First Ice Trip of 25/26, Rock Lake

 

 4:00-8:00PM Rock Lake 17' of water

12-25℉, Cloudy, 3-9mph NW

I wanted to be out of the house by 2pm, but I couldn't find some things, so I didn't leave until 2:35. I went to Bear Trax and got minnows. There were two trucks at the Rock Access. Then, when I got to the lake and had the car almost unloaded, I remembered I hadn't grabbed the Ion batteries. I thought about using the spud to make my holes, but no. So I drove back home. I stopped along the Rock Access Rd to talk to a couple of ladies with kids. Turns out it was one of J&D's cashiers from a couple of years ago. There was a big flock of turkeys I had to stop for both ways. So I didn't get back to the lake until 3:15 or so. The ice checked out. I drilled 3 sets of 3 holes in 17' of water. I didn't mark anything until the 3rd set. A guy came out in Fish Trap and set up to my NW. He stayed late and only drilled a few times. I wonder if he had ffs. I should have gone over and talked with him. I lost one small crappie at the hole, but wasn't marking much. I drilled 3 more sets of 3. I didn't mark anything in them, so I headed back to one set where I did mark fish and spent the rest of the night there. I got a few crappies and lost at least 2/3rds of my bites, even on the bobber rod. It was slow with fish down there occasionally. They seemed skittish for the most part. There may have been some sunfish and perch down there as well after dark. There were also a couple of bigger red marks that I didn't get to bite. I stayed way longer than I should have. Lots of Russian Gremlins, and I was stressed out because of it, and not in a flow. I would say I fished at level 3 out of 10, so not good. I was the last one off the lake. The other guy left at 7pm when I should have.

9 Crips