January.....A Lot of Arctic Cold, but the Hot Bite Continued

[Jim C.]

10 days with low temperatures in the minus range was a big change from a warm Fall.  As good as the fishing was in December, I was not sure what to expect for the start of 2022.  In past winters, holdover brookies were a big part of the winter open water catch.  2021 ended with brookies relatively scarce, which was concerning. 

The apparent lack of brookies was just a blip it seems.  I was on the board quickly on the 5th.  Double digit days don't grow on trees in the winter, but this was one of them.  Brookies had seemingly swarmed in and dominated the catch, but there was enough variety for a hat trick.











The scenery added to the non-stop bite, and included frost needles and ice that looked like a sea anemone or some other sea creature





As is often the case, the bite was best when the weather was taking a turn for the worse. 



Nasty weather and river browns go hand-in-hand.













Again, the winter scenery was good, complete with some post holing and a chance encounter with a crayfish I found in an old net on the bottom. When I'm out in the winter, I often end up like a kid playing in a tide pool









Salmon didn't end up being a big part of my catch like in past years, but  they were frequent enough to make it interesting.  A 20" plus fish was top dog.









My last trip of the month ended up being very interesting in that showed how a change in approach can ignite a bite and turn a day around.  My 1st pass through one of my winter spots resulted in no sign of life.  I had tried a wide variety of lures and I came real close to making a spot change.  The skunk monster loomed until I tied on a mini pink jig.  I missed my first chance and was thinking I blew my only shot of the day.  Far from it.....as I kept my next 5 chances pinned.  The brookies seemed to show up out of thin air. In reality, they were likely there the whole time and just waiting for the right thing to trigger them.  It ain't over till it's over











I've only been ice fishing twice this year.  Between action that's been slow as death and now auger problems, I doubt that number of trips will go up too much.  Plenty of elbow room and no slush on open water anyway.  Time to sit down with a few of these 14% beauties and hatch a scheme or 2 for next month's soft water.

[Raquettedacker]

Great job Jim..  Your posts are always a  pleasure to read..👍👍

[Jim C.]

Thank you!  I had my first job (that didn't involve being self-employed) near Lake Placid back in the 70's plus I met my wife there.  Always good to hear from the 'dacks

Great job Jim..  Your posts are always a  pleasure to read..👍👍

[TightLinesMaine]

A 20" salmon in January is quite something! Jealous! The other fish aren't bad either 

Is that a streamer fly i see in the mouth of the 1st brown trout? Or just a fishy looking jig? w/e it is it looks productive... you sure are the jig master as well... well done Jim

[Jim C.]

Thanks, Randall.

Good eye.  The brown was caught on an atlantic salmon fly that a WW II vet friend of the family gave me years ago.  He's passed on now so it's meaningful when I hook up with one of his flies

A 20" salmon in January is quite something! Jealous! The other fish aren't bad either 

Is that a streamer fly i see in the mouth of the 1st brown trout? Or just a fishy looking jig? w/e it is it looks productive... you sure are the jig master as well... well done Jim

[TightLinesMaine]

Thanks, Randall.

Good eye.  The brown was caught on an atlantic salmon fly that a WW II vet friend of the family gave me years ago.  He's passed on now so it's meaningful when I hook up with one of his flies

Do you know if he tied it? Has a montreal wh*re vibe to it for sure, is that a conehead on it? Or just tightly wrapped non-black thread?  & the pic makes it look like a chenille body but i doubt it? Very cool though. 

[Jim C.]

I don't believe he tied it.  He used to fish for Atlantics in the Miramachi until his last few years.  I think one of the guides up there tied it.  He gave me a bunch of flies when he stopped going up.  I miss him.  The fly in the pic is not a conehead.  A lot of the flies are tightly wrapped with non-black.

Do you know if he tied it? Has a montreal wh*re vibe to it for sure, is that a conehead on it? Or just tightly wrapped non-black thread?  & the pic makes it look like a chenille body but i doubt it? Very cool though.

[Steve H.]

Great pics and write-up, as usual.  Always a pleasure to view.

[NBourque]

Good report Jim. Feb must be a tough month.

[Jim C.]

Thanks, Nick.  Feb and Mar are tough for sure.  I started out Feb with a trip where I only got 1 hit.  It was a brookie that barely bumped the jig practically at my rod tip.  Hard to get a hook set like that and it ended poorly for me. 

Good report Jim. Feb must be a tough month.

[zwiggles]

Great report! Like others mentioned this is something I look forward to each month. Here’s hoping February cooperates for your streak extension!

[NBourque]

Thanks, Nick.  Feb and Mar are tough for sure.  I started out Feb with a trip where I only got 1 hit.  It was a brookie that barely bumped the jig practically at my rod tip.  Hard to get a hook set like that and it ended poorly for me.

Beats all the work involved with ice fishing 😁

[Jim C.]

Thanks!  Skunked again today.  The snowmelt and rain stacked the odds against me.  Not even a bump

Great report! Like others mentioned this is something I look forward to each month. Here’s hoping February cooperates for your streak extension!