NJ ice season = multispecies mayhem!

[Chrisper4694]

it looked like we could've gotten on NJ ice one more time this weekend, but opting to head upstate again to close out the season.

It was a pretty good season. got on first ice in early january and fished nj ice til just the other week... my only complaint was that bad down pouring rain we got screwing us over on some of the better spots, but we iced plenty of nice fish despite that!

we did a lot of panfish jigging catching plenty of jumbo perch and some decent bluegills. I hunted at night many times for the bigger crappie but my biggest one ended up coming on an over cast day right as we started getting hit with a snow storm (made for an awesome picture!)... it ate my jig that i left unattended in the water and one of my tip up shiners at the same time haha. 16" my best through the ice and second best ever all water.

I was also able to pull my first NJ walleye through the ice which is inexplicably difficult on nj's frozen lakes haha

I did a little salmon fishing too and nailed 2 large nj pike as well as some nice bass of both types. we really took advantage of the nj ice multi-species variety!

enjoy the NJ fish porn and feel free to tag on your ice season escapades to the tread!

[icebadger]

That is a real nice collection of fish. that crappie is huge well done. you did well this season. lets hope we have better ice conditions and a bit longer season next year. man we hammerd the perch at that spot this year they were chowin down on the herring there. it was fun fishing with you guys. let's do it again next season but for now let the jig-n bobber season commence.

[thmyorke1]

crappie looked like a bass when i saw that get hauled up lol. it was a lot of fun tagging along this winter

[DanH]

Wow! Very impressive !

[Jigman13]

Nice Chris. What was the tape on those Northerns? That crappie is a PIG.

I swung for the fences all season with only one decent marker to show for it... that's how it goes!

[Chrisper4694]

Originally Posted by Jigman13

Nice Chris. What was the tape on those Northerns? That crappie is a PIG.

I swung for the fences all season with only one decent marker to show for it... that's how it goes!

They were about 35” each

[Chrisper4694]

Originally Posted by icebadger

That is a real nice collection of fish. that crappie is huge well done. you did well this season. lets hope we have better ice conditions and a bit longer season next year. man we hammerd the perch at that spot this year they were chowin down on the herring there. it was fun fishing with you guys. let's do it again next season but for now let the jig-n bobber season commence.

Looking closely, i can see an ice badger in the background of that perch pic hahaha

[icebadger]

Originally Posted by Chrisper4694

Looking closely, i can see an ice badger in the background of that perch pic hahaha

shhhhhh don't tell anybody .

[fishingbuddies]

Some Studly looking fish right there. I'm most impressed by that 17inch Slab. One day...NJ will give up a 17. In the meantime... I'll keep crappie hunting!
Great Ice season dude. Too bad the NJ meet n greet over ice was canceled.
Maybe a spring meet n greet?? Some killer panfish action!!

[Chrisper4694]

Originally Posted by fishingbuddies

Some Studly looking fish right there. I'm most impressed by that 17inch Slab. One day...NJ will give up a 17. In the meantime... I'll keep crappie hunting!
Great Ice season dude. Too bad the NJ meet n greet over ice was canceled.
Maybe a spring meet n greet?? Some killer panfish action!!

someone always has a story. i've heard of crappie to 21 inches, but never really seen proof. I'm not sure if it's recorded how long the state records are or just weight, but i'd be curious how long those fish were. Just recently i saw a claim of an 18" crappie, but of course no proof and in the picture (even straight armed to oblivion) doesn't look any bigger than the 14-15" slabs i've seen.

I love crappie fishing and i specifically target them a lot and one over 16" is hard to come by these days. 14-15" are more common, but that 16" zone seems to be tough to get to. I, personally, wish people would show panfish the same respect as other game fish and release the bigger ones... the big ones are just worth more in the water, laying eggs and passing on their genes.