North Dakota: Tell me about it= Update

[beechbum444]

Evening Everybody:

First and foremost, I'd like to thank everybody for their input on the first post. A lot of info that came in handy. It has snowed several feet since I have been here and yes it is cold like ive never experienced. I backed out of a snow covered road today and hung the back tire off and got stuck for a minute. Before I could even call roadside assistance, two guys in a 4 x 4 asked if I needed a tow. They hooked up and pulled me out of the ditch. They just laughed and went on to pull some other folks out of ditches. The plan is to get some ice fishing in for Walleye in Minnesota when the lakes freeze over and experience the ice towns.....Regards

[BLAHUT]

YOU are going to freeze your man parts off.... It ant's even started to get cold yet, jest you wate... You will learn, by GOD you will learn, ND has some good walleye fishing also, watch the ice thickness, You do not want to go swimming this time of year, I was a cold-water search and recovery diver even back then with the best wet suit, it was very cold.... If you drop your truck in, you will not believe just how much it will cost you, to get it recovered ( pulled out ) ???

[G W Wade]

Look for perch, Lots of us prefer them to walleye GW

[ascast]

I can only add - don't take a wrong turn and wind up in central Wyoming - you start school all over again..

[36g]

Welcome to FALL in the Upper Midwest. Winter is still a few weeks away..

[GhostHawk]

36g nailed it, still november so still fall.

Remember that prior planning prevents poor performance.

Preppers say that 2 is 1 and 1 is none but really smart conservatives that live up north count on having 3 or 4 alternatives to anything essential.


The longer a truly cold snap goes on the harder it is on cars and equipment. And yes wind chill counts.
Arranging even a half a day inside at room temp can make a big difference.

If you don't have a 12 volt battery charger and jumper cables, get them.
As for that pull out of a bad spot, pay it forward at least 3x.

Enjoy as much as you can.

Fuel injected cars are better than the old carb types. But I have seen when I needed a hair blow dryer stuck into the air intake of my truck for half an hour before it would start on the 3rd day of -35 below. Gasoline just was not vaporizing.

[Loudenboomer]

Winter is coming. Plan for it have the right attitude and enjoy it.

[megasupermagnum]

I think you got a proper introduction. In all fairness that storm was pretty bad. If it wasn't a lot of snow, it was rain... while it was still 25 degrees or less. It's been a while since I've seen every single road a sheet of ice like that. I don't think I've ever needed a hammer to fill the truck with gas before. If I remember right you are only here another month and a half. You will see more snow, but it's possible you will not see another bad storm in that time. You never know though. It will definitely get colder, I just finally dug my winter coat out last week. Chances are you are not going to see anything too brutal in December. The wind looks mild, and the temperatures freezing the next few days. I'm betting a lot of lakes will be locking up with ice soon. There's a good chance we can be ice fishing thanksgiving. Don't be too surprised to see people out fishing Wednesday, even if the lakes are open today. Just don't be that guy.

[William Yanda]

GhostHawk quoted; prior planning prevents poor performance.
I learned that as the rule of 7 "P's", he left out proper and positively. Some even add an eighth referring to urine.

[GhostHawk]

Exactly so William, was being cautious.

[MaryB]

36g nailed it, still november so still fall.

Remember that prior planning prevents poor performance.

Preppers say that 2 is 1 and 1 is none but really smart conservatives that live up north count on having 3 or 4 alternatives to anything essential.


The longer a truly cold snap goes on the harder it is on cars and equipment. And yes wind chill counts.
Arranging even a half a day inside at room temp can make a big difference.

If you don't have a 12 volt battery charger and jumper cables, get them.
As for that pull out of a bad spot, pay it forward at least 3x.

Enjoy as much as you can.

Fuel injected cars are better than the old carb types. But I have seen when I needed a hair blow dryer stuck into the air intake of my truck for half an hour before it would start on the 3rd day of -35 below. Gasoline just was not vaporizing.

Keep in mind that below -20 steel starts getting brittle... leaf springs can break etc if hit with a hard shock(been there done that, 1 year old leaf spring shattered at -31f) Drive easy, avoid hard bumps or go slow over them... I hit a drift that wasn't soft and launched a 1979 GMC Jimmy into the air. Tow truck driver said I was the third breakdown with a shattered spring. Ratchet strapped the axle in place then loaded it on a roll back.

