NDR...Icefishing for Walter with Mr. Bill and Calamity Bob

[SJ Fairbank]

Just a little silliness as the duck season comes to the end. I mentioned yesterday in Tod's trailer tire thread that I was headed out for a night walleye aka "Walter" trip. Thankfully the trailer part was a non-event.

Myself and a buddy hit a local lake with our host Mr. Bill. We arrived about an hour before sundown. The primary bite starts at dusk and lasts well into the night. Here in CT the limit is two walleye over 18". The fish in the photo are all from the same age class, 19-21" fork length. Great eater size. We caught a number of 16-17" fish, one year younger but of course they all go back. For whatever reason, on a given night we'll catch a bunch of one size, the next night totally different in the same spot. The biggest I've caught are 11-12 pounds, but they are few and far between. In this lake, in years when there is favorable ice, we've caught up to roughly 300 fish (group catch total). Total last night 12-13?, with several more lost at the hole. All fishing trips have a one that got away story, the "big one" of the night was lost by my buddy who was too lazy to bend over and grab it. Tried to yank it out of the hole, goodbye Walter. We were off the lake at 8:00, quite civilized even for two almost old farts.

Walter is a cunning adversary, the fish equivalent of a Black Duck. As demonstrated by Bill, the tipups have a red light on the flag which only illuminates when the flag goes up. This eliminates the need to shine the spread looking for flags, the light being to Walter the equivalent of standing up in the blind and waving your arms at the ducks. It's quite exciting when a red light starts flashing off in the darkness. We get set up, then retreat to the safety of the machine as there is only 3" of ice at the moment. Calamity Bob floats if you break through and is able, with considerable effort and swearing, to pull itself out of the lake. I got the Wilcraft in 2013, it's extended my icefishing season considerably with much less angst on the lake here in the Land of Thin Ice. I'll make perhaps 20 trips this season in CT, it's a great way to get outside in the otherwise dead of winter.

 

[tod osier]

Not a duckboat, but what a pinnacle of a specialized craft! Love it. I've always been interested in the ice scratcher boats they use in the midwest, but that is another level. I can see the utility in a state like CT where the ice is often touch and go.

Looks like you have the walleye dialed in!

 

[Carl]

Some very nice 'eyes!
We caught a few on my home lake in NE PA (Prompton), the biggest ones while ice fishing,
I've never seen an ATV like that, pretty neat.
My buddies in NE PA report good ice conditions and trending better every day. They caught a pile of nice pickerel right after on the 2nd, earliest theyve had fishable ice in 10 years.

 

[SJ Fairbank]

Not a duckboat, but what a pinnacle of a specialized craft! Love it. I've always been interested in the ice scratcher boats they use in the midwest, but that is another level. I can see the utility in a state like CT where the ice is often touch and go.

Looks like you have the walleye dialed in!

The Wilcraft are manufactured in St. Paul. I bet Dave McCann has seen them in his neck of the woods.

I would like to think I'm good at catching eyes, but they have of way of blowing you off. They can be challenging. A good example is the moon phase right now. The fish move into shallow water (3-6 ft) right at dark. You can see the progression from deep to shallow by which tipups go off. As soon as the moon rises, back out they go to deep water. Bastards! I have zero use for them during the summer, but there's no fish I would rather icefish for.

 

[SJ Fairbank]

Some very nice 'eyes!
We caught a few on my home lake in NE PA (Prompton), the biggest ones while ice fishing,
I've never seen an ATV like that, pretty neat.
My buddies in NE PA report good ice conditions and trending better every day. They caught a pile of nice pickerel right after on the 2nd, earliest theyve had fishable ice in 10 years.

Yes, the ice is building a little early here as well. I hope the trend continues.

The machine is basically a 10' jonboat with retractable wheels. The fish decals are my pimping. Surprisingly, it will crawl across ice you can't walk on. If you go in the lake, you retract the wheels, push the rear wheels up on good ice and extract yourself. It works, but it takes effort. There is a learning curve, but you are alive. When I bought it, I tested it extensively but no matter how much you test real world ice throws curves. I've been in the lake unexpectedly on numerous occasions. Mine is a first generation machine with 2 wheel drive. The newer ones are 4 wheel drive. It's nice peace of mind when riding down a lake with questionable ice.

 

[tod osier]

The Wilcraft are manufactured in St. Paul. I bet Dave McCann has seen them in his neck of the woods.

I would like to think I'm good at catching eyes, but they have of way of blowing you off. They can be challenging. A good example is the moon phase right now. The fish move into shallow water (3-6 ft) right at dark. You can see the progression from deep to shallow by which tipups go off. As soon as the moon rises, back out they go to deep water. Bastards! I have zero use for them during the summer, but there's no fish I would rather icefish for.

I like dumb fish and will go to great lengths to find them! Sounds like walleyes are too much for me!

I do hate that big moon for deer hunting as well.

 

[William Reinicke]

Ive never seen such a contraption before. I just went and spent 20 minutes watching videos on them. What a cool little buggy that thing is. It looks like it does pretty well getting back to land when it breaks through ice. Very very cool sir! Great eats you caught there as well.

