Lake St. Clair icefishing

[Bwilson]

Went back to Lake St. Clair in search of some Perch. Unfortunately they weren't very cooperative - but the sunfish and crappies were.
Weather was 10 degrees when we hit the ice and warmed to about 15 before we left. The wind was down and the sun was out - made for a pleasant down outside with my Dad and Uncle.

My Dad and Unlce getting ready to unload and hit the ice

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Only a few dozen people out today

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The view onto the lake from the marina we were fishing in

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Some of the docks we were fishing around. My Dad is 67 and still gets around pretty darn good.

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Ice fishing the easy way - with a "dead stick"

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With a few in the bucket

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And the days catch - mostly sunfish with 2 perch and a slab crappie. The largest perch was 12" on the nose

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Time to clean some fish and get them in the freezer.

 

[KuRUpTD]

Nothing better than spending time with your dad ... looks kinda cold .

 

[kgd]

Nice - the sunfish are "pumpkinseeds" and I think make very good eating. The crappie looks to be a black crappie. Personally I like the taste of pumpkinseed a bit better than crappie. Both are down the line from the flavor of the perch.

Looks like a great day!

 

[Marcelo Cantu]

Looks like a great time. Only about half a dozen people ice fish at the state park by me.

 

[Bwilson]

Nice - the sunfish are "pumpkinseeds" and I think make very good eating. The crappie looks to be a black crappie. Personally I like the taste of pumpkinseed a bit better than crappie. Both are down the line from the flavor of the perch.

Looks like a great day!

The sunfish in the pic are actually "redear" sunfish - although some people do call them pumpkinseeds. The 2 are very similiar. It's hard to see in the pic but they are distinguished by the red stripe at the gill plate.

The Crappie in the pic is a black crappie - identified by the 7 points in the dorsal fin - white crappie only have 5 or 6.

And yes - Perch are my all time favorite eating fish. Unfortunately, they have been hard to come by in Lake St. Clair for several reasons. The muskie population in the lake is out of control and cormorants, which eat the fry, are as abundant as the sea gulls any more. The lake also receives a ridiculous amount of ice fishing pressure - it's not uncommon for there to be 3,000 people + on the weekends. It's has definitely hurt the fishing.

 

[Bwilson]

Nothing better than spending time with your dad ... looks kinda cold .

Yeah, my Dad is the person that got me in to the outdoors. He knows more than I could ever hope to. He can identify every single tree and plant he comes across, is one of the best fishermen I've ever known, A pretty damn good hunter, and all around great companion. He had open heart surgery 10 years ago and now walks around with an artificial mitral valve - and does better than I do on most days. I can't wait until my kids are a little older so they get a chance to spend some outdoor time with the man that taught me.

As far as the weather - 10 or 15 degrees probably seems pretty cold to alot of the Country - here in Michigan we call it "nippy". Single digits and below zero are what we consider "cold" - most days we'll even put our coats on

 

[mkhop]

Bwilson I like the sled it looks like you guys crafted it yourself , I bought a cheap pair of skis to make something similar.

 

[Bwilson]

Bwilson I like the sled it looks like you guys crafted it yourself , I bought a cheap pair of skis to make something similar.

Yeah, that one is pretty much all "homegrown". We have several - some are modified jet sleds and others are engineered with old skis. I'll post some pics in a bit of what we do with the trailer that tows the 4 wheeler to the ice. The family, being of southern descent, has multiple degrees in "redneck" engineering. My Dad on the other hand, actually was an engineer. Give me a bit and I'll post up a pic.

 

[Bwilson]

We drive approx an hour to get to Lake St. Clair and when the ice is thick enough we take 4 wheelers to get around as the walk can sometimes be several miles. Instead of taking multiple cars/trucks and/or a super large trailer - we unhook the trailer that towed the 4 wheeler to the ice and pull it with the 4 wheeler, that way several people can ride in the trailer

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When the snow gets deep - it's 10 to 12" right now with 2' drifts in some spots - the 4 wheeler has a hard time pulling the trailer because of the wheels. My Father engineered skis for the trailer. The skis are trex deck boards attached at the pivot in the front by blocks and pins. The tires sit in between tire chocks that are bolted to the deck boards and then strapped through the rim of the tire to secure it.

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and

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Works a treat - rides right up on top of the snow and keeps the tires from "digging" in.

 

[kgd]

The sunfish in the pic are actually "redear" sunfish - although some people do call them pumpkinseeds. The 2 are very similiar. It's hard to see in the pic but they are distinguished by the red stripe at the gill plate.

Gotta disagree with you on this one. Pumpkinseeds also have the red-stripe behind the operculum flap. What makes them distinguishable in your pictures is the wavy-horizontal blue stripes on the face. Here is some other distinguishing characteristics taken from a site providing key information. I obviously couldn't do the operculum flap bend test

...It [Redear sunfish] can be distinguished from the similar looking pumpkinseed (L gibbosus) by the fact that its gill cover flap is semi-flexible and can be bent at least to right angles, whereas the flap on the pumpkinseed is rigid. It also lacks the spots on the dorsal fin and the bluish emerald lines on the sides of the head that are characteristic of the pumpkinseed.

Anyhow nice pictures again and thanks for sharing! Your dad seems like a real outdoorsman!

 

[Bwilson]

Gotta disagree with you on this one. Pumpkinseeds also have the red-stripe behind the operculum flap. What makes them distinguishable in your pictures is the wavy-horizontal blue stripes on the face. Here is some other distinguishing characteristics taken from a site providing key information. I obviously couldn't do the operculum flap bend test



Anyhow nice pictures again and thanks for sharing! Your dad seems like a real outdoorsman!

I reviewed all your information and did a little research of my own and, gosh darnit - I think you're right. I even went out to the trash and pulled a couple carcasses out - the operculum is definitely rigid (of course it could also be that way because it's 10 deg outside). I didn't realize the pumpkinseeds also had the red stripe - I believe I have been incorrectly identifying would must be a green sunfish. Every once in a while we catch something that highly resembles what I've been calling a redear sunfish (Pumpkinseed) but it lacks the red stripe. I need to do some more research now.

Thanks for the straightening out:thumbup:

 

[tonym]

Great pics.. I can almost taste the fish....

 

[dipbait]

Yellow perch, sunfish , and crappie. You suck. Dibbs on the perch.