A different kind of gold

Foragist · Nov 16, 2019

So, instead of going metal detecting for the last couple days, I used a different kind of detector; a fish detector! The local pond has over 3 inches of solid ice, and folks are drillin' and killin'. I bagged an easy ten keepers yesterday, and eight more today. Bluegills and crappies. They can't resist a small Flirty Girty with a silver wiggler! Tonight was fish fry night, and I made a big pile of a different kind of golden nuggets! MMM-mmm good!
This has been a year of firsts for me. This was the first time I recall ice fishing before the gun deer hunting season starts.
Sorry, I didn't get pics of the ice, or the fresh catch, but here's the gold!

amc rulz · Nov 16, 2019

I’m drooling, nothing better!

Ice Scratcher · Nov 16, 2019

Nice work man!!

Definitely an early season...

Your gold kinda looks like some of the same stuff we find around here..

<°)))>{

Ice Scratcher · Nov 16, 2019

Before refining...

<°)))>{

Foragist · Nov 17, 2019

amc rulz said:
I’m drooling, nothing better!

Amen to that! I ate quite a few before snapping that picture!

Ice Scratcher said:
Before refining...

<°)))>{

Haha! I knew it was only a matter of time before the Ice Scratcher chimed in! Didn't take you long at all to find this. Those are some dandies, dwarfing that beer can!

Ice Scratcher · Nov 17, 2019

Foragist said:
Haha! I knew it was only a matter of time before the Ice Scratcher chimed in! Didn't take you long at all to find this. Those are some dandies, dwarfing that beer can!

Thanks Foragist, those two on top in that picture might be my two biggest sunfish ever, at least by weight..

Not sure which is more fun, summer or winter gold..

<°)))>{

Mud-puppy · Nov 17, 2019

What awesome pictures! I'm drooling all over my shirt here! I thought I pist my pants clear down to my socks, but no...just drool!

There is NOTHING so good eating as cold water pan fish!..I like the little ones, fingerlings, like maybe a fillet about the size of your thumb?...I like gills lightly breaded...just a roll around in egg, then a bowl of flour with a skiff of some crushed TowneHouse cracker crumbs...Then popped and quick flash fried into some really hot Lard based oil....Olde timey Pig fat, not Canola!

I also make my own tartar sauce...Pretty much like normal with just a hint of bleucheese salad dressing, thats my secret..bleucheese.... ..like just one spoon is all yo need and not overpower it......

There aint nothing better eating than a fresh mess of fresh caught under ice Gills! A guy dont get this treat often, prolly more better than any kind of gold...

There aint nothing like sitting in a fish house late at night on a Northern lake. from the shore..........listening and smelling the Coleman lantern hiss, hearing the ice go "Whoom... whooom, Whoom! ...pulling gills, smoking Swishers,,,swilling down anonymous cheap canned pisswater.....stepping out of the shanty and looking up at the stars...hauling back in that crisp cold air and taking a mighty St Louis Arc kind of wiz..?.

I cant imagine what could be any better than that? :?:

!!! Of course, having an opposite sex person along would be nice?....Nice warm fish house, nothing much going on...sitting there talking, drinking and smoking...fish aint biting...Well?

Ice Scratcher · Nov 17, 2019

Mud-puppy said:
What awesome pictures! I'm drooling all over my shirt here! I thought I pist my pants clear down to my socks, but no...just drool!

There is NOTHING so good eating as cold water pan fish!..I like the little ones, fingerlings, like maybe a fillet about the size of your thumb?...I like gills lightly breaded...just a roll around in egg, then a bowl of flour with a skiff of some crushed TowneHouse cracker crumbs...Then popped and quick flash fried into some really hot Lard based oil....Olde timey Pig fat, not Canola!

I also make my own tartar sauce...Pretty much like normal with just a hint of bleucheese salad dressing, thats my secret..bleucheese.... ..like just one spoon is all yo need and not overpower it......

There aint nothing better eating than a fresh mess of fresh caught under ice Gills! A guy dont get this treat often, prolly more better than any kind of gold...

There aint nothing like sitting in a fish house late at night on a Northern lake. from the shore..........listening and smelling the Coleman lantern hiss, hearing the ice go "Whoom... whooom, Whoom! ...pulling gills, smoking Swishers,,,swilling down anonymous cheap canned pisswater.....stepping out of the shanty and looking up at the stars...hauling back in that crisp cold air and taking a mighty St Louis Arc kind of wiz..?.

I cant imagine what could be any better than that? !!! Of course, having an opposite sex person along would be nice?....Nice warm fish house, nothing much going on...sitting there talking, drinking and smoking...fish aint biting...Well?

Man brother, you can paint such a clear picture with words.. It's not just a picture either, I could almost smell the lantern while I was reading that^..

<°)))>{

Foragist · Nov 18, 2019

Mud-puppy said:
What awesome pictures! I'm drooling all over my shirt here! I thought I pist my pants clear down to my socks, but no...just drool!