[anothernewb]

Fish caught through the ice are the best tasting IMO. just something about cold water. I've fried batches from the freezer together with fresh caught just hours previous in June - and you can tell the difference.

[GhostHawk]

anothernewb is entirely correct. Fish caught in 34 or 35 degree water taste totally different from fish caught mid summer in 60 degree or warmer water.

Crappies caught through the ice are the best eating fish on the planet from my experience.

I grew up spearing northern pike with my dad. Fish would get knocked in the head and buried in a snow bank.
It could be -20 out there on the ice with another 10- 16 degrees below wind chill.

Take that northern pike and slip it into a sink full of cold water and they would come right back to life.

Inside of a snowbank is always very near 32 degrees.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Evening Everybody:

First and foremost, I'd like to thank everybody for their input on the first post. A lot of info that came in handy. It has snowed several feet since I have been here and yes it is cold like ive never experienced. I backed out of a snow covered road today and hung the back tire off and got stuck for a minute. Before I could even call roadside assistance, two guys in a 4 x 4 asked if I needed a tow. They hooked up and pulled me out of the ditch. They just laughed and went on to pull some other folks out of ditches. The plan is to get some ice fishing in for Walleye in Minnesota when the lakes freeze over and experience the ice towns.....Regards
Glad to hear you have a good attitude with this storm. When winter starts early, it can get depressing, that's for sure. As megasupermagnum says, this storm was a bad one, and having a bad one this early in the season, usually means a long hard winter ...Good Luck ;)



I think you got a proper introduction. In all fairness that storm was pretty bad. If it wasn't a lot of snow, it was rain... while it was still 25 degrees or less. It's been a while since I've seen every single road a sheet of ice like that. I don't think I've ever needed a hammer to fill the truck with gas before. If I remember right you are only here another month and a half. You will see more snow, but it's possible you will not see another bad storm in that time. You never know though. It will definitely get colder, I just finally dug my winter coat out last week. Chances are you are not going to see anything too brutal in December. The wind looks mild, and the temperatures freezing the next few days. I'm betting a lot of lakes will be locking up with ice soon. There's a good chance we can be ice fishing thanksgiving. Don't be too surprised to see people out fishing Wednesday, even if the lakes are open today. Just don't be that guy.

[William Yanda]

"Take that northern pike and slip it into a sink full of cold water and they would come right back to life." GH

Do I need a ladder to understand that account?

[GhostHawk]

A Northern Pike speared at 10AM.

B Temp outside 20 degrees below zero with a wind, total wind chill is probably in the minus 30 to minus 35 degrees.

C Fish was knocked in the head so it would not unbury itself.

D Arrive at home around 6pm. Fish was in snowbank from 10am to 5pm. If just left out on the ice fish would have been frozen clear through.(and a real pain to fillet)

E Preserved in snowback in AIR for 8 hours when reintroduced to liquid fish came back to life.

F I don't understand what a ladder has to do with any of this.

G If you don't get it, don't bother. The real point, fish from cold water and kept cold taste better than the same fish from warmer water (and hung on stringer or kept in livewell which is circulated with water from the surface, ie warmest water in the lake)

[ascast]

I just of this, don't think it was mentioned. DO NOT try to win any beers by licking a flag pole for 5 seconds. You will discover a new dimension of hell. Do handle metal stuff that's been out in that cold with gloves or a rag, hat something. They will freeze to your hand. Hunting knives also if metal handles. Not a big deal on your hands if a small object. Be good have fun.

[megasupermagnum]

Yeah Pike are some gnarly animals. They can survive in extremely low oxygen, lower than most other fish. They are all around tough until they get really big. It's common to catch little ones with injuries such as largely missing a jaw, blind eyes, etc. Such toughness led to the myth that you can gut hook them, cut the leader, and it will dissolve. That myth isn't true, but it is true they will survive out of water a really long time if kept cool. I too have had them in a snow bank for a day, only to try and swim away as I rinse them in the sink. Their brains are very small, and their skull overbuilt. The only way I've found to outright kill one is with a ball peen hammer. Find the flat spot on top of the head, just a little back of the eyes. Give a good rap in that spot.

[GhostHawk]

Actually Mega I speared one once that had a 8lb head but a shrunken 4 lb body.

