Ice fishing /By Will Elliott

Goodenow finds plentiful perch - Goodenow gives up ice secrets

There is always some new thing under the sun when it comes to learning about what goes on under the ice.

A chance meeting with Silver Lake ice-fishing devotee Warren Goodenow last week led to some interesting observations too numerous to shoehorn into the shag end of last week’s ice-fishing summation.

A 14-pound walleye and better numbers of keeper-sized perch from Lake Simcoe were both good news. Invariably, reports about each day on the ice unfold differently, and — despite extensive study and decades of field experience — some new things come along well worth learning and doing.

When longtime friend and fellow fishing fanatic George Dovolos introduced me to Goodenow, it was obvious that Goodenow was a good guy for ice-angling info.

We had an open field out there for ice options that morning, with good bluegill along the shoreline and some nice perch prospects out over depths of 30 feet or more at mid-lake near Mack’s Boat Livery.

Dovolos deferred to Goodenow and we headed out to the deeps to pick on the perch. Out there, we met up with Dick Wolfer from Fillmore, another regular with a bountiful bucket of perch paraphernalia — and a few nice perch in the pail to prove it.

This threesome hits the ice every hour possible and works shallow and deep to get over sizable schools of sizable fish. On this day, they keyed on perch, and I had the good fortune to fish amid this triangulated trio.

While I have the right auger, snow sled, all-weather suit and a bucket full of stubby ice rods with all kinds of lures likely to allure fish at Chautauqua or Simcoe, Goodenow immediately took me under his tutelage and handed me his version of an ice rod.

Nearby, Wolfer and Dovolos kept pulling reams of runts and an occasional bucket-worthy perch.

Goodenow wanted me to see exactly what was going on down there. I didn’t have to bring out a sonar device. He had me use his newer model of a Vexilar flasher rig.

“Underwater cameras are nice for looking at fish, but you can follow their moods,” Goodenow said as he set up the program to show on a circular screen both the overall depth and a zoom-in view of depths just off bottom.

Videos and graph-screen models work well for viewing fish movement, but this Vexilar, a unit that’s been on the market for at least a decade, offers the classic flasher-screen program of a Lowrance “Green Box” and the modern technology of sensitivity and target distinction under the water/ ice surface.

All this is important because Goodenow plans all his approaches with small and light baits.

“I like to use ‘plastics’ [rubber/vinyl jig bodies and tails] on small heads,” he said as he opened one pocket-sized lure holder he estimated to hold $200 in small, specialized ice jigs.

The lot probably didn’t have one head weighing more than zounce. Every ice angler knows the difficulty of getting to the bottom and then feeling the lure hit bottom in deeper water.

While I was using his sonar unit, Goodenow began fishing a circle of holes he had drilled with a battery-powered DeWalt drill he fitted with an open chuck that could lock onto a 4-inch ice auger.

Even cooler was his skill at reaching bottom with his light jigs — he switched us to 1-pound test line when the fish stopped biting –and picking just the right tap or hang on the line to set a hook into the bigger ringbacks out there.

“I like to experiment with colors, shapes and sizes,” the 47-year veteran ice angler said as we tried to dodge the runts and set hooks on bigger perch.

I sat there looking at a sonar screen that showed me when a fish was swimming by, when it was chasing my lure upward, and the relative size of the prey.

But Goodenow got into the bigger perch along with the reams of runts that held on the sonar screen throughout the mid afternoon.

“I’m getting the bigger fish when jigging high off the bottom,” he said while lifting overhead to tease another big one.

This scene gets repeated on every good perch lake and bay every ice season. Goodenow’s array of light-tackle gear — rods, reels, lines and mini baits — would be good on lakes such as Chautauqua, Simcoe, Honeoye, Erie or in bays such as Braddock, Sodus or Irondequoit.

