Syracuse.com - Central New York ice fishermen get out on Martin Luther King Day

[HuntingNY-News]

"I'd be in fourth period right now in Family and Consumer Science class, where you learn how to cook and things," said Nicholas Waitkus, 12. "I'd rather be here."

The temperature was in the mid-20s, the air was filled with snow flurries and the wind was blowing steadily on Otisco Lake this morning.

12 year old Nicholas Waitkus of Endicott holds up his first catch, a bluegill. Stephen D. Cannerelli [email protected] 

Nicholas Waitkus, 12, of Endicott, was out on the lake ice fishing with Charles Waitkus, his 71-year-old grandfather. The boy had the day off from school, thanks to Martin Luther King Day.

"I'd be in fourth period right now in Family and Consumer Science class, where you learn how to cook and things," he said. "I'd rather be here."

The recent cold snap has firmed up the ice on waterways for anglers throughout Central New York. Nicholas and his grandfather were among more than a dozen ice fishermen trying their luck at Otisco Lake's northern end today, where the ice was more than 7 inches thick.

John Dunn, 18, of Marcellus, was with his girlfriend, Sage Hall, 16. Dunn said he's been ice fishing for years.

"This is my first time," Hall said. The two were set up in Dunn's portable ice shanty, which was getting warmed inside by a propane heater. Dunn said they were fishing with jigs and spikes (maggots) for panfish.

Mike Toepp, of Liverpool, spent nearly two hours fishing in the open and sitting on a bucket with his buddy, Noah Volcko, of Charleston, S.C., who was up visiting him. The two said they caught some small bluegills, a perch and a nice-sized crappie.

Volcko said today's cold blast was a sharp contrast to back home in South Carolina.

"It's probably like 70 degrees there today," he said.

Some anglers were fishing for tip-ups, trying their luck for big tiger muskies. They were using large pike minnows and tip-ups.

Richard Feocco with a 25-inch muskie he caught and released today, 

Richard Feocco, 18, and his buddies said they had been out on the northern end of Otisco fishing for the past two days. On Sunday, he said, they caught and released three muskie (the biggest measuring 34 inches) and one 4-pound, largemouth bass.

Feocco said he caught and released a 25-inch muskie this morning, along with catching a bunch of bluegills. .

Feocco said he uses both an underwater camera and a Vexilar sonar device to locate the fish.

"If I don't see any, I move quickly to another spot," he said.

It didn't take long for most on the ice on Otisco to feel the cold with the wind blowing. Charles Waitkus, of Vestal, said he's got "too many layers" to be bothered by it.

"I'm just one of those guys who hardly ever wears gloves," he said. "When I was younger I used to make snowmen and didn't wear gloves. Everyone was amazed. My hands are not cold now. They're warm."

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog