ice fishing

[glock21]

do any members here ice fish, ive never done it and im thinking i want to go if the ice is thick enough. any ideas i dont mind traveling a hour or two and if anyone wants to join i have a big enough vehicle for 3 more.
ive heard jefferson, any imput would be great, maybe this weekend

[Mtn.man]

Love it we fish Antero for the big ones, you know your in a good place when you are putting 3.5#ers back.

11 mile also nothing like trying to hawg in a big pike.

Huts, heaters, beer.

[ghettodub]

My brother does, and I'm planning on going with him this winter. Looking forward to it

[llostwolf]

Haven't seen lids thick enough for me yet but when it does your more than welcome to join me. I like green mountain and red feathers the best. size isn't great but tons of fish are caught.

[Irving]

I used to live near Kipling and Hampden and there is a small lake just behind that golf course that I used to see people ice fishing on all the time. It is still in a Lakewood zip code, so I'd say pretty close to you.

[Hoopty]

Been fishing my whole damn life but have never ice fished for some damn reason. I want to try it out this year too, but I ain't doing it without a shack, heater and probably beer/liquor, unless its really warm out.

[theGinsue]

I can't imagine that the ice is actually thick enough yet, is it?

I heard that there were folks out on the ice at Antero a couple of weeks ago but that there was a water mote between them and the shore everywhere you looked. That's just nuts. I'm 250lbs+ and I don't need to be walking across any ice that's less than 4 inches (really prefer the ice at least 8 thick before I start to walk on it).

Love it we fish Antero for the big ones, you know your in a good place when you are putting 3.5#ers back.

11 mile also nothing like trying to hawg in a big pike.

Huts, heaters, beer.

I've ice fished both of those places. My guess is that we've both been on the ice at the same time at least once. And while I've seen some mighty HUGE trout @ Antero (even had them on the hook up to the bottom of the ice hole), I've never gotten one of them out of the hole for one reason or another.

Been fishing my whole damn life but have never ice fished for some damn reason. I want to try it out this year too, but I ain't doing it without a shack, heater and probably beer/liquor, unless its really warm out.

Yup, I've seen folks out sitting on a bucket on the ice while the wind has been violently pushing through and couldn't help but think that those folks are just plain NUTS! I used to laugh at my best friend when he'd tell me that he actually has to strip off his coat in the hut with the heater going (this was before I'd ever started ice fishing). Now, I take my fishing gear, ice hut w/heater, thermos for coffee and a flask and small cooler with brew and enjoy a day on the ice (in the hut..even take a nap here and there). And my buddy was right, the heater makes it toasty enough inside the hut to remove your coat, but be very careful not to get your coat too close to the heater. I've seen many a burned coat sleeve from letting it fall in front of the heater.

My best friend and hunting/fishing partner just moved up to Florissant with his ice hut and power auger (SO much better than a hand auger), and is telling me that he's all set to go ice fishing. He even just bought a Subaru Outback wagon this week an the one thing he checked out on it before buying it was that it would fit his ice hut. Now, that's dedication to the sport.

Of course, if you've never been, the one thing you should know is that they say the ice needs to be at least 4 inches to be safe but even if you're walking across ice that's 12+ inches your heart will stop every time you hear the ice cracking and popping. This usually lasts for your first two trips onto the ice. After that, it's more the exception than the rule.

[glock21]

my heart just paused a little thinking about ice cracking and poping hahahah

[hollohas]

I used to live near Kipling and Hampden and there is a small lake just behind that golf course that I used to see people ice fishing on all the time. It is still in a Lakewood zip code, so I'd say pretty close to you.

Which golf course?

Henry Lake on the north side of Quincy just behind the Foothills golf course (between Hampden/Quincy and Kipling/Wads) is on the Federal Prison land...no go. The smaller lake on the south side of Quincy by the apartments is public.

The other courses are Fox Hollow and Homestead and they are a mile or two west of Kipling. They do have a couple lakes including the bigger Bear Creek Lake nearby.

There is also Harriman Lake on the south-west corner of Kipling and Quincy that freezes over. I fish it during the summer. Trout, bass, cats. Don't know about ice fishing though...

[Irving]

I used to live on Dartmouth, just west of Kipling, and would run on the Homestead golf course. You could take a trail up that little foothill, and on the other side was a small lake/pond that I saw a ton of ice fishing holes at. Thanks for the names of the golf courses, I forgot what they were called. I'm not sure how you'd actually drive to that lake though, as I always was above it and on foot.

EDIT: I just looked it up on Google maps and the body of water I'm talking about is apparently Bear Creek Lake.