Category Archives: Ice Fishing
Ice fishing season is over, for some it was a very good year
Tomorrow is April 1 and it is time to wrap up ice fishing for this year. Sure, you may be able to get onto the ice in some lakes of higher elevation, but you are really taking a chance on being unable to get off the ice due to the melting along the shorelines. More than once a fishing buddy and I had to tread open water along the shoreline while trying to get off the ice. During the day the ice had melted and what was just a hop to get onto the ice in the morning turned out to be a four or five feet leap in the afternoon. Try jumping that distance while dragging an ice fishing sled filled with an auger, hibachi, tip-ups, etc.
It was a nice, long season with lots of big fish being caught. The Onota Boat Livery Ice Fishing Derby ended last weekend and here are the winners. The largest pike was caught out of Onota Lake by John Kozlowski, weighing 23 lbs 6 oz; largest bass was caught by Dan Dufur out of Pontoosuc weighing 5 lb 12 oz; largest trout was caught out of Onota Lake by Rich Garhardt, weighing 11 lbs 2 oz; largest perch was caught out of Richmond Pond by Ken Kirchner, weighing 1 lb 7 oz; largest crappie was caught out of Pontoosuc Lake by Dean Dobson weighing 1 lb 9 oz; largest pickerel was caught out of Stockbridge Bowl by Keith Fortini weighing 5 lb 6 oz., and largest salmon was caught out of Laurel Lake by Silas Amlaw and it weighed 5 lb 6 oz. No tiger muskies were checked in this year. Congratulations to all.
The 8th Annual Thomas Wren Memorial Ice Fishing Derby produced some nice fish. Gary Sagendorph took first prize in the Adult Category with a 9 lb 14 oz northern pike, Sean Smith took second with a 5 lb 14 oz pike and Dan Dufur took third with a 4 lb largemouth bass. In the kid’s Category, Samantha Clark caught a 2 lb 11 oz pickerel, Amy Gates took second with a 14 oz perch and Russell Gates took third with a 10 oz perch. According to derby organizer Ed Carmel, the Wren children are grown up now and no longer need the proceeds. They were donated to the Pittsfield Sportsmen’s Club.
The Lee Youth Football folks are happy these days for last month the Locker Room Ice Fishing Derby raised $2,000 for their cause. According to Derby Director Butsy Crawford, it was one of the best derbies that they have had. The winners were: Adult Category – Chris Gelaznik, a 3.8 lb pickerel. In the Kids category, there was a tie. Both Jaden Strout and Lukas Trumps weighed in 1.8 lb trout
There were also other big fish which were caught and the pictures were featured in this column over the winter. Remember 6-year old Grace Ungewitter’s 11 lb 8 oz northern pike, 6-year old Nathan Luczynski’s 6 lb 1 oz bullhead and 10-year old Nathan Armstrong’s 7 lb 14 oz salmon? All of those fish will result in State recognition.
Yes, it was a memorable season for many not the least being the fishermen pictured above. That picture was taken at the Stockbridge Sportsmen’s Club Ice Fishing Derby on Echo Lake by SSC member Tim Minkler. Six year old Sam St Peter caught a 22″ pickerel that weighed 3.2 lbs as well as a bass that was 17″ long and weighed 3 lbs. His 3 year old brother Beau caught a 14″ bass that weighed 1.2 lbs.
“You cannot buy this stuff in the store” said Minkler, referring to the proud youngsters. “It is not for sale….this is special”. “Pictures may fade over the years but memories of that derby will be passed down over the generations in the St Peter’s Family”. Well put, Tim.
Time to put away your tip-ups and grab your fishing rod because the following waters were scheduled to be stocked with trout by DFW last week: Pontoosuc Lake, Onota Lake, Laurel Lake, Richmond Pond, Stockbridge Bowl and Lake Garfield. *****
Over 100 coyotes were entered into Dave’s Sporting Goods Coyote Contest this year, and the winners were as follows: Carl Dolle bagged the most coyotes with a tally of 24. Dan Gaylord bagged the heaviest one which weighed 51 ½ lbs. Dave Willette practiced what he preaches and bagged the second largest coyote which weighed 45 lbs. He wrote the book on coyote hunting..….literally, it is called Coyote Wars, and it can be purchased at Dave’s Sporting Goods. *****
Near record bullhead caught by local 6 year older
On Wednesday, February 20, six year old Nathan Luczynski, of Cheshire, was ice fishing on Cheshire Lake with his father Tim. It was a cold and windy day and around 10 am a tip-up flag went up. Tim was 80 – 90 yards away from it and Nathan responded to the flag. Tim watched his young son pulling and pulling line for what seemed like 4 or 5 minutes. He pulled in approximately 60 or 70 yards of line before he finally pulled the fish out of the hole. At first, Tim was hoping that it was a big bass. You can imagine his surprise when he discovered it was either a big bullhead or catfish.
They brought the fish to the DFW Regional Headquarters in Dalton and two biologists confirmed that it was a brown bullhead. It measured 23.2 inches long, with a girth of 14.7 inches and weighed 6 lbs 1 oz! That fish weighed only 3 ounces shy of the Massachusetts state record. To get an idea as to the rarity of catching a fish this size, an adult fisherman qualifies for a State bronze pin if a bullhead exceeds 2 lbs 0 oz. In the youth category, the bullhead only has to be 1.0 lbs to get a pin.
