Highlight of the Day- A Huge Perch

 This yellow perch is about as big as they get.  My son Jon and I got out on the ice today.  We were just jigging, and it was all yellow perch. I got this big one on a small Kastmaster tipped with a plastic maggot. 

We continue to see the thickest ice in a decade especially away from the coast. Looks like the ice fishing is going into March this year!

Ice fishing remains hot in RI and nearby MA.  This huge 
perch that I jigged up today was the highlight of the day.

Catch of the Day!

 My son, Ben, holds up the catch of the day as he jigged up this beautiful largemouth bass through the ice today.  It was a banner day as we jigged up 8 largemouths along with numerous perch, sunfish and crappie. They were all caught on small gold Kastmasters tipped with either a plastic mealworm or a Gulp maggot.

By the way- over 12 inches of ice, the most we've seen in decades!

 

Next Seminar Stop- Springfield Sportsmens Show

 My next stop on my winter seminar trail is the Springfield Sportsmens show at the Big E in Springfield, MA.  I will be there on Saturday, Feb. 21.  This show is billed as the biggest pure outdoor show in the northeast. There are a lot of fishing related booths and exhibits for freshwater and saltwater fishing enthusiasts.  But, there are also a lot of other outdoor features like hunting, camping, taxidermists, kayaks, boats and more. It's a very well attended and popular outdoor show that has been running for a long time.

I will be doing my "Situational Striper Fishing" seminar which is all new for 2026.  It will feature various situations striper fishermen encounter and how you fish those situations for best results. The seminar is mostly about shore fishing but I do also have segments on kayak fishing for stripers.  I did this seminar a couple of weeks ago, and it was very well received. I will be doing my first seminar at 1:00 and I will be doing it again at 4:00.

For more information on the show and seminar schedules, check out the website HERE

Only Show in Town- ICE FISHING REMAINS HOT

 

I jigged up this nice crappie today in some bluebird
weather.  This fish hit a small gold Kastmaster
tipped with a Berkley Gulp Maggot.

The weather is cold, really cold, but the ice fishing remains hot.  I've gotten out several times in the last week jigging several different ponds and I've gotten good numbers of fish.  It's been a lot of variety with perch, pickerel, crappie, largemouth bass and bluegills all hitting. 

Today I got out on the ice with my son Ben. I was amazed that there was almost 10 inches of ice in the pond we fished.  For the most part, we were jigging small Kastmasters tipped with Berkley Gulp maggots. That seemed to do the trick but the biggest fish caught today actually hit a Kastmaster with a plastic maggot.

My son, Jon, hit a first yesterday as he jigged up a pike, the first we ever caught while jigging. It was a small one, about 3 to 4 lbs. A day earlier he got a bigger one on a tilt. He's been scouting around in a number of places and doing quite well jigging after his work day is done.

Yellow perch have been on a tear this
winter. This one was caught today.