[TurtleKiss]

I suspected I wouldn't catch anything, but it was 60 degrees and I had to cure this cabin fever. Holbrook isn't a fantastic pond, but it's (a) one of the few that can be legally fished before April 17, (b) it seemingly has no shortage of hungry yellow perch, and (c) it has a nice flat boat launch, which matters to me because in warmer weather I fish from a heavy fiberglass dinghy (loading it into my pickup is increasingly more sucky as the boat launch incline increases.) There was a very thin layer of ice near just about all of the accessible shoreline. A lot of it was almost slush. I casted into the watery areas, using monofilament line for the first time in over a decade. I didn't remember why I switched to braid until the wind picked up and wrapped the line around the reel several times, somehow tying itself into invisible knots in the process. Still, It did cast further, and I was able to plunk my Texas-rigged scented worms into some open areas that were pretty far out. Got maybe 5 bites in 5 hours - dress in lots of layers people - it still gets windy & cold later in the day! Around sunset, a nice big bass jumped out of the shallow water about 5 feet from shore. Scared the **** out of me, since the only sounds I heard all day were geese and whooshing wind. As this point, my "bait" was hooked on a huge sheet of ice about 100 feet out & I had to break the line. As I pulled the line back, the worm managed to free itself, harnessing the power and resiliency that makes monofilament line so popular. The impact from the bullet weight left a HUGE bruise on my leg. The size 2/0 hook went through my jeans and pierced my skin. I caught no fish, but just doing it lifted my spirits anyway.
BTW, Holbrook has to be fished early in the season because it becomes completely overgrown with aquatic plants in the summer. Also, the .7 mile access road is really bumpy and has HUGE CRATERS.

[fishinschmoe]

Ah yes, a perfect day, since there was no mention of "work".

I had a similar story once, excpet my trip ended in the ER, cuz I couldn't get the hook out.

Tight Lines, my good man!! and go get yourself some Braid!

[Just4fun]

Good job just getting out there Kira, and welcome to the forum!!

(BTW, I checked out your website and I'm still chuckling over that Etta James thing! )
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"If people concentrated more on the really important things in life there'd be a shortage of fishing poles."
Mark

[TurtleKiss]

Just4fun - It was great to get out, but yeah...it's still pretty damn cold. Fishing off shore in this weather isn't my "specialty." Glad you liked the Etta video! As I write this post, Koopa is super-tired, but trying to stay awake under his UV light, exactly like he was when I made that video 3 years ago. I highly recommend "The Turtle Whisperer" video if you'd like to see a deeper side of Koopa's personality.

Fishinschmoe - I keep 3 rods with me - 1 with 20lb mono and 2 with 50 lb braid. I realize that's excessive, but the braid is SO FREAKING STRONG. It feels like insurance when I've caught something big in dense lily pads. Also, I'm technically female, but you're welcome to call me your "good man" all you want. I tried to post a photo but I cant seem to downsize it to 250 pixels in height/20kb without losing an unreasonable amount of image quality.
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Kira

*~ "Not everything about fishing is noble, reasonable and sane..." -Henry Middleton ~*

[SkeeterRon]

TurtleKiss,

Gotta watch those flying weights. I read a story about a guy on Long Island who's hook was stuck on some rocks while he was fishing from shore.

He gave a hard pull and the line snap'd but the weight came flying at him, hit him in the eye and went into his brain.

Died on the spot... Thats why I wear safety sun glasses. Ya just never know...
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Sleep...Eat...Fish!!!!! Then do it all over again.

[Lunker Cove]

dam turtle kiss looking good

[johno]

ice fishing season saw a five pounder everytime i went there