First Ice Eye's....

We Have Ice!  Last night I slipped out onto the ice for a quick looksy at the ice conditions and brought along some bait and the ol fish house to give it a shot.  With the snow all drifted up across the lake and very "iffy" conditions, Mike and I decided to take our sweet time working our way out to our "first ice honey hole."  That proved to be the smartest decision we have made in a while.  Although in the picture you can see that we are sitting on about 6 inches of ice, I was fortunate not to fall through, as I poked the chisel through about 1 inch of ice a few feet from where we set up.  Yet again I found myself in a bad ice situation that would drive my mother crazy (sorry Ma).  It seems that every year I somehow end up being the crazy guy that just lucks out, but stretches the limits every time.  While I didn't know the ice was bad in that spot, I took extra precaution in poking holes every couple of feet to make sure of the thickness, and allowed us to safely stay clear of the bad ice.  I laugh now about it, but it was another close call that I am able to look back on.  How did the fishing go??? Well, we were forced to set up about 50 yards short of the depths I was looking for, but Mike did manage to land the first eater of the year on the ice before we headed back in.  With all of this snow and varying ice depths, it will most certainly be a while before we have consistent ice for traveling on.  Please use extra precaution on the ice at this point, because it aint worth the fish.  Until Next Time Y'all, Keep On Livin The Dream!