PCT Winter League - Session 5 of 8

Fishing Time: 7:30am – 4:00pm
Temperature: 36°F - 38°F
Wind: 2mph NE – 7mph NW
Pressure: 29.57in – 29.56in
Surface Water Temperature: 48°F 
Bottom Water Temperature: 48°F

ON THE ICE

As the cold winter days’ approach, here in the Midwest, most lakes, rivers and canals freeze, which forbids most carp anglers to do what they love. There are areas, mainly canals, next to power plants that do not freeze because of the hot water discharge which can be fished at, but those are limited and tend to be heavily occupied by anglers in these cold months. There are carp anglers, who go on the ice to catch carp and this form of fishing is getting more and more popular, but I am not that brave, yet. I do not have any experience fishing on the ice and as a matter of fact, last year was my first time.

PCT Winter League - Session 4 of 8

Polonia Carp Team Winter League, another session behind me. It was a session four of eight. It was a very, very cold session but why complain, it is a Winter League after all. The good part was the fact that I was able to have my vehicle very close to my rods so every time I got cold, I could jump in for a quick warm up.
Fishing Time: 7:30am – 3:30pm
Temperature: 12°F - 8°F
Wind: 21mph NW – 20mph WNW
Pressure: 29.95in – 30.00in
Surface Water Temperature: 45°F
Bottom Water Temperature: 48°F

PCT Winter League - Session 3 of 8

Polonia Carp Team Winter League 2015-2016 session three has just ended. The weather conditions this winter season are just unpredictable and they change so dramatically from week to week. This session, although with pleasant temperatures for winter, accompanied us with a strong wind up to 17mph. 

Fishing Time: 7:30am – 3:30pm

Temperature: 30°F - 47°F

Wind: 9mph S – 15mph SSW

Pressure: 30.14in – 29.89in
Surface Water Temperature: 39°F
Bottom Water Temperature: 42°F

DAYS OFF

Before each session there is always a lot of preparation; rods, rigs, bait, all the necessary equipment and packing. Everything must be in ready mode and everything has to be in its desired place. There is a spot for hooks, leadcores, weights, hookbaits are organized by its purpose, popups, wafters, dumbbells, bottom bait, etc. I spend a lot of time before each session to make sure that everything is in good working condition and everything has its place and everything is in its place.
There is a lot of stuff that I always take with me to each session, and there are many reasons for that, but one probably the most crucial; I don't want to end up on the bank needing something and not having it. I have learned many years ago a technique, you may say organization technique, which is well known as 5S.

PCT Winter League - Session 2 of 8

Session two of Polonia Carp Team Winter League 2015-2016 has just ended and what a session it was. Weather conditions during this session were so different with comparison to session one and this also resulted in a better fishing day for all the anglers.

Fishing Time: 7:30am – 3:30pm

Temperature: 31°F - 43°F

Wind: 4mph SSW – 3mph SW

Pressure: 30.35in – 30.24in

I was monitoring the weather conditions for few days prior to Sunday in order to help me to put together tactic for this session. The most interesting and most advantages aspect of this analysis was a fact that air pressure peeked in early hours of Saturday and was falling down for the next two days. It is always challenging to fish during high pressure days and fishing during falling air pressure or low pressure is always more fruitful.

PCT Winter League - Session 1 of 8

 II edition of Polonia Carp Team Winter League 2015-2016 has begun. 8 anglers, 8 sessions and 8 pegs with rotating schedule were everyone fishes every peg. Last Sunday it was the first session and we met at 6:30 am for first peg draw. It is funny how hard it is sometimes for me to get up, but if I have to be up early for fishing, I never have a problem. Woke up at 3:30 am, got my morning coffee, car packed and leaving the house to head north at 4:15 am. It takes me about hour and 50 minutes to get to Winter League assembly point. When I got there, I already started to kick my ass about signing up for this tournament because I just hate cold weathers. I hate cold weathers but I like a good competition so I think competition factor won again. Oh well…