When cleaning it I discovered top and bottom jaw were "Pinned" together by a long shank gold aberdeen type hook.
And were the hook was in contact with flesh the gold was gone and the steel was rusted.

When I touched the hook it fell intp pieces. So IMO that myth is no myth. But that fish had obviously been hungry for some time.

I won't use stainless steel hooks period for that reason, the fish would die before the hook breaks.

Your choice, believe what you like. But I know what I have seen. And what I believe as a result of it.

[megasupermagnum]

Sure sounds like you speared a pike moments from death to me. Besides, I was talking about a gut hook. You know, the old let them eat the bait until they swallow it, then set the hook. Lots of people still do that unfortunately, then still release the fish. If you puncture a pikes guts, it will die. It has been tested, they are tough, but not tough enough to survive a hook through the stomach.

[MaryB]

Pike are good eating so I just keep gut hooked or gill hooked fish. Small ones are great pickled, the bones basically dissolve. Bigger I filet out and just pick out the Y bones. Once you know where they are it is no big deal to take a forkful of fish just right and have the bones all hanging out to be pulled. Salt, pepper, flour, fry in 50/50 crisco/butter... pig out! I am not ahuge eater but hand me a plate full of fried fish and I can put away a pound plus!

[GhostHawk]

I agree with you about puncturing the gut. Gut puncture = peritonitis no matter who you are.

As for the pike with the hook in his jaws, well yes it had lost weight, but was still moving pretty good. I would not saw it was on its last legs.

There is a place for circle hooks, as they normally won't hook down deep. but catch in the corner of the mouth.
I do use them for catfish in the river, especially with cut bait.

[chambers]

Here in Wisconsin we also buried fish in snow banks to keep from freezing.

[MT Gianni]

Take three fillets, each side and between the Y bones.

[megasupermagnum]

I've done quite a bit of fishing with circle hooks. 15 years ago I was right on the cutting edge of fishing rigs for pike. I was playing with quick strike rigs before anyone had heard of them, and you couldn't even buy them in MN since they weren't 100% legal unless you did some tricks. Technically due to MN's idiot wording they still aren't, but it seems to be another case where they turn a blind eye until one day they decide not to, and slap out a whole bunch of tickets. For anyone curious, the way MN law used to read, only one hook could be on a line... unless it was an artificial lure. The definition of such a lure was either to mimic a minnow, or have some other attractor, I believe it specifically stated a spinner within range of a hook counted. I'm guessing the rule was intended for Lindy rigs, but some of us Pike guys started playing with making what was essentially steel Lindy rigs and treble hooks with a spinner to be legal. It eventually morphed into the now common V shaped quicks trike rig. About that time MN was being pressured by both fisherman, and companies to legalize them. Well in typical MN fashion, they did and they didn't. You can now have up to three treble hooks on a line, but the first can not be more than 9" from the last. No commercial quicks trike rig at the time met that requirement. Since they were a V shape, each leg could only be 4.5" long, which is super short. I forget the brand, but one company that was big on quick strikes, theirs must have been 20" from hook to hook, and that one went for sale right away, and I still see them for sale in most bait shops. It's a dumb law, like most laws there. Quick strike rigs are great. They aren't perfect, their downside is you get a lot of rig down there, they aren't subtle. Most pike aren't super picky, but some are rig shy. The benefit is as soon as the flag comes up, or the bobber goes down, you set the hook. There's no waiting, you set the hook, the hooks will be in the mouth, and you will hook them almost every time. The one and only drawback I've found is sometimes the second hook can foul hook them outside the mouth. It's no different than using a lure. The other thing is if you ever fall asleep and wake up to a flag up, you are keeping that fish.

