Ice Fishing 101

If you are a beginning ice fisherman, this is the article for you. It all starts with the rod. I'm sure you have seen ice fishing rods before, but if you haven't they are much smaller than regular fishing poles. They are usually about 2 or 3 feet long. There are a few different types of reels to choose from. An extremely small version of the open faced reel is a good choice, but the older type that looks like a wheel works just fine. The best line size to use is 4 lb. line. This will give you the sensitivity you need to feel every bite. It also allows your small reel to function much better. The best lure in my opinion is a small jig tipped with a wax worm. This has produced the greatest number of fish over time, and almost any type of fish will bite it. Another thing that you will need for your first outing is an ice auger. Hand augers are relatively inexpensive and work well for cutting your ice fishing hole. Some people prefer a motorized auger. It is really up to you. Those are the basic necessities for ice fishing, but there are a few more things that most ice fisherman won't leave the house without. First, is some type of sonar. This allows you to see what depth you are working at, and it also can point out some fish that might have been missed otherwise. Another thing is fishing tent. There are a number of different styles and sizes to choose from. These keep the harsh conditions of winter outside. You can also operate your poles without gloves because your hands won't freeze in the process. These are the ice fishing basics. If you are going out for the first time, make sure you take someone with you. It is never safe to go ice fishing alone. Good luck!

Showchoir

I know this blog is about the outdoors, but I want to share with you another passion of mine; Showchoir. I am in Cedar Rapids Kennedy Happiness Inc. This showchoir was the first of its kind in the Midwest. It paved the way for other showchoirs to come. Now, there are many showchoirs in the area. There are 5 in the Cedar Rapids area alone. That means a lot of competition for us. For the past couple years we have been the best group in Cedar Rapids, and I hope this year is no different. We had our first competition last weekend at Linn-Mar High School. Going into the competition we were worrried about just making finals. Once we found out that there were a ton of great groups there we were even more afriad. The director of the competition even expanded the groups that could make finals to 7 from 5. There were about 12 groups that won grand championships the previous year. We felt somewhat unprepared and didn't know how we were going to stack up against these outstanding groups. It turns out we had less to worry about that we thought. We ended up placing first in the day round and 2nd in the night rounds. Our group was so excited, and happy to see all of our hard work finally pay off. We start practicing in July so as you can see it is a long process full of ups and downs. The competitions always bring out the best in us. We are excited to be having another opportunity for competition this weekend. Happiness is traveling up to the high school Davenport North to compete in the competition held there. I'm sure it will be another fun filled day of showchoir! Wish us luck!

Fishing Report

I would like to share the fishing report for local fishing waters. These reports are coming off the Iowa Department of Natural Resources website.
"Lake Macbride (Johnson): Crappie fishing has been fair to good and some nicer-sized fish have been caught. The recent heavy snows may slow things down but fish have been coming off deeper brush and drop-offs.''
''Lake Rathbun (Appanoose): Ice thickness has been measured at 8 to 9 inches. Crappies have been biting on minnows and by vertically jigging around submerged habitat. Fishing has been the best at Atwell's, in Honey Creek, and in Buck Creek. The gate is now open at the Glenwood area.''
''Lake Sugema (Van Buren): The bays and coves have been producing some catches of bluegill and crappie using small jigs tipped with a wax worm. Last week the main lake still had some open water due to a flock of geese so use caution. The Tug Fork lakes have also been producing some catches of crappies using minnows.''
''Pool 11 tailwaters by Guttenberg continue to be slow for angling; however, some saugers are still being caught. The amount of open water has been shrinking dramatically this past week. Fishing is only accessible by airboat or by pushing a small boat out from the DNR landing. Some good sized crappies and perch can be caught at Mud Lake in Dubuque. Fishing is best late in the day.''
''Cedar River (Black Hawk): Walleye and crappie fishing is fair to good in deeper holes with good ice conditions. Use extreme caution when fishing river ice."
As you can see the ice fishing is pretty good around the state of Iowa, and I hope it will stay this way.

