Hey Tuna,
any ice up there????  are you "on the water" yet?  :
 

Technically I personally have not in the local area ( 35 miles south of albany ) but that will change on Sunday when I head north of Albany . Nothing is safe around me ( looked at a few ) and that was even at a higher elevation, not the Catskills .
Folks heading and North of Albany have been able to find some good ice in sparse but enough places that are getting fished regular. I have no doubt my go to early ice spot up in the adk's has been solid for a month , just no time for me.

Hope to share pics and better info after this weekend

thanks! we are heading to Adk's tomorrow. I'll let you know what we find. BTW I caught Donna the Buffalo and Hot Tuna a couple weeks ago in Ithaca. Great show!
Tight Lines

How did you make out llp30 ?
We did well with many hammer handle pike and bunch of dink perch. Ice was great, about 8" on the lake we were on . There was a perm shanty out there already and machines have been on the ice.
Stopped at another larger lake on way home and about the same conditions.
It's on now and my wife won't be seeing me around the house until spring, all be it for a short time until the stripers show up :)

Also caught the buffalo with Tuna at the egg.. It was an " OK " show but strange on by Tuna standards .
Good luck on the hard water this season
Peace & Tuna

Hey Tuna,did Santa bring you that flat screen TV and heater? If so Maybe I can get enthused.....did I mention that I HATE winter!
Seriously,good to learn that the weather is stroking your passion...go get "em TUNA!

Thanks Jack, Yup I got serious wood now :)
No flat screen yet but a new shanty addition and plenty of HEAT ..
Hope I don't bore you folks to tears with all the hardwater pic's to come.. Should be as much as one can handle until I get tossed..
 
Had to give this pup the huge hero shot pose,, oooo it looks so big:)

 
Home at last  !!!

 

Looks good to me, playing the waiting game here.....

Well I guess I'm not worthy ..
Figured with the near 50 deg weather the last few days that all local points would be wide open.. loaded up the Kayak, jig rods, vex and headed to my favorite perch grounds..
Gosh, there was ICE !!

Out there right where I wanted to be..
So I paddled away and tried on the inside of ice, nadda..
I broke through with the yak as far as I could to an open pocket and settled in, amongst the ICE..

 
Fishing was super slow and only had a couple chasers..
Went back to the open water and jigged up 2 jumbos, no pics.. THEN the sun started dropping and so did the temp.. I hung out as long as I could.. fingers got cold real fast and high tailed it to shore.. once I hit the beach I knew I was in trouble..
Shivering uncontrollably.. Loaded gear as fast as I could, cranked heat on High the whole way home (20 mins) and shivering ..
I had Hypothermia , big time !!!
Totally unprepared for sittin "in" the ice..
 
Be careful out there and Have a Great Safe 2015 Ice Season !!

hot tuna
Well I guess I'm not worthy ..
Figured with the near 50 deg weather the last few days that all local points would be wide open.. loaded up the Kayak, jig rods, vex and headed to my favorite perch grounds..
Gosh, there was ICE !!
 
THEN the sun started dropping and so did the temp.. I hung out as long as I could.. fingers got cold real fast and high tailed it to shore.. once I hit the beach I knew I was in trouble..
Shivering uncontrollably.. Loaded gear as fast as I could, cranked heat on High the whole way home (20 mins) and shivering ..
I had Hypothermia , big time !!!
Totally unprepared for sittin "in" the ice..
 
Be careful out there and Have a Great Safe 2015 Ice Season !!

 
I'm glad you made it home with nothing worse than the chill... it would have to be difficult to get the right combo of warm layers which still allow adequate movement for kayaking and avoid overheating.  I do a brief cold water safety speech for kids when they do tours at the ambulance station.  It is incredible how fast the hypothermia can begin having drastic affects on your motor abilities!
I give you credit for getting out there and giving it a good go even in December.  I have to admit I am a warm weather fisherman at heart, although I will go once or twice during hard water.
I do look forward to your posts through the winter!

Everything around here has broken up once again. I got a little buddy heater so I am set for staying warm in my shanty. last year I used a Colman lantern for heat. It worked but was not the best.