Variety

Today Chris and I fished the same small pond that we've been fishing for the past couple of days. This time, we decided to fish a different section of the pond that I've never fished before. I was hoping for a big pike in the very shallow section of the pond. In the first hour and a half we had a couple flags and landed a couple nice pike; a 19 incher for me and about a 24 inch fish by Stiles.

After the bite slowed down we started drilling holes to jig for perch. We worked our way along the shoreline and to a deep drop off near a point. The first hole I drilled near the point produced a really nice hit immediately. The fish felt pretty decent and I fought it for a while on the lightweight jig rod. I was surprised to find that it was a nice smallmouth bass.

Chris landed a nice smallie along the same drop off a few minutes later.

Before we left to get back to our base, I landed one more nice smallie on the drop off. It was cool to see smallmouths biting through the ice. These past couple of days have been different for me because I'm not so used to catching bass through the ice. Its a ton of fun though. When we returned to our main area we had a flag go off three times in a row. What we believe to be a very large pike first stole our bait, then broke the hook off and finally came back one more time to steal another bait, all on the same tip up within a 15 minute time period. It was really frustrating and we were pissed that we missed the fish three times in a row. Was it just a smart fish? Who knows.

I did end up getting what I wanted for the day; a nice pike. I had set up a tip up in very shallow water early in the day and it finally went off around 12:30. The fish really put up a fight and gave me a run for my money by making several short, powerful runs that were dangerously close to breaking the leader. I managed to land the fish though, a chunky 26 inch pike.

The day ended with a decent largemouth who took about 75 yards of line out before I set the hook on him.

Overall it was a good day of variety with 4 bass and 3 pike. I'm glad that I now know the area we fished today will produce fish. No 40 inch pike today, but its only a matter of time before I land one around 40 inches. In 2010 I landed a 33 inch pike and I've had even bigger fish on before. I know that if I put in the time, I'm going to land the fish I've been looking for. Tomorrow is not looking good with freezing rain and snow showers. However, if the weather lets up at all, I'll be out there on the ice.

COMING TOMORROW:   Year in Review- The best of 2011