The one about FIRST ICE

Ahh…..first ice…  Who doesn’t love the sound of that?  I know I do.  Many of you in the colder climate zones, have already knocked your first chip off the ol’ ice block!  I am unfortunately still waiting for good, safe ice in my concrete jungle, heat-island region of the Midwest.  

First ice has always been one of my favorite times to fish.  Whether it be running flags up in the extreme shallow and weedy bays for some white speckled green “snakes”, or 5-gallon pail sitting tight-lining with an old splintering fiberglass spring bobber style rod and reel tipped with a half-busted paintless panfish jig and some half-dead waxies. 

I have my spots.  Yes, MY spots, not yours, mine…  Oh, come on, I’m sure you’ve heard that a time or two?!!  But I do, I have my local haunts I always hit up for the first drop of the puck (transducer, that is).  I could usually get on a fairly good bite and rake-in some good numbers, but the quality was always subpar.  If I was lucky, I would onsie-twosie in the bigger fish department and scare up maybe a 10 to 13 incher.  Why was this the case? Where was that uber-lucky underwater pot of gold? 

Many will say fishing is purely luck.  I would be remiss, if I didn’t fess up to owning that same sentiment not too many years ago.  I would tell myself I had a bad day on the ice…. that’s it, just bad stroke of luck. This was just a bunch of malarkey, I thought.  I had all the right equipment – adequate gear that caught fish regularly… and never did I think I lacked the proper skills and tactics to land these pie plate sized wall-hangers (okay, not that big) I’d see down dancing with the weeds at the bottom of the hole.  The fish were off; they didn’t have their feedbags on.  I was a good stick…. just had a bad day on the ice.  “I’ll try again tomorrow and show those fish who’s boss!”   

Boy was I wrong.  Although luck may be part of it, it’s only a small fraction, fellow anglers.  The large part of the equation and the sum of all its counterparts comes down to proper equipment and technique.  Upon many years of reading newspaper and magazine articles, forums, blogs, posts on social media, I learned something very valuable.  The right rod paired with the right reel paired with the right presentation, a steady hand or a rod holder, the right electronics, and a lot of patience, you will land more, and better fish.  Wait.  What?  That’s it?  That’s the secret? It sounds like a no-brainer!  Y’all that’s the ticket, it’s not a secret – it’s all been right under your nose, perhaps just buried underneath your ill-conceived notions and lack of true fishing skills, or your refusal to see the greener side, or to splurge!  

Yep, I said it.  Listen, I was this person too, until I bought myself my first “technique specific” or “custom” rod, as many refer them to be.  I had to see what all the talk was about.  The first expensive rod I ever gifted myself with was the JT Panfish Snare®, which was accompanied by one of the coolest convertible style adjustable JT Rod Holders I had ever laid eyes on.  Even in its box, I was amazed - 36 inches of pure magic and I hadn’t even untaped or held it yet!  Now, tape removed and rod in my hand, I had never grasped another ice rod that was that lightweight before!  Not even my short 14-inch small ultralight competitors rod was that light.  Holy cow!  That’s unreal – seemingly next-to-impossible!  IT WAS MINE!  

As much as I wanted to sit and admire my Snare’s genius and beauty, I needed to get it rigged up.  After all, I had those “pie plates” to go catch!  I gussied up my rod with a small 500 sized spinning reel and 2lb monofilament line tied straight to a favorite small #10 lead grub-style vertical jig.  The next evening I trekked out to ol’ faithful - - my 6 foot deep weedy little nook out by the eagles nest (shhh!), and set up some tip-ups for pike and my shiny new JT rig outfit for those pig gills and salt & pepper paper lips.  I tail hooked my small crappie minnow for more action and dropped her down the hatch.  Snare perched nicely in the sun, cradled in its clever rod holder – neon orange indicator ball bobbing to the natural jig of the swim tied to the end of the line.  Just a beautiful day on the ice, out in the warmth of the sun, throwing the pigskin around in hopes of landing some nice fish for an evening meal.  What could be better? All of a sudden I hear, “Tracy, your Snare!!!” and BOOM!  Orange ball slowly dropping closer and closer to the hole, I had my first fish on the Snare!!!  Once the rod was completely loaded I went in for the set and steady reel.  As I reeled up my line, I soon realized I had caught a 13-inch crappie for the first time in a very long time!  I found that lucky pot of gold, it wasn’t under the water after all….                                                                      

Tracy Krona – JT Outdoors Contributor