One of the biggest bluegills I've ever caught

January 16, 2016 - Saturday 

14 degrees/calm/snow flurries

Pentoga Road

Darn it anyway, yesterday's high of 25 degrees was a welcome pause from this past week's temperatures in the minus numbers. Tonight's low is to be -10, Sunday night's even lower. Oh well, as I keep saying, we can't complain. 

Friday was a mixed bag of activities. I began the morning sitting in the ice shack, jigging for bluegills and crappies. I'm beginning to get a bit frustrated as the sonar shows the fish are down there, but getting them to hit is a different story. 

I've used white, pink, yellow, green, and every other type of panfish jig known to modern man. Baits? Sure, I have a few: minnows, imitation minnows, wax worms, spikes, and corn, to name a few. I'm running out of ideas and patience.

I caught two nice fish yesterday morning, a big bluegill and a decent crappie. I lost several more, but many rose to the bait, then decided to ignore it.

The old-timers are saying the ice formed too late this year resulting in less than favorable results. I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind that, but right now, I'll take that over admitting that my fishing prowess isn't what it used to be!

I arrived home at midmorning and decided to clean the drive and deck. We've not had any large amounts of snow, but rather, it's fallen from the sky regularly in the form of heavy flurries and occasional squalls. An inch here, a half an inch there, all adds up. I pushed three or four inches off the drive yesterday.

After a lunch consisting of a pork chop sandwich, I headed out to the shop and began working on another ice fishing sled. 

First is to remove the bindings from the old skis

All went well until one piece of a 2x6, used for the frame, cracked. It was the last piece in the scrap bin so all work was halted until I can get to the lumber yard.

That garbage can lid was a very important piece for getting the angles just right

It was a nice day and there were still a couple of hours of daylight left. I decided to return to the lake and move the ice shack. It's currently located in the same area about twenty feet to the north and a bit closer to shore. I took the opportunity to fish for an hour with the same results. The fish were down there, but I couldn't entice any to hit.

Sargie and I had a quiet evening. She opens today, but has Sunday off.

I finally found a used electric piano like I've been looking for. It's a Kawai, an older model, with several voices, midi, (computerized in and output) and weighted keys. I've played this particular model several times and have always been very impressed with it's piano-like qualities.

I emailed the seller and have heard back. We'll be making arrangements to see it in Iron Mountain in the next few days. For those who don't know, I've dabbled in the music field in my past life.

I'm going to head back to the lake first thing this morning in another attempt to catch more than my daily one or two fish. After, I'll head to the lumber yard, and this afternoon, I hope to work in the shop.

The Packers play in Arizona this evening. They are going to have to play better than at any other time this year if they hope to advance in the playoffs. A loss tonight signals the end of the season. A victory ensures us another week. I'll be sitting in front of the television coaching and cheering.

Time to get the day started. After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Beautiful Isabella