Sorry for that long tangent. Back to circle hooks, which I was also playing with at the same time. The benefit to them is in theory they don't gut hook because they can only hook on the corner of something. In reality it doesn't always play out this way. I've gut hook fish with a circle hook, and I've hooked plenty in various parts of the jaw. A lot of the time they do work and hook in the corner of the mouth. My theory is that the teeth of pike don't allow the line to always come to the corner of the mouth. Just like a normal hook, you have to let them take the bait at least for a little bit. Normally by the time you get to a tip up it has been long enough. Circle hooks do not work well with big baits that pike prefer. For 5" and smaller baits, they work quite well. With the 8"-12" suckers I prefer to use, they don't work very well at all. You miss a lot of fish. You could let them eat it, but then you are pulling that hook out of their gut, and sometimes it might work, but I've gut hook too many trying. The jury is still out for me if a circle hook has any benefits over a normal J hook for pike. One thing I will note, is I can't recall ever hooking one either deep in the mouth or in the gills like you sometimes do with a J hook. The bad thing is if you like to use a fluorocarbon leader, a circle hook puts that leader right in their teeth. Some claim good results with 20# fluoro, and I don't see how. I started off with either 40# or 50#, and got too many bite offs. I then went to 80# Seaguar and it seems to hold up really well, but I've been bit off with that too a couple times. At that thickness I'm not sure I'm any better of than a steel leader anyway.

I hope that helps, I'll be out on the ice in a few days.

[waksupi]

I've done quite a bit of fishing with circle hooks. 15 years ago I was right on the cutting edge of fishing rigs for pike. I was playing with quick strike rigs before anyone had heard of them, and you couldn't even buy them in MN since they weren't 100% legal unless you did some tricks. Technically due to MN's idiot wording they still aren't, but it seems to be another case where they turn a blind eye until one day they decide not to, and slap out a whole bunch of tickets. For anyone curious, the way MN law used to read, only one hook could be on a line... unless it was an artificial lure. The definition of such a lure was either to mimic a minnow, or have some other attractor, I believe it specifically stated a spinner within range of a hook counted. I'm guessing the rule was intended for Lindy rigs, but some of us Pike guys started playing with making what was essentially steel Lindy rigs and treble hooks with a spinner to be legal. It eventually morphed into the now common V shaped quicks trike rig. About that time MN was being pressured by both fisherman, and companies to legalize them. Well in typical MN fashion, they did and they didn't. You can now have up to three treble hooks on a line, but the first can not be more than 9" from the last. No commercial quicks trike rig at the time met that requirement. Since they were a V shape, each leg could only be 4.5" long, which is super short. I forget the brand, but one company that was big on quick strikes, theirs must have been 20" from hook to hook, and that one went for sale right away, and I still see them for sale in most bait shops. It's a dumb law, like most laws there. Quick strike rigs are great. They aren't perfect, their downside is you get a lot of rig down there, they aren't subtle. Most pike aren't super picky, but some are rig shy. The benefit is as soon as the flag comes up, or the bobber goes down, you set the hook. There's no waiting, you set the hook, the hooks will be in the mouth, and you will hook them almost every time. The one and only drawback I've found is sometimes the second hook can foul hook them outside the mouth. It's no different than using a lure. The other thing is if you ever fall asleep and wake up to a flag up, you are keeping that fish.

Sorry for that long tangent. Back to circle hooks, which I was also playing with at the same time. The benefit to them is in theory they don't gut hook because they can only hook on the corner of something. In reality it doesn't always play out this way. I've gut hook fish with a circle hook, and I've hooked plenty in various parts of the jaw. A lot of the time they do work and hook in the corner of the mouth. My theory is that the teeth of pike don't allow the line to always come to the corner of the mouth. Just like a normal hook, you have to let them take the bait at least for a little bit. Normally by the time you get to a tip up it has been long enough. Circle hooks do not work well with big baits that pike prefer. For 5" and smaller baits, they work quite well. With the 8"-12" suckers I prefer to use, they don't work very well at all. You miss a lot of fish. You could let them eat it, but then you are pulling that hook out of their gut, and sometimes it might work, but I've gut hook too many trying. The jury is still out for me if a circle hook has any benefits over a normal J hook for pike. One thing I will note, is I can't recall ever hooking one either deep in the mouth or in the gills like you sometimes do with a J hook. The bad thing is if you like to use a fluorocarbon leader, a circle hook puts that leader right in their teeth. Some claim good results with 20# fluoro, and I don't see how. I started off with either 40# or 50#, and got too many bite offs. I then went to 80# Seaguar and it seems to hold up really well, but I've been bit off with that too a couple times. At that thickness I'm not sure I'm any better of than a steel leader anyway.

I hope that helps, I'll be out on the ice in a few days.

I put circle hooks on all my pike lures. Very high percentage of hook ups, and never had one swallowed. Then again, I don't bait fish. A big advantage for me, is I fish a very weedy lake, and get much less weed fouling. The circle hooks are also a lot easier to extract than treble hooks from a pike.

