A-Jay's Annual Ice Out / Open Water Countdown Thread ~

[MN Fisher]

8 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

I don't get wrapped up in business stuff that much.

Only time I do is when a business does something completely contrary to my personal ethics.

[gim]

10 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Either way, if I'm not ever throwing them, don't need to take them for boat rides.

#lightentheload

 

Lets be honest, how much of us are just hauling around lures that we hardly ever use? My hunch is most of us.

[A-Jay]

14 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Only time I do is when a business does something completely contrary to my personal ethics.

Oh you mean like when a derby is purposely scheduled so that anglers can repeatedly catch

the same 10 brown bass off their beds for 4 DAYs IN A ROW ?

I get that.

A-Jay

12 minutes ago, gimruis said:

#lightentheload

 

Lets be honest, how much of us are just hauling around lures that we hardly ever use? My hunch is most of us.

Guilty, but I'm not in denial and I'm working on it.

It's feels like a 12 step type program.

I'm at the "apologize to the Monkey" stage right now.

It's not going well either.

A-Jay

 

[Deephaven]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Been doing well with other baits and have never really been able to build any confidence in them.

Much of that might be from lack of fishing them.

Either way, if I'm not ever throwing them, don't need to take them for boat rides.

I don't get wrapped up in business stuff that much.

A-Jay

 

Ok, good.  I like Rapala.  They have by far the best billboards.  Also a fan of their floaters, but absolutely am reducing my tackle box and not growing it.

54 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Only time I do is when a business does something completely contrary to my personal ethics.

I was frightened that was why so I had to ask.

53 minutes ago, gimruis said:

#lightentheload

 

Lets be honest, how much of us are just hauling around lures that we hardly ever use? My hunch is most of us.

Always reducing mine, but still not enough!

[TnRiver46]

11 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Only time I do is when a business does something completely contrary to my personal ethics.

I’d never be able to buy anything 

 

granted I can’t buy much anyhow 😂 

[A-Jay]

There's been a few changes but over all,

I'm feeling pretty good about my jerkbait game for 2024 ~

Fish Hard

48~ Days

A-Jay

 

[txchaser]

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

There's been a few changes but over all,

I'm feeling pretty good about my jerkbait game for 2024 ~

Fish Hard

48~ Days

A-Jay

 

Thanks for this post, I was feeling like I was hauling around too many jerkbaits. Now I realize I'm nowhere near too many. 

[A-Jay]

27 minutes ago, txchaser said:

Thanks for this post, I was feeling like I was hauling around too many jerkbaits. Now I realize I'm nowhere near too many. 

No - you're right.

We both have too much.

The difference is, I don't care.

A-Jay

[A-Jay]

45 days to go ~

It's mid February in northern Michigan.

Looks and feels the part. 

Spent most of yesterday morning cleaning & cutting paths through the snow.

But it's all good, because it "Tight Line Sunday".

Dropping some topwater action from a few summers ago for this one . . . .

A-Jay

 

 

[A-Jay]

The custom skirt making shop was open briefly today.

The devil is in the details . . . .

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

[casts_by_fly]

I mean, I guess those look like they could work…

 

Is that flash a bou?

[A-Jay]

10 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

I mean, I guess those look like they could work…

Is that flash a bou?

 Yes it is ~ a little goes a long way.

Past few seasons, that pattern has been like baseball.

It's been very good to me.

A-Jay

[casts_by_fly]

@A-Jay thanks.  I have a TON of flashabou downstairs from when I use to tie flies.  Between regular flashabou, the crinkle cut version, and some others, I bet I have 18-20 hanks of it.  Now I've got a little side project until things thaw out.  I needed to tie up some feather trebles anyway.  Looks like a couple strands here or there in a skirt or two is coming.

 

Do you use it as a bright accent on darker skirts (like above) or also on the brighter stuff (like a chartreuse/white)?  I'm going to play with a couple options (I think black flashabou could be interesting and subtle) and see what I coem up with.  Worst case, I can all always pull those strands off on the water.

[A-Jay]

39 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

@A-Jay thanks.  I have a TON of flashabou downstairs from when I use to tie flies.  Between regular flashabou, the crinkle cut version, and some others, I bet I have 18-20 hanks of it.  Now I've got a little side project until things thaw out.  I needed to tie up some feather trebles anyway.  Looks like a couple strands here or there in a skirt or two is coming.

 

Do you use it as a bright accent on darker skirts (like above) or also on the brighter stuff (like a chartreuse/white)?  I'm going to play with a couple options (I think black flashabou could be interesting and subtle) and see what I coem up with.  Worst case, I can all always pull those strands off on the water.

Truth be told, I never used it before.

I purchased a few Biovex baits that had it.  They really produced. I started adding it after that.

My best spinnerbait bite usually includes wind and SUN.  A little flashabou on any pattern seems ok.  Clearly not a magic bullet, but it keeps my confidence high enough to continue the chunking & winding.

A-Jay

 

 

[casts_by_fly]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Truth be told, I never used it before.

I purchased a few Biovex baits that had it.  They really produced. I started adding it after that.

My best spinnerbait bite usually includes wind and SUN.  A little flashabou on any pattern seems ok.  Clearly not a magic bullet, but it keeps my confidence high enough to continue the chunking & winding.