There is NOTHING so good eating as cold water pan fish!..I like the little ones, fingerlings, like maybe a fillet about the size of your thumb?...I like gills lightly breaded...just a roll around in egg, then a bowl of flour with a skiff of some crushed TowneHouse cracker crumbs...Then popped and quick flash fried into some really hot Lard based oil....Olde timey Pig fat, not Canola!

I also make my own tartar sauce...Pretty much like normal with just a hint of bleucheese salad dressing, thats my secret..bleucheese.... ..like just one spoon is all yo need and not overpower it......

There aint nothing better eating than a fresh mess of fresh caught under ice Gills! A guy dont get this treat often, prolly more better than any kind of gold...

There aint nothing like sitting in a fish house late at night on a Northern lake. from the shore..........listening and smelling the Coleman lantern hiss, hearing the ice go "Whoom... whooom, Whoom! ...pulling gills, smoking Swishers,,,swilling down anonymous cheap canned pisswater.....stepping out of the shanty and looking up at the stars...hauling back in that crisp cold air and taking a mighty St Louis Arc kind of wiz..?.

I cant imagine what could be any better than that? !!! Of course, having an opposite sex person along would be nice?....Nice warm fish house, nothing much going on...sitting there talking, drinking and smoking...fish aint biting...Well?

Well said, Mud-P! I concur with just about all of it. Can't take the Swishers, though.
While we're on the subject, I'd like to give a shout out to the lowly perch. Long ago, as far back as I can remember, perch were shunned. Trash fish, they were called. Nobody I knew would dare keep a perch, for fear of being laughed off the ice, or out of the boat, etc. Somewhere along the line, several years back, that all changed. Most of the fishing folks I know; myself included, came to recognize the superior quality of a perch fillet. Better eating than crappies. That's a fact. For most, I believe, they share the top panfish spot with the bluegills. Some prefer one or the other, but both are just excellent to dine on, when properly "refined". I think their old-fashioned bad reputation stems from the frustration of having your bait repeatedly stripped clean from the hook by less-than-keeper-size perch. Get into a school of bigger ones, though, and it's a happy time and place; both on the water, and at the fish fry, later.

Ice Scratcher · Nov 18, 2019

In this part of the world, Yellow Perch have ALWAYS been held high as one of the if not the best table fare!

Even above walleye... :yes:

<°)))>{

MuddyMo · Nov 18, 2019

Well done. We have a very short season but my gear is ready. No good ice here till Jan..

SmirkAtTheMerc · Nov 18, 2019

Did someone say gold?

GKL · Nov 18, 2019

When I first opened this thread on my computer (before I scrolled down to see the whole photo) this is all of the photo I could see at first -

…….and I got the impression of a large gold nugget like this :laughing:

hoser · Nov 18, 2019

Our lakes are freezing up real nice right now, and it won't be long till I will be having a good ole gill dinner. Man that did look good.

matmit · Nov 18, 2019

Not much ice at all 100 miles south of you Foragist.
I haven't been ice fishing in over 10 years, but I am getting the itch this year.

Foragist · Nov 18, 2019

I still have fresh bait. Better go again! After going through this thread again, I'm even more excited about ice fishing than I was before! We're getting temps in the 30s and maybe 40 this week. I'll get around to detecting later. I checked the local ballfield yesterday. It is diggable in the plush grass areas. I plan to detect and ice fish in the same week. That'll be another first for me!

Ice Scratcher · Nov 18, 2019

Go get em!

<°)))>{

georgeinsc · Nov 19, 2019

I much prefer to do my fishing in the spring when the Bream are bedding Bream is what yall call bluegill. Of course they grow much bigger down here. Limit here is 30 per man per day. Me and my buddy call it a good day when we catch our limit in two to two and a half hours. No frozen toes and fingers and no heavy coats. Just short sleeve shirts and a cap to keep the sun out of eyes.

GroundSweeper · Nov 19, 2019

Yum! !!!

Foragist · Nov 19, 2019

Two fine hauls in one day!

Good ol' Marshmiller Lake was a good choice today. Bluegills and crappie biting all over the place. Took a limit of 25, so I can stock up and share. Got home around 3:30, put the fish on ice for a while, and by 4:30, I was detecting the local baseball field. Yes, I went ice fishing and metal detecting in the same day! I managed to dig a war nickel (#61 FTY), a crusty wheat penny, a little over a buck and a half in change, and an oddity that I believe is an IKE dollar coin. It measures an inch and a half in diameter, and has a reeded edge. Feels like the weight of a dollar coin, too. The odd thing, besides it being curled up like that, is that it has no details that I can find, on either side. Scratched, corroded, and smooth. No lettering, bust, date, eagle, nothing. Could be some other coin-like medallion or something, but I'm calling it an Ike.

A different kind of gold

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