Goodenow willingly shares his success “secrets” that have placed him high in regional and national ice-fishing tourneys. This year, as a member of Avon Anglers, he helps in coordinating five ice contests on area lakes. For details, visit www.avonanglers.com

LAKE SIMCOE ICE HUT OPERATORS
Lake Simcoe Ice Fishing Message Board http://www.lakesimcoemessageboard.com/ A great message board and worth the visit!Get up to date information! Be sure to check the Outdoors Niagara Forum for up-to-date reports from some of these hut operators! GO HERE
J's Fish Huts 1169 Killarney Beach Road Lefroy L0L1W0 705-456-8779 - 705-795-3864cell We offer four man heated huts for perch and offer guided trips for trout and whitey's bait lines and tackle available and transportation provided to and from the huts. robcrosbie@hotmail.com	Pauleyanna Sports 235 Sunnybrae Avenue L9S 1H8 Cell; 705 229 1478 or 705 436 2485. E-Mail: pauleyannasports@gmail.com Matthew Pauley / Jerry Pauley Target: Lake Trout and Whitefish in the Innisfil area	Ice Fishing Outfitters Virginia Beach, Lake Simcoe 905 715-9718 www.icefishingoutfitters.net Email: icefishingoutfitters@rogers.com Mike Heyink GO HERE FOR MAP
Lake Simcoe Fishing Adventures Targets: Everything (905) 476-2652 Simcoe Fishing Adventures	A plea for Lake Simcoe Ice Hut Operators ~ If you would like to offer your update on 2009 fishing opportunities PLEASE contact me at Outdoors Niagara I see a lot of you guys come and go but I need reliable fishing reports. "Help one, help all" For a very large listing of Ontario hut operators go here courtesy of John Kerr, Toronto Sun	STEVE'S FISH HUTS Holmes Point Rd. Pefferlaw, ON on Lake Simcoe. Phone 1-888-525-FISH or 1-705-426-7800. $45 for Perch and $50 for Trout and Whitefish. >>CDN funds<< Includes Bait & Heated Bombardier transportation Shanty's are 8X8 in size and are heated. You can call anytime for local updates. Ask for Mike, the owner Steve, or Jack, the man who runs the office.
How come your hut business isn't listed here? It's free U.S. or Canada	Tim Hales Fish Huts Beaverton Phone: 705-426-9669 or evenings: 705-426-9105 Targets: Perch, Whitefish and Trout	Orange Mobile Hut Rentals Gilford, Ontario www.orangemobilehuts.com (705)456-8650 or (705)623-3314 Fred Drodge Ice Cabins of Gilford Perch, Pike
Dan Hales Pines of Georgina - Pefferlaw Targets: Perch, Whitefish, Lake Trout (705)437-1013	Two Reel Fishing Hut Rentals and Guide Target: Whitefish and Lake Trout on Lake Simcoe For a great time call Steven at 705-456-4788	Hank Heynik Fish Hut Rentals Hanks Huts are ledgendary on Lake Simcoe. If you are looking for whitefish and lake trout
T & T HUT RENTALS VIRGINIA BEACH, LAKE SIMCOE, ONTARIO CONTACT: TIM 416-720-7431 E-MAIL timbuck51@rogers.com	Cannings Fish Huts Target: Lakers, Whitefish and Herring in Barrie 705-721-8500	Terry Goy Ice Huts 11th line of Innisfil Long Schoal Target: Lake Trout, Whitefish 905-775-2754
Gilford Ice Huts Target: Perch, Pike 705-456-2852	Hut operators from NY PA OH or whatever, you are invited to give us a report and if you would like to be the first listed on Outdoors Niagara Ice Fish page, just email the information to me! Glad to have it!	Keffer's Marina 50 Lake Dr. Keswick 905-476-4161

Irondequoit Bay!
Bayside Boat and Tackle 1350 Empire Blvd Bait shop on south end of Irondequoit Bay 585-224-8289 Bait & Boat Rental email: bayside@rochester.rr.com	S and R Bait & Tackle 4423 Culver Road Sea Breeze NY Phone: 585-323-1182 All Baits - Certified Minnows Open at 6:00 everyday