A-Jay

 

 

So it turns out I have even more than I thought. I forgot just how much fly tying stuff I amassed over the years. I have a 20”x20”16” tote packed so full that the lid doesn’t shut tight. I was a bit of a collector when I liked something and had to have all of the colors. Flashabou and accents were one of those. Just pulling out the main envelopes it looks like 30 different ones. At a couple 4” strands per bait I guess I could accent every skirted lure on bass resource. 
 

 

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, casts_by_fly said:

So it turns out I have even more than I thought. I forgot just how much fly tying stuff I amassed over the years. I have a 20”x20”16” tote packed so full that the lid doesn’t shut tight. I was a bit of a collector when I liked something and had to have all of the colors. Flashabou and accents were one of those. Just pulling out the main envelopes it looks like 30 different ones. At a couple 4” strands per bait I guess I could accent every skirted lure on bass resource. 
 

 

Pretty sure that level of inventory designates you as the flashabou regional distribution center. 

Great color selection btw.

A-Jay 

[casts_by_fly]

4 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Pretty sure that level of inventory designates you as the flashabou regional distribution center. 

Great color selection btw.

A-Jay 

 

something like that.  At the time I was tying a lot, much of it was for steelhead on the great lakes.  You should see the fluoroescent yarns I have sitting in the bottom of this tub. And then the beads, cone heads, and dubbing tubs.  You never knew just what was going to turn on the fish on a given day (they saw a lot of flies) so I carried them ALL.  Which meant I had to tie them all.  Fortunately carrying a hundred different flies takes up a lot less space than a hundred different hardbaits.

[casts_by_fly]

4 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Truth be told, I never used it before.

I purchased a few Biovex baits that had it.  They really produced. I started adding it after that.

My best spinnerbait bite usually includes wind and SUN.  A little flashabou on any pattern seems ok.  Clearly not a magic bullet, but it keeps my confidence high enough to continue the chunking & winding.

A-Jay

 

 

my boss thanks you for my abundant productivity today. 
 

I played a bit with some spinnerbaits that I didn’t fish much for one reason or another. Two just got new skirts, one a direct replacement, and two got dolled up. I’ve always loved root beer and dark colored flashabou so that’s where I went. I also pulled pictures of our local panfish for comparison. These might just be fine. 
 

 

 

 

 

[A-Jay]

11 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

my boss thanks you for my abundant productivity today. 
 

I played a bit with some spinnerbaits that I didn’t fish much for one reason or another. Two just got new skirts, one a direct replacement, and two got dolled up. I’ve always loved root beer and dark colored flashabou so that’s where I went. I also pulled pictures of our local panfish for comparison. These might just be fine. 
 

 

 

 

 

Nice !

Now that's what I call being 'productive'.

A-Jay

[casts_by_fly]

I need to paint the white head on that last one to something darker (for me, not the fish).  And the chartreuse was just a FS&G throw some rainbow flashabou on there to see what it looks like.  I'm pretty confident the three olivey ones will be on the money with the bluegills though and the orange /yellow head (its a copper flashabou) is going to be not far off a perch if you move it fast enough.

 

I might have to pull a couple chatterbaits out of the box now.  I have some red flashabou that's screaming for a green pumpkin CB.

[A-Jay]

Mild temperatures in the 30's & 40's are expected through much of this week.

The anomalously warm winter temperatures over the last several weeks/months,

has us a full 3 feet low on our annual snow fall average. 

Open water is visible on several area lakes with what some call dangerously thin

(but I prefer wonderfully thin) ice in some cases. 

Ice is never 100% safe caution must be exercised on these lakes. 

Ice fisherman, skiers, snow mobile operators and abominable snowmen

are all pretty bummed out at this point.

Me, not so much.

43 Days to go - maybe.

A-Jay

[gim]

2 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Mild temperatures in the 30's & 40's are expected through much of this week.

The anomalously warm winter temperatures over the last several weeks/months,

has us a full 3 feet low on our annual snow fall average. 

The 5 inches of snow we got here last week is almost gone. Sun and 45 degrees is doing major damage to it.

 

Our total snowfall stands at 14 inches here this winter. It’s supposed to be warm here all week and potentially reach 60 next Monday.

 

Goodbye fake winter.

[A-Jay]

8 minutes ago, gimruis said:

The 5 inches of snow we got here last week is almost gone. Sun and 45 degrees is doing major damage to it.

 

Our total snowfall stands at 14 inches here this winter. It’s supposed to be warm here all week and potentially reach 60 next Monday.

 

Goodbye fake winter.

Yup -

Since I do have an open CIR bass season open early,

I plan on being ready for whatever ends up happening.

For a while there I thought I might be fishing in Feb,

but that seems a bit unrealistic at this point.

But March surely has potential.

Just need the wind to not be crazy.

A-Jay

[gim]

11 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

But March surely has potential.

Definitely will be open water here in March too. Gonna have to start looking back at the beginning of this thread to see some ice out predictions.

 

@MN Fisher had a really early prediction here and at the time I thought it was quite generous. May turn out to just be a good call on his part, thanks to El Niño.

[A-Jay]

8 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Definitely will be open water here in March too. Gonna have to start looking back at the beginning of this thread to see some ice out predictions.

If it goes out any time in March here, I don't even have to look.

I was WAAAAAY off !

🤓

A-Jay