Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 12:17 pm Post subject: Lake Basile 01/26
I fished Lake Basile with DirtyDawg10 (aka Derek), NWDarkcloud (aka Bob) and JJay (aka Jason) on Saturday. We were on the ice from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm, and were the only ones out there all day, other than a man who stepped onto the ice with two young boys for only five minutes. Derek and I set seven tip-ups with small shiners near the bottom on the south end of the lake before Bob and Jason showed up. We found five to six inches of black ice with two to four inches of crap ice everywhere:
My Jeep said that it was eight degrees when we arrived and the air temperature probably never got over 20 degrees while we were on the ice. Yeap, it was cold out there. At one point, the chain on Derek's Kodiak jig froze solid:
However, it was sunny and the north wind barely blew until it gradually rose up to maybe five miles per hour around noon. I never felt cold all day. In fact, I really only felt the cold at all when I exposed my ears and my fingers, and they quickly warmed when I covered them back up, again. Warm clothing makes for a really nice day out on the ice!
Jason had never been ice fishing, before, and Bob hadn't used a hand auger in a long, long time, so it was fun watching them s-l-o-w-l-y and awkwardly drill holes with my eight inch Nils hand auger. Derek and I moved around a lot more than Jason and Bob, so we used Derek's smaller six inch Strikemaster Lazer hand auger, which quickly and easily drilled holes with only 12 to 14 cranks! Derek iced the first fish, a sunny, while jigging in the relatively deeper six foot deep water toward the center of the lake with his waxie tipped Kodiak jig. Bob iced a sunny and a largemouth bass, also while jigging near the center of the lake, but with a waxie tipped perch eye jig:
I think he was actually smiling under there! Jason and I got skunked while jigging. He jigged a waxie tipped perch eye, while I jigged a waxie tipped micro jig, an unbaited Perch Rapala Jigging Rap, the Jigging Rap baited with a waxie, and a fluorescent green and yellow Hali jig baited with a waxie.
We got four flags. When I got the first one, the shiner was gone. It had been lip hooked with a treble hook. When I checked the rest of the tip-ups, another shiner that had been hooked the same way had been stolen from one of them. I replaced both missing shiners with shiners that were dorsal hooked with the treble hooks. When I got the second flag, the shiner was gone. It had been lip hooked and dorsal hooked with treble hooks. Derek iced the first tip-up fish, a largemouth bass, when he noticed that one of the tip-ups was moving, even though the flag hadn't flown:
The fish had wrapped the line around the tip-up's spool, which kept the flag from flying. Of course, that shiner had been lip hooked with a single long shank hook. Derek also got the third flag and iced another largemouth bass:
The fourth flag flew when I walked over to check the tip-up and stopped one foot away from it. The flag almost hit me in the face , but I finally iced a largemouth bass. I think that I must have spooked the fish when I walked up to the tip-up. The shiner was in its belly and the big treble hook was in its mouth. Our catch rate on our tip-ups was only three iced out of six hits. The biggest of our four largemouth bass was the first one that Derek had iced, and it was only 12 to 13 inches long.
I got skunked while jigging at Lake Basile. I didn't get even a nibble. I couldn't handle the shame , so I stopped by the upper pond at Nod Brook WMA after lunch to find and jig an old open hole. By that time, the sun was dropping quickly and the north wind had risen to 10+ miles per hour. It was blowing the crystalline snow like sand over the ice. One of the three groups I saw was leaving as I walked out onto the ice. They said they had caught only a few black crappie. As I passed another group, a flag flew and they iced what looked like a nice 2-1/2 to three pound largemouth bass. But they reported a slow day, too, with only a couple of largemouth bass. I found an open hole near the duck blind on the south end of the pond in 15 feet of water. I had a really good hit on my first drop to the bottom with my waxie tipped Hali jig. I had a dozen waxies stolen by what I knew had to be a sunny before I finally set the hook on it :
I had been feeding it waxies for 45 minutes , but I got it and could finally head home. Phew! _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Well Peco listed the fine points so ill just add my little bit to the tale. Jason and I had planned a trip to Cabelas for some rain gear shopping latter in the day but some time out on the ice sounded lie a good way to pass the morning so with a couple cups of hot coffee to keep us warm we headed out for a walk, short way down the trail we got our first look at the ice.
closer look we saw a couple ice miners digging for fish
sure enough it was Peco (Phil) and Dirty Dawg (Derek) baiting up tips. We where lucky they had couple of extra jig rods for us to use so we decided to drill some holes for ourselfs.While Phil gave Jason a lesson in the use of a Ice drill....
