The settling pond was iced over and about 60% of the mail lake had a skim of ice on it.
I think by the end of the weekend it may all be covered.
I will be in sever withdrawl for the next few months.
There is some question as to wether my wife will let me live the whole time.
Rick,
[This message has been edited by Rick Z (edited 03 December 2005).]
But just think of all the “honey do’s” you can accomlish 
And all of the planning for spring fishing…
LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL
Our stuff gets slow…but don’t freeze over. You’re welcome to bring an s-bag and visit. Bring some of your nifty bugs to try! 
…lee s.
Shoot Rick, I’ll bring the Vexilar and a bucket full of rods. We’ll just walk on water. (takes a lot of cutting to fly fish through the ice, but there’s plenty of room for your backcast)
Rick,
If it gets too bad, come on down to KY. My upper pond is cold but just gave up a 9" BG on a Bully Spider. The lower pond is about gone. If I don’t figure out how to get some water in it I think I will lose it this winter. The upper pond is fed by its’ own well so no problem there.
Clint
I feel closer to HIM when I’m fishing.
Rick, I feel your pain! Every lake this side of Superior is frozen over right now and the rivers are, too. JGW
come on down here and show me what you been telling me. (might want to bring a t shirt and some warm stuff too, we never know but our water does not get hard very often or for very long)
Rick
As cold as it’s been this year, I have two words for you. Ice fishing. Come on up to Scheels and see me and I’ll get you fixed up. S
Yeah, Rick, I’m pretty much done here too, until spring. The temp just dropped and rains began, muddying the water. Ah, well. Time to build some rods and tie some flies, eh?
[url=http://www.native-waters.com:07724]http://www.native-waters.com[/url:07724]
Actually the first thing I do is to take all the boxes out of my vest and clean them up. Take the flies that need to be fixed out and put in a bowl to do them. The flies that did not work anytime go ito a bowl to be clenaed and the hooks re-used. I then put all the patterns back inorder and fill in the blanks. This lets me know what I need to tie.
This takes a few weeks to get done.
Rick
PS everthing is iced over now.
Go South young men and Women and enjoy, even for a few days. It is well worth it. I hate the thought of going back to my pooooor frozen pond. I have 5 days left between golf and WW Gills.
Rs Hows the book doing, I enjoed it and felt your every word.
I’ll visit anyone with WW and gills
Best to all
Philip
If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there’d be a shortage of fishing poles." - Doug Larson
I second the ice fishing option. After flyfishing as my favorite thing to do; ice fishing is a close second. I enjoy tying ice jigs just as much as tying flies. I have had just as hot action through the ice as I have had in open water with flags popping all over the place.
Some of my biggest fish have also come through the ice. I caught my largest togue 21" and a huge Largemouth last year that just about fit through my 10" hole; 7+ pounds.
I haven’t tried for gills through the ice yet but I am sure if you find the right spot you will have plenty for your freezer, with the added benefit of prefreezing. 
Who has time for stress when there are fish to catch.
Nick
Local streams and small bodies of water have frozen over here in N/E Kansas. It’ll be “wait and see” for the next 8 or 10 weeks probably; any reachable open water seen at my favorite lake will be cause to load and go.
I missed out on two wonderfully calm, warm-air fishing days over the last three weekends. By choice I decided instead to go canoe camping on the Kansas River.
On the second canoe trip, I camped overnight on a sandbar island across the channel from a bald eagle nest where a pair of year-round resident parent birds last spring raised three juvenile eagles. When I crawled out of my tent next morning just after dawn, I looked across the river and saw both parent birds standing side-by-side on the nest, rubbing their necks and beaks together, their white heads lit up as though by a searchlight by the rising sun.
Then the smaller (probably the male) adult bird began a series of short flights to nearby cottonwood and elm trees. He would land on a dead branche, hop up and down until he broke off the branch, then fly it back to the nest carried in his talons, where the female would receive it and weave in into the existing nest mass.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this adult pair has since lined that nest with dry grass and the female has laid eggs. Bald eagles in Kansas will sometimes begin brooding eggs very early into winter.
Anyway, seeing those nest-refurbishing eagles in action at close range was quite a thrill. But so, too, would catching a mess of late fall panfish on fly tackle have been quite a thrill had I opted to fish my favorite lake – which was totally available had I elected to go that route.
Man, I wish I was a retired person. There just aren’t enough hours in a weekend for me to get all my outdoor ya-ya’s out.
Hope all you folks living down south are enjoying your full range of outdoor options.
Joe
“Better small than not at all.”
Joe,
Did you get snow out your way? We have 10" here in Independence, MO. Was thinking how nice it would be to fish in it, but the temps are too cold for me.
As for the camping you chose to do, most people only see things like that on TV nature shows. You saw it firsthand! Isn’t it great to be in the middle of it all (Mid-America)? I’ve often thought of going up to Squaw Valley to watch the eagles, but haven’t found the time… yet.
By the way, great article on your fishing trip with Rick, sounded like quite an adventure.
There’s almost nothin’ wrong with the first lie, it’s the weight of all the others holdin’ it up that gets ya’! - Tim
Microtropertis – speaking of ice flies, check out the Ryan’s Butt in the “Ant Pattern with Red Bead” thread on the fly tying board. I was hoping to tie some last night but ended up cleaning out some space to set up my rod wrapping instead. Looks like a good one for winter bluegill. JGW
MO,
I know all about that 10-inch snowfall KC got last night. I was up all night at the Bolling Federal Building; one of my job duties involves monitoring and inspecting our snow removal services.
The storm didn’t slack off until just one hour before the building opened, so pedestrian footing and parking lot problems were rampant early on. From Indian Summer to Hell on Ice in two short weeks.
Yes, when I grow up I want to be just like my hero, Rick Zieger. I think Rick could catch fish out of a bathtub. Even a bathtub filled with ice cubes. Rick’s forgotten more about catching panfish than I know.
If you want to enjoy a nice concentration of bald eagles without driving very far, go over to Lawrence and check out the open water pool below Bowersock Dam on the Kansas River. The pool is located at the north end of Massachusetts St. in downtown Lawrence.
Right now the Kansas is frozen over everywhere but in rare places, and the Bowersock pool is one of those places. Eagles congregate there during intense cold spells like we’re having now. They swoop down out of adjacent tall trees for some live-ammo “fly fishing” of their own.
Personally, I prefer watching eagles from my canoe as I drift downriver from Perry or Topeka, but a trip like that is impossible now unless I outfit my canoe with sled runners and a sail.
Joe
“Better small than not at all.”