Shaurette: Ice fishing success found on Lake Holcombe
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By PAUL SHAURETTE / For The Herald
Saturday, January 19, 2008 10:59 PM CST
I smiled all the way as I drove the 15 miles or so north up the fabled “river road” from Chippewa City to Cornell early last week.
My destination was Lake Holcombe and a morning of ice fishing with my friend Dick Jacobson, and I as took the many twists and turns along the Chippewa River I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by a land bound in the grips of mid-winter.
A thick sheet of ice covered the mighty Chippewa from shore to shore and snowbanks along country driveways welcomed anyone adventurous enough to stop by. There is almost nothing like a winter landscape in Wisconsin, and it’s hard not to enjoy the image of the land, snow covered and at rest.
Not wanting to rest myself on such a glorious morning, I made my way to Holcombe and before long I was inching my way out onto the ice at the landing hoping there was sufficient ice to hold my pickup. Dick had invited me to one of his favorite spots, and when I arrived, he was already parked where he said he would be, had the holes drilled, the chairs set up and was ready for action.
We started early because Dick has had his best luck at mid-morning, and he wanted to be set up and ready when the fish decided it was dinner time. Although the temperatures that morning were in the single digits, there was barely any wind and it was actually quite comfortable out on the ice.
Our main target this day would be crappies, but we hoped we would also hook into a few nice bluegills. We were fishing an area with some variable depth along the shoreline, and by using the locator, we were able to see a few fish hanging out at around 15 feet.
Dick’s bait of choice this season has been an assortment of colored “ants” tipped with a wax, and before long we were slowly working our line through the hole hoping for a quick strike.
Almost instantly, Dick had a crappie on the line and he quickly reeled it to the surface and tossed it out onto the ice.
At this point things looked pretty good.
Not long after, I had my first subtle tug on the line and I instinctively set the hook and had my first crappie coming to the surface. After that, we took turns bringing some dandy 9- and 10-inch crappies. Before we knew it, we had 10 or 12 laying out on the surface of the ice.
As we fished, we watched as a bald eagle perched itself near a nest high in a tall white pine along the lake, and it occasionally screeched out a message to anyone that could hear.
There is so much to see and experience out on a frozen lake during the winter, and just being out taking the cold winter air into your lungs can really make you glad you are there. Really.
Anyone who spends any amount of time in the cold doing any amount of ice fishing is there experiencing more than just the fishing. Whether it be the time spent with friends or the chance to unwind, getting out on a crisp winter day can be good for the soul.
That first initial flurry lasted an hour or so, and we soon found ourselves trying a few different holes that Dick had drilled down the shoreline. I was working the very last hole down the line where the depth was at least 2 or 3 feet shallower than where I had been catching the crappies.
I adjusted my line to keep the bait a foot or so off of the bottom, and immediately I had a fish hit the line. I quickly pulled the it up through the dark water and a good sized bluegill jumped out at me. Getting the line back in the hole yielded another three or four bluegills over the next few minutes, but before long I was staring at a pretty quiet 9-inch hole.
Ice fishing can be like that, one minute you can be pulling fish after fish through the ice, and the next thing you know you can be hoping for a miracle.
After an hour or so of jumping holes, we decided the best fishing time had come and gone, and before long we knew it was time to pack things up and look ahead to another day. A slight easterly wind had started up sometime before noon, and that subtle change in air pressure seemed to shut the fish down in a hurry.
One aspect of our time on the ice that day I thought interesting was how we found the crappie and bluegills at slightly different depths. Sometimes it doesn’t take much to find fish in an area where you think there might be absolutely nothing. It was interesting to see how the crappie and bluegills were feeding in different water levels.
Dick and I ended up with 21 fish that day, and thanks to him, I brought them home that night for one of the best Wisconsin meals anyone could ask for. It is hard to describe a meal of freshly caught panfish taken through the ice, and anyone who has been there knows what I am talking about.
My thoughts these days are about when I might get the chance to go again while our winter is alive and well, and I hope I am lucky enough to be there again soon when the day is cold, the sun is bright, and the fish are active.
Paul Shaurette can be reached at pshaurette@centurytel.net.
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