FishUSA.com Fishing Tackle

Author Topic: January.......From Fast and Furious, To a Slow Go  (Read 1812 times)

Jim C.

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,730
  • Up the creek...and loving it!
January.......From Fast and Furious, To a Slow Go
« on: Jan 28, 2023, 04:02 PM »
December had enough cold weather to get the ice started on the lakes, but a thaw arrived as January started.  A Central Maine lake nearby had shelled over, but in a personal first, I watched the ice go out on New Year's Day rather than in late April or early May.  Unreal.

By that afternoon, the lake was wide open except for some ice shelves in the coves.  Enough for the ducks, but nothing bigger than that.





Fishing in open water was fast, with strikes on various spoons and then the mop up of less aggressive fish with a jig suspended under a bobber.  It was mainly browns that came out to play, with a few brookies in the mix.













Peak action occurred on the 4th.  I'll take a 17 fish day any day of the year, but a day like that is in the PB category for open water salmonids in January 8)  I had expanded my search that day to several spots.  The going was a bit tough on banks made greasy by thawed mud over the frost below and in high water that had me sandwiched between deep water and shoreline prickers.  So far, the Simms waders have held up except for a few pinholes around the knees.  No biggie since my socks have remained dry ;D 





The mix of fish that day was 11 brookies, 5 browns, and 1 landlock.  I'm encouraged by the relatively high number of browns!  Maybe the Seeforellen program will work out.















I encountered the same brown twice during the first half of the month, once with a high sun and, a week or so later, at dark.





I didn't notice the white spot on its flank until I got home and pulled the pics.  Nice to see catch and release in action. 

After mid-month the weather started to behave more like winter.  I hit one spot as pancake ice was rapidly developing.





Pancake ice jingles when ripples from wading move it around.  As good as wind chimes from a high end antique store ;D

In other spots, there was pad ice or ice left on tree trunks as flows dropped.  You can see how high the flow had been by strand lines on shoreline trees.







By the 17th, flows had dropped enough that I gave big flowing water a try.  It was still much higher than average and ice in prime holding water was an issue.







I did scrape up a couple small salmon in one short stretch that was a bit easier to fish.





The fishing continued to be tough for the balance of the month, but I managed to come up with a series of one hit wonder trips, all on jigs.  Thankfully, I was able to convert on those chances.  It would have been painful to lose this guy  ;)  Adipose fin clipped, born in 2016 and stocked in 2017.





The 27th was a pre-fish day to get the lay of the land for February.  Brutal.  The deep snow, with thick ice crust had me post holing in swampy ground all day. 



The good news is that my legs and ankles held up.  The bad news is that I saw no sign of life in the fish department.  Winter open water fish movements and bite windows are often  a tough nut to crack from now until spring.















iceman260

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 2,247
Re: January.......From Fast and Furious, To a Slow Go
« Reply #1 on: Jan 29, 2023, 06:34 AM »
Nice pics and report, thanks for sharing.

Jim C.

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,730
  • Up the creek...and loving it!
Re: January.......From Fast and Furious, To a Slow Go
« Reply #2 on: Jan 29, 2023, 08:42 AM »
Thanks.  My first boss after college in the 70's used to live in Scotia.  I was working on Whiteface at the time.  Nice fishing there 8)

fish wayniac

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,172
Re: January.......From Fast and Furious, To a Slow Go
« Reply #3 on: Feb 03, 2023, 05:42 AM »
Jim, Nice winter and fish photos. A 17 fish day is MVP numbers. That’s cool that you caught a fish that was born in 2016 .
🥶🎣

TightLinesMaine

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,499
Re: January.......From Fast and Furious, To a Slow Go
« Reply #4 on: Feb 05, 2023, 06:35 PM »
Unreal Jim... love all the fish but JEALOUS of that big salmon! looks bigger than any LL I caught in 2022.  Judging by the head alone that's gotta be over 20" if not, very close to 20"?  Flowing water? he give ya any fight/hard time?

besides this past weekend (yikes!) looks like it's gonna be a relatively mild February too.  good luck, but I bet you'll scrape one up somewhere!

Jim C.

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,730
  • Up the creek...and loving it!
Re: January.......From Fast and Furious, To a Slow Go
« Reply #5 on: Feb 06, 2023, 06:13 PM »
Thanks, Randall.

Good eye on the salmon.  It was 21".  Flowing water and smashed a retrieved jig in a tough spot due to wood. Good fight, and doubt I could have kept him out of the snags if the water was 10* warmer. ;)



Unreal Jim... love all the fish but JEALOUS of that big salmon! looks bigger than any LL I caught in 2022.  Judging by the head alone that's gotta be over 20" if not, very close to 20"?  Flowing water? he give ya any fight/hard time?

besides this past weekend (yikes!) looks like it's gonna be a relatively mild February too.  good luck, but I bet you'll scrape one up somewhere!

Jim C.

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,730
  • Up the creek...and loving it!
Re: January.......From Fast and Furious, To a Slow Go
« Reply #6 on: Feb 06, 2023, 06:15 PM »
Thanks, Wayne.  I'll be keeping an eye on the hardwater side for more of your quality browns 8)

Jim, Nice winter and fish photos. A 17 fish day is MVP numbers. That’s cool that you caught a fish that was born in 2016 .
🥶🎣

 



Iceshanty | MyFishFinder | MyHuntingForum
Contact | Disclaimer | Sponsor
© 2004- MyFishFinder.com
All Rights Reserved.