Reflections 2013-2014

With the close of my 2013-2014 ice fishing season, I find myself taking time to look back and reflect on the highs and lows of the previous ice season.

This winter saw terms from the meteorological community, such as "polar vortex", which pretty well summed up the weather during the winter months.  After having a string of a couple of years with warmer than normal temperatures, us ice fishermen were blessed with very cold temperatures this winter.  These massive arctic cold fronts extended much further than during normal winters and pushed as far south as the Gulf of Mexico.  Ice thicknesses reaching upwards of four feet thick had been observed in the northern states and here in central and southern Iowa, two feet of ice was found in many locations. 

Iced up gear was the theme this winter!

We were also very fortunate in central and southern Iowa as we were not inundated with snowfall like parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and various other states in the Ice Belt were.  These conditions provided an extended ice fishing season for the Ice Belt and many anglers are still ice fishing in the state of Iowa as I write this.

My travels this season found me spending the vast majority of my time in central and southern Iowa this winter.  Being the father of two young children, I was not afforded the opportunity of taking trips to far away destinations and the majority of my trips were within an hour and a half of Pleasant Hill.  This winter, I logged 38 trips on the ice to 22 different bodies of water; 10 of which were new to me.  I was very pleased with these figures as my total trips were similar to last year's totals and I was able to fish some new bodies of water in the process.  I also found myself ice fishing the earliest I have ever been out; Thanksgiving morning near my home in central Iowa on two inches of gorgeous ice.

First fish of the season - Thanksgiving dinner?

I competed in two team tournaments this year and my partner, Todd Reed, and I started with a respectable finish at the Team Extreme Big Creek tournament, finishing 4th out of 13 teams.  I consider Big Creek to be one of my home waters as it is relatively close to where I live and one of the lakes I frequent quite often during the winter.  We were able to cash a check at this tournament, but my competitive side was hoping for a better outcome.  Next year is a new year though and hopefully we can improve upon our placing.

Myself and Todd receiving our check at Big Creek tournament

The second tournament we competed in was the Team Extreme Rock Creek tournament. Like the Big Creek tournament This team event also had a bag of eight crappies and eight bluegills, and the team with the heaviest weight takes first place.  My fishing partner, Todd Reed, and I formed a solid game plan from our prefishing and ended up taking 2nd place out of 12 teams.  We were both pleased with our placing as we executed our game plan well. We were ultimately beaten out by a lone kicker crappie caught by the winning team to edge us by 0.2 pounds. 

Throughout the years, I've always been a big fan of catching bluegills through the ice.  They are generally plentiful, easy to catch, and offer a good fight once hooked.  This winter I decided a change of pace was warranted and I switched gears to focus primarily on crappies.  Crappies also thrive in our Iowa waters, are easy to catch, and offer a good fight once hooked, but often bite best when the sun is down; at least the larger fish do, in my experience.  

With that in mind, this winter I found myself fishing more at night or during the dawn/dusk periods in search of large crappies.  The homework I put in during the previous fall and time spent scrutinizing lake contour maps really paid off.  The Iowa DNR's master angler program lists any crappie over 14" as a master angler fish.  I was fortunate enough to catch seven crappies this winter over 15" from three different bodies of water in Iowa.

16" 1.934 pound Crappie

16" 2 pound Crappie

15.25" 1.83 pound Crappie

15" 1.64 pound White Crappie

15" White Crappie

15.25" Black Crappie

15.25" Black Crappie

I was also able to set personal bests in three different categories of fish species caught through the ice this winter. I also caught a new species of fish through the ice; they are pictured below.

Channel Catfish - 27.5" 11.5 pounds

Bluegill - 10.5" 1.375 pounds

Black Crappie - 17" 2.65 pounds

~11-12" Rainbow Trout (New species through the ice)

I would have to say that this winter has provided me one of the best years I have ever had on the ice.  I was able to cash a check in each tournament I fished, set personal bests in three different fish species, tackle some new waters, and spend time on the ice with good friends.  I would also like to thank my sponsors Clam Outdoors and Sportsmen's Direct for helping me achieve some of those goals; without their assistance, it would have been much more difficult.

With that said, that puts a wrap to another season.  See you on the ice in December, if not sooner...