[MaryB]

I've done quite a bit of fishing with circle hooks. 15 years ago I was right on the cutting edge of fishing rigs for pike. I was playing with quick strike rigs before anyone had heard of them, and you couldn't even buy them in MN since they weren't 100% legal unless you did some tricks. Technically due to MN's idiot wording they still aren't, but it seems to be another case where they turn a blind eye until one day they decide not to, and slap out a whole bunch of tickets. For anyone curious, the way MN law used to read, only one hook could be on a line... unless it was an artificial lure. The definition of such a lure was either to mimic a minnow, or have some other attractor, I believe it specifically stated a spinner within range of a hook counted. I'm guessing the rule was intended for Lindy rigs, but some of us Pike guys started playing with making what was essentially steel Lindy rigs and treble hooks with a spinner to be legal. It eventually morphed into the now common V shaped quicks trike rig. About that time MN was being pressured by both fisherman, and companies to legalize them. Well in typical MN fashion, they did and they didn't. You can now have up to three treble hooks on a line, but the first can not be more than 9" from the last. No commercial quicks trike rig at the time met that requirement. Since they were a V shape, each leg could only be 4.5" long, which is super short. I forget the brand, but one company that was big on quick strikes, theirs must have been 20" from hook to hook, and that one went for sale right away, and I still see them for sale in most bait shops. It's a dumb law, like most laws there. Quick strike rigs are great. They aren't perfect, their downside is you get a lot of rig down there, they aren't subtle. Most pike aren't super picky, but some are rig shy. The benefit is as soon as the flag comes up, or the bobber goes down, you set the hook. There's no waiting, you set the hook, the hooks will be in the mouth, and you will hook them almost every time. The one and only drawback I've found is sometimes the second hook can foul hook them outside the mouth. It's no different than using a lure. The other thing is if you ever fall asleep and wake up to a flag up, you are keeping that fish.

Sorry for that long tangent. Back to circle hooks, which I was also playing with at the same time. The benefit to them is in theory they don't gut hook because they can only hook on the corner of something. In reality it doesn't always play out this way. I've gut hook fish with a circle hook, and I've hooked plenty in various parts of the jaw. A lot of the time they do work and hook in the corner of the mouth. My theory is that the teeth of pike don't allow the line to always come to the corner of the mouth. Just like a normal hook, you have to let them take the bait at least for a little bit. Normally by the time you get to a tip up it has been long enough. Circle hooks do not work well with big baits that pike prefer. For 5" and smaller baits, they work quite well. With the 8"-12" suckers I prefer to use, they don't work very well at all. You miss a lot of fish. You could let them eat it, but then you are pulling that hook out of their gut, and sometimes it might work, but I've gut hook too many trying. The jury is still out for me if a circle hook has any benefits over a normal J hook for pike. One thing I will note, is I can't recall ever hooking one either deep in the mouth or in the gills like you sometimes do with a J hook. The bad thing is if you like to use a fluorocarbon leader, a circle hook puts that leader right in their teeth. Some claim good results with 20# fluoro, and I don't see how. I started off with either 40# or 50#, and got too many bite offs. I then went to 80# Seaguar and it seems to hold up really well, but I've been bit off with that too a couple times. At that thickness I'm not sure I'm any better of than a steel leader anyway.

I hope that helps, I'll be out on the ice in a few days.

My typical pike rig is a spinner rig I tie myself. I use 10 pound Spiderwire and can count the number of bite offs on one hand! And I caught a LOT of pike with them! This one is chartreuse... camera flash makes it look yellow for some reason! The single red bead between 2 green emulates an eye. Tip it with a fathead minnow and it works on pike or walleyes! Troll it just fast enough to make the blade tick over. Go to fast and it will just tangle into a mess.

https://i.imgur.com/17nKIUi.jpg

[anothernewb]

as long as the subject is turned to fishing. never assume anything on the ice. ice on lakes is all over the place all winter - best operational use of "trust, but verify." currents and springs can vary the thickness a lot.

I've seen vehicles go through just a few feet away from 2 feet of good ice - and I've seen spearing houses sitting within spitting distance of open water on ice that's 2+ feet thick all the way to shore.

That being said - don't be scared of it. Just use that complete rarity these days- some common sense.