Creeking Summit Ice

A phenomenal ice fishing season down here in Pendleton is coming to an end.  I spent most of today ice fishing Summit Lake.  The ice had plenty to say about it too, as it cracked and howled while I fished.  The ice was so noisy, that several times it made me literally jump to my feet.  I could feel the vibrations beneath me as I knelt down and brought in fish.  No worries, for I knew I was on top of a solid 10+ inches of good ice.  

Speaking of thick ice, over the weekend at Loomis I drilled so much that my arms are still sore.  Although I have to say, it was easy to pull the shanty around.  The ice was nice and slick.  I kinda had wished I had brought my skates.   The last few holes I drilled, have a distinguished slant to em.  Pretty sure I'm going to need to sharpen some auger blades in preparation for the next ice season.

What I miss most about winters down here in Pendleton is lambing.  Back home on the farm, my goats and sheep always gave birth on the coldest days in the winter.  Getting up at 4AM to run out to the barn cause I heard noises on the lambing monitor was always exciting.  Seeing the newborn kids (goats) and lambs, was like opening gifts on Christmas morning.  I'd bring the little bundles inside the kitchen and dry em off, then give em there vaccinations.  In some cases, like when my Jacob sheep, Lucy, had triplets, I'd give the weakest babe supplemental feedings.   

Nowadays, at 4AM, I sleep and there is no monitors making noise.  I can live with that, even though I do miss the lil cuties.  :)

Well, this morning bright n early, I headed out to fish Summit.  There was only one other angler fishing when I arrived.

The bite was slow n steady.  I caught and released a bunch of below average sized gills.  Or maybe, it was the same gill that just couldn't get enough of me.  ?  :)
 

I did manage to get a few big keepers, which I felt sorry for and released.  What thrilled me about the big ones, was that I caught em on a braided ice jig that I tied. 

I set up my tip up too, with a small gill, hoping for something BIG!  I've not had any luck with tip ups this season.  I think that'll be my goal for next season-- to figure out how to catch fish on em.

 I went back to the house about 3PM for the kids.  Here's what it looked like when I left:

All in all, it was a beautiful day to be out and I had some good "me time".  :)