jigging on Honeoye Lake.  This catch represents three firsts for me. It was the first fish that I've ever caught through a hole in the ice, it is the first fish that I've ever caught in the month of January, and it is the first fish for me this year. I'm even happier that it was a bass!   There was 6" of ice with a cover of about 5" of snow.  We were using Jigging Raps tipped with fathead minnow heads.

[Woody]

Well done, you've just got to go out every other month of the year now and get more 1st's!

[CoolWater]

Nicely done!  Very nice fish for the "firsts".  Keep the reports of your ice fishing adventures coming!

[cbiegel]

I’m planning on going ice fishing for the first time this year as well.  I hope I do as well as you!

[araret]

nice bass!

I've already planned my 1st ice fishing trip ever in February. Hopefully I'll catch a few through the ice too.

[BlueDaksi]

Thanks and good luck out on the ice everybody.  One thing I discovered for myself about jigging on the ice is that it forces you to really focus on what you are doing.  I think that it will also make me a better angler after ice out because I will hopefully develop some "muscle memory" with respect to slowing down and having better bait presentation and detecting bites.  Afterall, there's really no other information coming into your senses other than what you feel through the rod - no waves, no boat movement, no reeling, no structure, no cover.  It's just a small hole in the ice...