Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 10:03 am Post subject: Papermill Pond 02/14
I hope that everyone enjoyed Valentines Day! I sure did. asianfisher (aka Billy) and I decided to fish for trout at Papermill Pond, which is the small pond at Southford Falls State Park. We got on the ice at 9:30 am. We knew that it would be warm, but by noon it was in the 50s. We had a mostly sunny sky and light winds, although some clouds appeared early in the afternoon, along with some gusty winds. The pond is small narrow and runs east to west. It's the kind of pond to which you'd take small children to fish. The trees are even colorfully decorated:
Merry Christmas! Water flows into the pond at the east end, and under a footbridge and over falls on the west end:
Billy drilled a couple of holes in the small pool between the footbridge and the falls, and we set a couple of tip-ups baited with minnows:
We decided to set the rest of our tip-ups in a line down the center of the pond from the footbridge toward the east end. Billy had brought one of his dad's six inch hand augers and warned me that it walked a bit when I started to drill my first hole. Man, he wasn't kidding! 70 or 80 cranks later, the auger had shaved its way through 12 inches of frozen slush and eight inches of clear ice, and left an eight inch diameter hole. When I was done gasping for air, I took a closer look at the auger and saw that Billy's dad had put had eight inch blades on it!
No freakin' wonder that it worked like crap! Luckily, since we were at a small pond, it was just a short walk back to my car to get my eight inch auger. After that, 35 cranks per hole felt easy. Our line of tip-ups extended to the widest part of the pond, just in front of a big shelter on the south shore.
We found several six inch holes in the ice there, so we decided to jig in that area. I used a gold micro jig that's white on the hook side with a black eye dot. I baited it with fresh, but really limp and soft waxies. Five seconds after I dropped it into the water, I pulled up my first yellow perch of the year. Whoo hoo! It was just a little eight incher, but I hadn't caught one since last year (i.e., New Year's Eve on Breakneck Pond). Hopefully, Billy got a photo of it. After that, the fishing was on! We didn't get a single flag, but we jigged up a ton of perch and sunnies until we packed up and got off the ice at 3:15 pm. Billy also got a half dozen golden shiners that he kept for pike bait. We did head down to the east end of the pond to check it out, but it was so shallow that Billy hit the muddy bottom on one of the three holes we drilled. We also jigged our line of tip-up holes, but all of the fish were, apparently, concentrated in the widest and deepest part of the pond. The only trout we saw was a 12 inch brown that Billy lost in the hole. But we ended up with a pretty nice stringer of perch:
All told, I jigged up a couple of redear sunnies and two dozen perch. Billy got several sunnies, a dozen and a half perch and the six golden shiners. Plus, he almost got the little brown trout. Not bad for this slooow season. Something I noticed is that waxies seem to be working better for me than spikes when jigging for panfish. Has anyone else noticed that? Now I'm looking forward to heading back out onto the ice, although my desire to catch yellow perch is pretty much gone. It's been a while since I've landed a decent largemouth bass. And I haven't even seen a northern pike, yet. Hmmm. . . . _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
I'm hittin Bantam this weekend if you want to go for some pike. Is your auger like the one in the pic (blades extend beyond body) or is your body the same dia. as the blades? My 8" auger has a 7" body with 8" blades and I think it makes for harder drilling. Just wondering if I bought the wrong one. _________________ Go big or go home!
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 8:40 pm Post subject:
My eight inch auger has eight inch blades on it. I don't think that your blades should protrude beyond the body of your auger. In fact, I read on a forum somewhere that putting seven inch blades on an eight inch auger could help keep it from binding up.
Today, I used a six inch StrikeMaster Mora auger. It took 60 to 70 cranks of the auger to get through 18 to 20 inches of ice. I think that I drilled nine or 10 holes. Yesterday's melt-off turned the pond into a skatable, if bumpy, ice rink. Walking on ice sure beats slogging through snow or slush! _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Peco - my 8" Strikemaster Mora came out of the box with blades sticking out. If you put 7" blades on a 8" body the blades would make a 7" hole and the body would not fit in the hole. I think I read the same thing you did, but I'm pretty sure the guy found out that the body on his 8" auger was actually only 7". I thought that you bought the more expensive 8" Strikemaster Laser or something, so I was wondering if yours is different. I don't know, I'm just trying to make sense of this blade vs auger thing. I know mine is brand new and it sticks when the Ice is thick. Either that or I need to hit the gym a little harder than I have been _________________ Go big or go home!
I just ordered the drill adapter for hand augers, and it will be here before the weekend. I need to get the drill (after payday) from Home Depot this week. I'm going to get the 18V Rigid x2 w/ LI Ion batt. for $250. It has the most torque for the money at 610 so I'm going to give it a try. Hopefully there will be no more hand drilling for me. I'll let you guys know how it works. _________________ Go big or go home!
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:25 am Post subject:
Damian - Yes, I have an eight inch StrikeMaster Lazer auger. Here's a photo of the business end:
I used to think that it would bind up too easily, but after using a few other augers, I think that it's set up pretty well. I just need to channel my inner Schwartzenegger and power through it. However, I've managed to bend the handle a bit. I might need to salvage a new one for it from somewhere. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Last edited by PECo on Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:36 am; edited 1 time in total
That is a much better design than the one I have. Mine looks more like Asianfisher's dad's in the previous pic. Guess I did buy the wrong one. Hopefully with the drill setup it won't matter.
DaveyDave - thanks for the offer, but I'm hoping To not have to use the Hand auger this weekend. If you still want to meet up, I'll be in the North cove at Bantam on Sun. am. _________________ Go big or go home!
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:42 am Post subject:
Yeah, I exchanged a Mora for the Lazer because the Lazer has those posts that support the head of the auger at the bottom. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Flipper i was thinkin about goin saturday mornin and hitting the tourny at highland sunday figure it might be worth the 20$ bucks to win 900 at something i love why not get paid...hopefully that is
have been feeding some lovely and huge suckers and chubs in a local creek gonna wade out and sceine net them up friday for sat mornin..
just look for bright orange overalls..
Flipper, those lithium-ion batteries drain quickly when in cold weather, I'd make sure the battery doesn't sit out too long and keep it somewhere warm...the older style batteries seem to work better in cold weather... but good luck with the drill adapter.. hope it works for you
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Luckily, since we were at a small pond, it was just a short walk back to my car to get my eight inch auger. After that, 35 cranks per hole felt easy. Our line of tip-ups extended to the widest part of the pond, just in front of a big shelter on the south shore.
We didn't get a single flag, but we jigged up a ton of perch and sunnies until we packed up and got off the ice at 3:15 pm. Billy also got a half dozen golden shiners that he kept for pike bait. We did head down to the east end of the pond to check it out, but it was so shallow that Billy hit the muddy bottom on one of the three holes we drilled. We also jigged our line of tip-up holes, but all of the fish were, apparently, concentrated in the widest and deepest part of the pond. The only trout we saw was a 12 inch brown that Billy lost in the hole. But we ended up with a pretty nice stringer of perch:
