Nakanum ice conditions

[tonypower]

I am heading out to nakamun tomorrow morning. This will be my first shot at ice fishing and was wondering if it's ok to drive on yet? I don't have a tent or anything so the warmth of the truck might come in handy. Lol thanks for the info

[woolly7]

There is a lot of ice (18"-24"). On a nice weekend there will be over 50 vehicles on the ice. I've been driving on for 3 weeks.

[thefloormat]

same here, been driving on for 3 weeks, on saturday there were about 50 trucks out there.

Funny enough we drove past the large group of people sitting about 200m off shore and we continued out about another 100m. We pulled up about 150 perch, kept 39. the group nearest us but still close to shore only caught 2. This is the second time I've had this happen

so my advice is find the deep water, load any hook up with maggots and put it 3" off the bottom. I tried everything from forage minnows to 5 of diamonds to wire worms, swedish pimples, even went up in size to a buck shot rattler.

My plan with the buck shot was that would bring in the bigger perch, and it did, a few about 11", but I ended up just snagging a whole lot of little ones by setting the hook when i felt something and just catching them outside the mouth, so they all went back. I also brought up a tiny pike on that buck shot, but id recommend not using it becuase it just allowed the perch to pick the hook clean and I was constantly re baiting.

My little pike, dog is totally not impressed

[tonypower]

Taht sounds like a ton of fun. where is the best place to access lake? never been out there yet.

[Garry B]

Originally Posted by thefloormat

My little pike, dog is totally not impressed

Aww, isn’t it adorable. Even a little baby pike looks kind of cute.

[tonypower]

I dont think I ever got one that small. I have bigger fish in my tank at home. lol

[thefloormat]

I access it from the boat launch on the south side of the lake in the little community, seems even those that fish on the far north side come in on the south side so there may only be one access.

There were quite a few vehicles east of us last time fishing right in the narrows of the lake, that may be a place to try out if you want, but I know nothing about it.

[tonypower]

awesome thanks for the info. I will take some pictures and let you all know how I did. Hope I can get through the ice

[thefloormat]

hand auger? ya would love to see some pics.

[tonypower]

Ya a hand auger. I bought it at wholesale last weekend on sale. the guy there said I should have no trouble.... did I get taken in???

[highwood]

If the blades are sharp you will be fine, but maybe a little tired.

[tonypower]

It should be a good one. it think it was 100 bucks regular price.

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by tonypower

It should be a good one. it think it was 100 bucks regular price.

I'm gonna guess 8" Fin-Bore?

[tonypower]

That is it. kinda big for perch but I was dreaming of big pike when I bought it.

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by tonypower

That is it. kinda big for perch but I was dreaming of big pike when I bought it.

I've got the same one from before I got my gasser and it's a good auger. I used it this year on Wab pretty much until there was enough ice to drive on. It's a good solid auger, and I really like the offset handles, though it seems a little awkward at first if you're used to the 'bit and brace' style of auger.

Those blades, when they're brand new are pretty aggressive, and I found that just with the weight of the auger it would take out some pretty big chunks, but bind up occasionally. If you find it binding up just lift the auger a tiny bit to take off a bit of the weight until it cuts but doesn't bind. After a handful of uses this shouldn't be too much of an issue

With ~2 feet of ice now any hand auger will give you a pretty good workout, but it's far from unreasonable. Have fun out there and let us know how you make out!

[tonypower]

Well I made it to nakaum today and the perch were non stop. The auger worked great. The ice is almost as thick as my whole auger. I was on my knees with the last bit of the whole. Perch were small but a couple around 10". They all lived to see another day. Thanks for all the advise

[thefloormat]

good to hear, was thinking about there again this weekend, but looks like I may join some family on pigeon instead.

[tonypower]

I think the jigs I was using were a little to small. Might be better to use a bigger size to weed out some of the little ones. Sunday I will hit wab. Not looking forward to hand drilling holes there

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by tonypower

I think the jigs I was using were a little to small. Might be better to use a bigger size to weed out some of the little ones. Sunday I will hit wab. Not looking forward to hand drilling holes there

No more ice on Wab than there is on Nakamun...possibly even a touch less.