Well it’s Christmas Day and what a fine Christmas it turned out to be! We enjoyed the usual morning festivities with just a small family gathering this year. My wife, son and myself opened our presents to each other and we enjoyed a delicious family breakfast.

Since all the stores were closed and there wasn’t a whole lot to do I decided I would try my first day on the ice. The lakes here in Connecticut had just frozen over and the ice fishing conditions were marginal. There was only about 2 1/2″ of solid ice and the air temperature was 40°, but I decided to give it a go anyway.

To all you new ice fishermen I must warn you about being extremely cautious when the ice is this thin. I carried an ice spud with me and constantly tested the thickness of the ice every 10 feet or so as I walked out to deeper water. When the spud breaks through the ice after only three punches it’s time to turn tail and skedaddle. Lucky for me that wasn’t the case so I slowly and carefully set up my six tip ups.

I had gotten out on the ice about 2:30 p.m. and therefore had only about two hours for fishing before dark. Around 4:30 I decided I would start picking up because I’d gotten no strikes. It was beginning to get dark and as I was removing the first of my 6 tip ups I heard the sound of a flag popping up behind me. I turned to see the waving flag and the top of the tip up jiggling wildly as the fish ran with the bait. Carefully and slowly, I pulled the tip up out of the ice hole without alerting the fish to my actions. I watched the line continue to spool out until it began to slow down. I then grabbed the line with both hands and gave it a tug to set the hook.

Feeling the sting of the hook the fish ran off for another 20 feet of line with a vengeance. It felt strong and heavy so I didn’t horse it in because I was using a 10 pound mono-filament leader, and even a 5 pound fish can produce 20 pounds of pull at a dead run. I pulled the fish back toward the hole three times and it ran out again each time. Finally it began to tire and I was able to haul the fish through the hole and onto the ice. It was a nice fat 23 inch walleye probably weighing a good 5 pounds! Here’s a picture.

BTW… Before I went out for the first time this year I re-rigged my equipment. I put new Polar Ice Lines on all my tip-ups.

I also put new Stren FluoroCarbon Leaders. Some ice fishermen think that clear line is the best choice. I believe that a tinted line which matches a natural color such as Gunsmoke or low visibility Green may be a better choice to not spook the BIG fish.

Happy New Year and Happy Icefishing!