I think Nathan and his family might be traveling down to the New England Fishing and Outdoor Expo at the DCU Center in Worcester next February to pick up a gold pin and trophy for that fish. It is doubtful that a larger bullhead will be caught for some time. Incidentally, the state record brown bullhead, which weighed 6 lbs 4 oz came out of Forest Lake in Methuen in 2008 and was caught by Roger Aziz, Jr. of Methuen.
Tim said that if the fish turned out to be a catfish, he was not going to mount it because they grow to good size. But seeing that it was a potential award winner and very nearly a state record, he is having it mounted by Countryside Taxidermy in Cheshire. He said that he purchased his shiners from JCB Live Bait also in Cheshire. *****
According to club vice president Mark Jester, the 29th annual Lenox Sportsmen’s Club Rabbit Hunt was “tough going” this year. Even though there was plenty of snow cover, it was a very hard crust with temperatures in the single digits early in the day and never getting above freezing. There was only one cottontail weighed in and that was by 12 yr old club member Nick Puntin of Becket, and it weighed 3 lbs. Nick hunted with his Dad, Chris and Grandfather Bill.
Seventeen brave hunters participated that day. One hunter fell through some ice up to his waist crossing a swampy area and called it quits early. However; he did make it to the club later for a warm and tasty venison goulash dinner. ****
The Stockbridge Sportsmen’s Club (SSC) is holding a game dinner this Saturday evening. Social hour is from 6 to7 pm and dinner at 7. The cost is $20 for adults and $10 for kids 10 years old and under. For more information, contact Marc Fadding at (3)441-4249.
Incidentally, the SSC is a very active club which is rapidly approaching 400 members.Its youth archery program is well underway and there are currently 76 kids signed up, ranging from 4-15 yrs old. Staying with the subject of young hunters, archers and anglers, did you pick up on the fact that both Nathan Luczynski and Nick Putin shared their experiences with their dads? I don’t know about you but I get a warm and fuzzy feeling about that. And if the parents can’t get these kids out, it is nice to know that the local sportsmen‘s clubs are picking up the slack with archery programs, youth rifle leagues, fishing derbies, etc. If for no other reason, I encourage you to join and/or support them. *****
She thought she caught an alligator
Recently, six-year old Grace Ungewitter of Pittsfield was wrapping up a day of ice fishing with her dad Erick on Pontoosuc Lake. As they were picking up their tip-ups, Erick noticed that one of them had spooled out and was shaking, but the flag had not gone up. He asked Grace to pull it in. When she tried, she noticed something heavy on the line and thought it was tangled up in the weeds. The line was wiggling and Erick knew that there must have been a fish on the other end. After a lengthy battle, Grace brought the fish near the hole where Erick could see that it was a large fish as it passed by.
She pulled the fish up to the hole a second time and this time Erick grabbed the fish through the gill plate and pulled it out of the hole. In doing so, a tooth must have caught him and he got a nasty cut. Young Grace went running around shouting, “I caught an alligator! I caught an alligator!”
The fish measured 34 ½ inches with a 16 inch girth and according to the Crea’s Bait Shop certified scales, it weighed 11 lbs 8 oz. That is large enough to qualify Grace for a State bronze pin in the children’s category
Erick said that, some ice fishermen came rushing over to them to see the big fish while others checked out his cut. Later on that day, he tried to get into the hospital ER but it was full of people with bad colds and symptoms of the flu. He went home and had his mother, who is a nurse, tend to it.
Erick will have the fish mounted by friend Matt Ranzoni, of Lee. It will be attached to a piece of driftwood and when the bronze pin arrives from the State, it also will be attached.
He fishes all the time with his girls. His eight year old daughter, Leena, also has a nice fish to her credit, an 8 lb tiger muskie. *****
In his last report to the Berkshire County League of Sportsmen, DFW Western District Manager Andrew Madden reported that the Division received 350 broodstock salmon ranging in size from 3 to 11 lbs from the Nashua National Fish Hatchery in Nashua, NH. Our district’s allocation of 70 was stocked on January 30 into Windsor Pond and Laurel Lake. *****
Gary Soucie, of Williamstown, internationally renowned flyfishing author and outstanding fly tyer will be the guest speaker at the Taconic Chapter Trout Unlimited monthly meeting at Zucco’s Family Restaurant, 451 Dalton Avenue, Pittsfield, this Thursday evening. His presentation, which will be about emergers, will begin at 6:15pm and be followed by an Italian Buffet dinner around 7pm.
Some books written by Soucie include: Hook, Line, & Sinker: The Complete Angler’s Guide to Terminal Tackle, Soucie’s Field Guide of Fishing Facts, Home Waters: A Fly-Fishing Anthology, Traveling With Fly Rod and Reel, Woolly Wisdom: Tying and Fishing Woolly Worms, Woolly Buggers, and Their Fish-Catching Kin. He was also former editor or Assistant Editor for several fly fishing magazines. *****