Derek set me up with is lucky jig rod
Jason setteled in while I looked for just the right spot to drill.
Its been a while sence I drilled for fish so it took me a time to get back into the swing of it again but even though I think Phils drill needs to have its blades ajusted a little because you needed to lean into it a bit to get it to dig-in ,but we got holes fast enough once we got use to it .
A couple fish a few bites and a several hours later it was off to Plan B for lunch and laughs . The menu included some yummy snacks like jalapeno poppers, steaks and some real tasty burgers . Even though I dont drink anymore there drink list has a rather large selection of ales, beer and bourbons. The guys enjoyed some of the local mixes Hot Toddy, pearl necklace and a spiced wiskey (that smelled awesome) to name a few.
It was a great way to spend a cold winter day . We never did mange a ride out to cabela but a quick trip to dicks sporting goods did the trick......thanks for a great time guyz
P.S.
As for the frost bite everyone in the group knew how to dress for the cold except for a little wind burn on Jasons cheeks I dont think I herd of any problems with the cold weather. _________________ I Love to fish......Not a big fan of sitting in the boat alone ....the Conversation and the company make it perfect
Sounded like alot of fun!! I've had largemouth bass run really fast with the minnow then stop so the spool backspins and tangles the line on the spool which cause tension. When the bass feel the tension they drop the minnow/ spit the hook but leaving a very angry person above the ice. _________________ YouTube Channel: NorthEastFisherman
Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 7:51 pm Post subject:
It was a great day on the ice even though the fishing was a bit slow. We had a lot of laughs which made it worth while. The first bass I picked up off the tip up was around 13" to 14" and was the biggest of the day. I wasn't expecting a huge bass but was hoping the quantity would be better as it usually is at Basile. I did get a bit of windburn/sunburn on my face as well but it was fine when I woke up this morning. I think the "Cold Night in the City" from Plan B helped warm me up enough to get rid of the windburn. It was a nice bourbon infused with mulling spices. Now I need some open water!!
First time out ice fishing and it was a blast! I learned alot from NWDarkcloud (aka Bob), PECo (aka Phil), and DirtyDawg10 (aka Derek). From operating an ice auger to setting up tip ups and all the tips and advices in between from fishing an ice hole to what to do in emergency situations. The :whale call" sounds the ice makes is stil a bit nerving but i felt alot safer with these guys around.
Joined: 01 Mar 2011 Posts: 65 Location: West Hartford, CT
Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:59 pm Post subject:
Great job out there guys. Nothing like a nice Bourbon to warm you right back up. Still don't know if I'm going to try any of the ice fishing this winter. I usually stick to skiing to get my outdoors fix. Anything to get outside this time of year is always good
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Derek and I moved around a lot more than Jason and Bob, so we used Derek's smaller six inch Strikemaster Lazer hand auger, which quickly and easily drilled holes with only 12 to 14 cranks! Derek iced the first fish, a sunny, while jigging in the relatively deeper six foot deep water toward the center of the lake with his waxie tipped Kodiak jig. Bob iced a sunny and a largemouth bass, also while jigging near the center of the lake, but with a waxie tipped perch eye jig:
He jigged a waxie tipped perch eye, while I jigged a waxie tipped micro jig, an unbaited Perch Rapala Jigging Rap, the Jigging Rap baited with a waxie, and a fluorescent green and yellow Hali jig baited with a waxie.
It had been lip hooked with a treble hook. When I checked the rest of the tip-ups, another shiner that had been hooked the same way had been stolen from one of them. I replaced both missing shiners with shiners that were dorsal hooked with the treble hooks. When I got the second flag, the shiner was gone. 
It had been lip hooked
Derek iced the first tip-up fish, a largemouth bass, when he noticed that one of the tip-ups was moving, even though the flag hadn't flown:
Derek also got the third flag and iced another largemouth bass:
, but I got it and could finally head home. Phew! 
