The O-fficial 2011 MHF Ice Fishing Extravaganza Thread!

[Chucker]

No blow-by-blow recap by me, just some good pics of good times.

MOM making some new friends on Friday night before dinner (no, they were not dinner)



Dom, Issiah, Scott listening to Pat describing the 13" smelts he was jigging up



A sample of the fine eats on ice, this one provided by ramrod



MOM working up a laker on Tyler's trap



A nice fish above the ice



Harrie looking for trouts, with CaptJJ and jaeger61 a little ways off



The weather starts to roll in



The view from the launch back out to the MHF spread (thanks for bringing my stuff in, Mike & Capt!)



Harrie & Steve packing up the world's largest porta-potty 



The ride home, somewhere around White Lake (before it got really crappy)



And one final pic for me.  Thanks to everyone today who made this trip worth the ride.  I'd go through that slop again in a heartbeat to be with this crowd for the day.

[upstatehunter]

Great shots Chucker!!  Was so great meeting you today. Wish the fish had been a little hungrier.
I can't wait until the next one now. I have to get out that way for some fishing. Have always wanted to see the salmon run.
I am glued to the posts every fall with it.

[drobertsinMaryland]

Nice pics Chucker. The Whitetails dont seem to be as timid as you guys make them out to be up there. If I had to drive in weather like that I would have pulled over and crawled in the back seat. Then curled up in the fetal position.LOL Just kidding on that last part.

[upstatehunter]

Things aren't always as they seem DRob, everyone in that town has fed the deer for years. Even though it isn't legal anymore and most don't,
the deer still come. They have easier walking on the trails(snowmobile) and some great food in all the beautiful shrubs and landscape greenery.
Come September, they are all named Houdini...

[drobertsinMaryland]

Just giving you NY'ers a ribbing upstatehunter. I figured they were city deer and plenty of them in MD.

[upstatehunter]

I'm thinking of putting a ladder stand up against their buildings next year...

[drobertsinMaryland]

hehe Better be careful you might shoot someones pet.

[stka]

It was a great time. Real glad we spent the second night, roads were much better today and the whirlpool is the way to go after a day on the ice . That was the first vacation Heather and have taken in a while and couldn't have been better, unless we got some more people some lakers. I worked a jigging rod most of the day trying to figure something out and hand it off to someone, but even though I marked fish nonstop I couldn't get them to do squat after the one I hooked early. Only set one tip-up out of the thirty I brought because there were so many already set. The one I had set next to the Quickfish (Port-O) had got hit, but was probably the only one I have that doesn't trip the flag  . When I checked it there was 10-20' of line out and no bait, I rebaited and fixed the gate. When I pulled it the bait was mouthed up pretty good, the fish just weren't actively feeding. Here's a few pics.

The trip out onto the ice wasn't pretty.



(note to self: don't stop moving in slush when it's zero degrees out, water freezes to the sled making it a tad more difficult to pull)
Heather thinks she agrees with getting a utility snowmobile now  .



After getting to the "high ground" it was a beautiful morning. A nice shot of Raquetts sign, came out great.



MOM catching a couple rays.



FLAG!!!!



Some run, some walk .



Hats off to Tyler and Upstate for giving MOM a shot at their only flag.
MOM played the fish like a pro.



The illusive Cheeks and Hunt emerged from the shack and didn't see a shadow, does that mean springs coming?
Great commemorative shirts! Thanks again Bog and MOM.



We feel like we forged some friendships over the weekend and look forward to seeing everyone there on more trips, even normal weekly fishing days. Thanks to everyone for the awesome food. Joe, the trophy came out great. We had a great time and are ready to start planning for next year  .

[drobertsinMaryland]

How much snow was actually on top the ice? Nice pics stka. I wonder who made that snazzy looking sign? That medium shirt fits cheeks nicely.

[Chucker]

Just emptied the car out.  Forgot about the straps - thanks again, Steve  Had 1/2" of water in the jet sled, and still had frozen slush balls on the bottom of my bibs.

I forgot to take a sunrise shot with the frost on the trees, but that picture of the sign nails it.  Was so cool to see the steam rising from the slush trails.

Drobs - Some spots the snow was packed down to almost nothing.  Other spots, it was probably 10" deep, with a crust about 2" down that broke about 90% of the time.  When it broke, and you got your foot out of the hole, you could watch it fill with 4" of water.

[drobertsinMaryland]

Drobs - Some spots the snow was packed down to almost nothing.  Other spots, it was probably 10" deep, with a crust about 2" down that broke about 90% of the time.  When it broke, and you got your foot out of the hole, you could watch it fill with 4" of water.

That doesnt sound good.

[upstatehunter]

Great pics Steve!! Between us we should gotten everything. I almost forgot the shirts. That was icing on the cake.
Bog and Mom are just plain good people. Proud to call them friends. As well as the rest of the crew.
As always, was real nice to shake Walters hand, and yes give him a hug. He is one of the real good guys.
Can't wait to get on the water frozen or not with him again. Issiah, what is there to say except "see ya in a couple weeks".
Hope we don't get more snow...

[bogmanjr]

checking in quick from parking lot in town, we will get our pics up Monday. Thanks to all for making our trip such a great time we had a blast all the way around!!!! Bog and MOM out!!!

[upstatehunter]

Thank you two for coming up to our little corner of the globe. Turned into a beautiful event!!

[ramrod]

awesome pics guys thanx for posting.

stka you and heather have a gr8 thing going and really seem to enjoy time spent with each other doing the things you both enjoy. glad to hear you guys finally goat away for a little vacation.  it nice to take a little time away from the grind every once in awhile to relax. 


chucker do u ever fish sodus? i spent alot of time there when i lived in ontario. amazing perch fishery (on the right days).