 

[Huntindave McCann]

The Wilcraft are manufactured in St. Paul. I bet Dave McCann has seen them in his neck of the woods.

Only in the ads, not on the ice. I do have a close friend in MN which this would be a perfect fit for him.

Thanks for the report and photos. My walleye experience is the opposite of yours, I do so much better on open water for Walleyes. I do envy your ice success.

 

[greg setter]

What a cool rig, never seen anything like it. I'm, also happy to hear that someone keeps the tradition of Mr. Bill alive.

 

[SJ Fairbank]

Only in the ads, not on the ice. I do have a close friend in MN which this would be a perfect fit for him.

Thanks for the report and photos. My walleye experience is the opposite of yours, I do so much better on open water for Walleyes. I do envy your ice success.

I thought you might like it Dave.

 

[SJ Fairbank]

What a cool rig, never seen anything like it. I'm, also happy to hear that someone keeps the tradition of Mr. Bill alive.

Who can go icefishing without Mr. Bill? Can't say he's much of a conversationalist, but he knows what to say when you fall in the lake! OH, NOOOO!!!!

 

[Mark W]

That's almost like cheating. I have seen them around here but rarely. One thing you might want to take a look at is the Facebook group that makes and uses scratcher motors. They too break through the ice and they have methods of getting back onto the ice. Your machine might be on the heavy side to use their techniques.

I'm heading out in a couple hours for another day of frustration. Don't know why I keep going.

Mark

 

[SJ Fairbank]

That's almost like cheating. I have seen them around here but rarely. One thing you might want to take a look at is the Facebook group that makes and uses scratcher motors. They too break through the ice and they have methods of getting back onto the ice. Your machine might be on the heavy side to use their techniques.

I'm heading out in a couple hours for another day of frustration. Don't know why I keep going.

Mark

I've been in a jon boat with an ice scratcher. Just for a ride to check it out. The boat aspect is nice. The motors scare me, an unprotected circular saw blade spinning along right behind you. I'm headed out too, for a few hours after dark.

 

[William Reinicke]

I've been in a jon boat with an ice scratcher. Just for a ride to check it out. The boat aspect is nice. The motors scare me, an unprotected circular saw blade spinning along right behind you. I'm headed out too, for a few hours after dark.

I looked at that contraption as well. Is it really a saw blade???? Its what it looks like, but I was thinking, surely its rubberized spikes or something? I thought the point of ice fishing was not to go through it? Seems youd be cutting it up and making it weaker with this contraption lol. We do sure complicate things a human race sometimes. Besides it being a big saw blade on the back, i think the concept is super cool though. Only thing that might suck is if you went through, not sure how a saw blade is going to help push you through the water and how its going to create enough go to get you and the boat back on top of the ice. I would be a little sketched out at that point.

 

[Steven Alexander]

That thing looks like it could win tractor pulls. Cool rig.

 

[SJ Fairbank]

I looked at that contraption as well. Is it really a saw blade???? Its what it looks like, but I was thinking, surely its rubberized spikes or something? I thought the point of ice fishing was not to go through it? Seems youd be cutting it up and making it weaker with this contraption lol. We do sure complicate things a human race sometimes. Besides it being a big saw blade on the back, i think the concept is super cool though. Only thing that might suck is if you went through, not sure how a saw blade is going to help push you through the water and how its going to create enough go to get you and the boat back on top of the ice. I would be a little sketched out at that point.

Icefishing is a risky business no matter how much ice you think there is. Just like duck hunting on a nice day on calm water, shit happens. So we're always trying not to end up in the lake, but planning for the what if. The ice scratcher boats are pretty much a plain-jane jon boat, so the weight is distributed to minimize the chance of breaking through. Although some have runners like a skate blade, which also scares me, what if you run somebody's foot or their gear over ? Nothing stops fast on a sheet of ice.

 

[SJ Fairbank]

That thing looks like it could win tractor pulls. Cool rig.

Thank you. It actually is quite underpowered, just a 13 HP Briggs with a lawn tractor transaxle. The newer ones have bigger engines, 4wd and hydrostatic transmissions. For CT, the one I have is quite sufficient. If I was "way up Nort , eh'", I'd appreciate a little more oomph.

 

[SJ Fairbank]

This one is from last night. The school that came through was one year ahead of those Tuesday, so about 2" longer. Roughly 4 pounds. In CT the eyes aren't fatties, so they are about 5 pounds at 25" and add about 1 pound/inch thereafter. Note the red light from my headlamp, they are very light shy. The white light is the camera flash.

 

[Carl]

very nice!

 

[Huntindave McCann]

I looked at that contraption as well. Is it really a saw blade????

Yep, the original scratchers just repurposed a large saw blade. Many still do but just as many if not more use a steel disk with steel or carbide faced spikes/teeth. The engine typically has a centrifugal clutch to provide a smooth start to the drive wheel. The idea is the same as not spinning your tires, get the boat moving before increasing the RPM.