Good Technology

In a recent post I told you that i had ordered a new sonar unit called the Showdown. I have, since then, received it and put it to use. There was a small problem however. When I first took it out of the box, i noticed a plastic piece was broken on the bottom of the unit. A person never likes when he or she receives something broken so I called the dealer and he offered me a new one. He also suggested to call the manufacturer to get a new part, which would save time and money. This is what I did, and it turns out they sent me a new piece and everything works just fine. When i first looked at the display, I wasn't exactly sure how to read it. It didn't take long for me to realize that it was way easier than i thought. The top is the top of the water and the bottom is the bottom. The depth is displayed right away and is great for finding a spot to fish. You don't even need a hold in the ice for this unit to work! That's right it can "see through the ice", which is amazing to me. It is similar to the Vexlar in the sense that the bigger lines indicate bigger objects such as timber, rocks, and large fish. The smaller lines represent smaller fish and little algae pieces and things of that sort. An ice fisherman once said to me that he forgot his sonar unit at home on the way to go fishing, and ended up turning around and getting it. That's how much of a difference these units can make. I now believe it and the Showdown is truely the sonar of this generation.

More Snow and Fishing

Last night Cedar Rapids received another bucket load of snow. I must admit it was very nice waking up to a white heaven, but those feelings didn't last long. My dad calls into my room, "Get up! It's time to do some shoveling." At that point I wasn't very happy, but a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do. So I put on my clothes and made my way outside. I know no one likes shoveling, but that's all part of living in the state of Iowa. You never know when you will wake up to more of the white stuff outside. Looking at the bright side, I don't have anything going on today so it might be a good time to get in some fishing time. The fishing report for Lake Mcbride from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says that small bluegills are plentiful, but the crappie are hit and miss. It also says the larger fish are being caught in deeper brush and drop off points. I don't think I will have time to drive all the way down there today so I will most likely try a closer spot that produced some good fishing last year. This is located off Blairsferry Road on the way to Palo. I call it the Greenbelt. This is decent backwater river fishing. It is fairly deep and has a number of trees that provide nice cover for the fish. The weather is supposed to be somewhat nice today and hopefully the fish think so too. Wish me luck!

The Showdown

There is a new product from Nature Vision called the Showdown. It is a digital ice fishing fish finder. It does the same thing that a Vexlar does, but has more advanced technology. Instead of a confusing circle graph like the Vexlar has, the Showdown has a vertical display which allows you to view the water column like it is below you. It is much easier to read than the vexlar. The top of the display is 0 ft. and the bottom is the bottom of the water column. Another advantage of the Showdown is its size. It takes up much less space than the traditional Vexlar so it is great for use in a tent. Another great feature on this device is its quiet operation. The Vexlar has noisy motors that can be annoying while trying to enjoy the peaceful outdoor atmosphere. The Showdown is also very easy to use for people who are new to the fish finder era. The main reason I'm telling you this information is because my birthday was two days ago and I am getting this for my birthday. I have personally used the Vexlar and thought it was somewhat confusing to read the circular display. I am excited to see how the new Showdown works and hopefully it will help me catch more fish!

First Winter Fishing Outing

For most students the holiday break is just a relaxing break from school filled with family get-togethers, but for me it was more than that. It was a perfect time to get out ice fishing. Lake Mcbride was the destination. It was 7 am when my friend and I stepped foot onto the lake. The lake was dropped about 8 feet before the winter hit, and now exposes a lot of, what used to be underwater, structure. We first drilled holes near a tree that was somewhat close to the bank. I knew a good spot from last year was a little farther out, but this was in the same area. We picked up a coulpe small bluegill, but we wanted to find the crappie. We tried drilling farther out on the spot I knew from last year, but we didn't have much luck. After a while we got tired of not catching anything and moved back around the tree that we tried earlier. The crappies were not here either, although we did pick up a few more bluegill. The trip wasn't a great success, but it is always fun to get out on the lake.