Report : 1/13/14 Lake George/Schroon Lake
I gotta say, right now the ice is not so nice.. A week ago from Sunday there was 8" of snow on Schroon Lake and then the rains came, HEAVY rains.. We waddled through slush and water on Monday 1/6 and sat in the shanty in pouring rain all day.. The fishing was good but conditions out side not so.. Luckily that night the temps dropped and the water on top became solid.. It made for easy walking on tues but 30 mph winds and single digit temps made again conditions rough outside.. I never put a tip-up in and sat in the shanty jigging the 1 hole I drilled all day.. My friend gave it the old collage try and put 3 traps in.. Big mistake as he had to drill holes around his traps to get them back.. Tough day for sure..
Now with all that rain, once again we got a TON more this past sat.. That caused major flooding to the incoming tribs of the lakes.. So much water coming in with so little area to go out it made the lake very dirty and the water pushed up onto the shorelines making access to the ice difficult.. We had to walk through 6" of shoreline water out about 5' to get on a solid 11" of ice.. The fishing was terrible, while last week I could see my lure an easy 10' down the hole , yesterday it was less then 3' visibility.. These lake trout are all about attraction.. If they can't see the lure then your success becomes slim..
As for Lake George, We were really starting to gain ground on the ice until again, the weather put a big shot in the arm ... The area I fished had a good 5" of clear black ice but as you seen in the pics, open water where I really wanted to set up... Around 8:30 am yesterday the wind picked up a little and with the warm temps the ice was going CRAZY... It was popping and even moved my shanty a few times.. It was not the sounds of Ice growing but the sounds of ice shifting from so much water coming in with nowhere to go up or out into the open water.. My friend was not comfortable out there in 100 fow with all that going on and wanted to fish a more solid lake so we picked up and headed out.. I felt fine although it was a funny feeling..
I sure hope winter comes back soon, very soon or what usually is good fishing right through March just might be a short season this year...
I will be spending 3 days up in Schroon on Sat-mon so no reports till the...
Be safe if you go out on this not so nice ice :
Peace & Tuna
 

I've got family coming in from out of town on either the weekend of 15th or the following. Probably a bust for me, but will try my best to make it.

John, 800 bucks for a lodge for a weekend??? That's nuts!!!

Well I got a call Thursday that Gander mnt had one of the shanty I had been wanting.   Somebody ordered it and did not want it.   Picked it up Friday after the Ball game and took it out today.  With no time to practice in the basement, I could not get it set up for the life of me.  It cut my trip short today.    Everyone I talked to had no bites and I probably drilled 15  holes with no activity on the sonar so I packed it up.  The heave back was HORRIBLE with some fresh snow on the ice as I did not bring the smitty,  that was mistake #2.  The jet sled was just acting like a plow.    
 
  I set it up in the basement a few times with my wife and then by myself so I think I have it now.   I will say I will be in the market for a one man flip next year or so.  

Fishing is good , ice is nice .. Than You Jack

Tuna , think the ice is back near you?  Getting cold in NJ again.  I have to head to Chicago - Wisconsin  for four days.  Don't think the high is gonna get out of the teens there!   One good thing I like traveling there is stopping at Bass Pro - Gurnee, Il.   I personally think Bass Pro has more to offer than Cabela's in Pa.    Bought some jigging lures there last year and power magots, never got to try them due to the NJ Heatwave last year.
I am getting antsy to take an Ice fishing trip up North!

RichW-You might be correct when comparing the two stores but I learned that BPS has a very different pricing system between online and in store purchases. 
I was down in Myrtle Beach  for a golf vacation and frequented the local BPS in North Myrtle.  I purchased some l bass lures thinking that the pricing would be universally the same like LL Beans, Orvis and others.  I compared the prices when I got home and to my dismay the in store prices were 25% higher than the catalog.  I called BPS to see if they would honor the catalog price, they refused.  Their position was that the stores can charge whatever they want and the company did not adhere to a universal pricing format.  I cancelled my line of credit and do not do business with BPS.        

Was at Cabelas in Hartford once and found the store prices were not the same as the catalog. Employee told me the stores are allowed to charge 'whatever the local market' can handle.
 They did, however, honor the catalog prices if ya brought in the page or putor copy of the merchandise you were after- they did not appreciate my polite request to look it up on their putor rather than my having to make a long round trip to do it at home.
 Buyer beware------

Hey guys. I'm just out lost on Lake George ice. Fishing and conditions been good . Pics on Monday . I will say its pretty awesome when the fish are as big as the rod :)

hot tuna
Hey guys. I'm just out lost on Lake George ice. Fishing and conditions been good . Pics on Monday . I will say its pretty awesome when the fish are as big as the rod :)

As big as the 11' switch,they must be sharks!!!!
I stopped dancing for now Rich as the cold will be here soon....enjoy!....I'm talking about real artic cold not this chill we're having today.

Ice was not nice for me this weekend or let me rephrase.   Ice was good fishing was not.  My favorite perch spot has been a no go due to shore water.  Tried Oneida this weekend with laughable results.  Yesterday for Waldo's   with not a blip on the screen  and today for perch.  A few dinks and nothing more.  Could see the fish flasher, but they were tight lipped.  
Fishing out of the shanty is nice  and not so cold, but it makes you lazy and not want to hole hop and move around.   Next weekend Sandy pond should be locked back up