Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 8:46 pm Post subject: West Hill Pond 02/13
DirtyDawg10 (aka Derek) and I fished West Hill Pond from about 11:30 am to 4:00 pm. There was a surprising number of cars parked in the vicinity of the boat launch ramp on the north end of the pond. We ended up parking on the side of the road across from the entrance to the beach. The air temperature was probably in the mid 20s and the sky was overcast, although the sun peeked out a little bit later in the afternoon. As we walked onto the ice, we spoke with a group that was leaving. They had set 20 tip-ups in the middle of the pond and caught seven fish, including a golden trout, and were kind enough to point out the location of their holes for us. As it turned out, we fished quite a few holes across the width of the north end of the pond without having to drill any. Unfortunately, Derek and I endured a fairly steady 15 to 20 mile per hour SSE wind for almost the entire time we were on the ice. We set six tip-ups with medium to large minnows, and jigged perch eye-type jigs baited with waxies and spikes. The fishing was very slow all day, but at about 1:30 pm, Derek jigged up a 14 inch chain pickerel:
I think the highlight of our day was when Derek showed the pickerel to a little girl who was playing on the ice while we were there:
Derek missed a few more hooksets while jigging, but the biggest miss was the hookset on the only flag we had all day. The fish spooled off almost 50 yards of line, but dropped the minnow after Derek tried to set the hook. When he baited the tip-up, he had dorsal hooked a large minnow and, based on the damage to it, the fish had grabbed the minnow by the head and avoided the hook completely. For this reason, we're pretty sure that it was a decent trout. A largemouth bass or pickerel would have swallowed the minnow. As usual when I ice fish with Derek, I didn't get even a nibble all day. I can't wait for open water, when I can return the favor. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Last edited by PECo on Mon Feb 14, 2011 7:28 am; edited 2 times in total
Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:04 pm Post subject:
Showing the fish to the little girl was definitely the highlight of the day. She was so excited to see the fish but not so excited to touch it...lol. You can't blame her though...pickerel aren't the nicest looking fish.
It was a tough day on the ice as you can tell from the wind in the video. You can't hear anyone but Phil. It was still a fun time. I couldn't believe the miss on the tip-up. It felt like a good fish. I tried to set the hook and the fish pulled back pretty good. Then when I started pulling the fish in it let go. Unfortunately I had 4 fish let go today. At least I ended up with something though.
Phil, I'm just making up for all the senko clinics you put on for me this past summer
It was a good thing we had several pre-drilled holes out there because in total there was about 26" of ice. With the 8" hand auger that wouldn't have been fun at all. We figured about 14-16 inches of white ice and 10-12 inches of black ice.
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I can't wait for open water, when I can return the favor. 
At least I ended up with something though.
