Page 6 - Fishing Report - 02-17-2015

2015 Erie Ice Camp hosted by Dave Lefebre

Pro angler Dave Lefebre hosted his second annual Ice Camp in late January, inviting several national
outdoor communicators for a three day ice fishing event on different area lakes. Attending outdoor
writers/photographers included Jeff Samsel (Georgia), Steve Chaconas (Virginia), Todd Ceisner (New
York), and Darl Black (Pennsylvania).

Preliminary plans had called for visiting media to fish Pymatuning Lake and Shenango Lake for crap-
pies, but the ice was not considered safe enough at the time on these lakes. Instead, ice fishing took
place on Presque Isle Bay and Lake Pleasant – lakes which had six to eight inches of solid ice.

The week prior to the Ice Camp, Lefebre had been limiting out on crappies at PIB for three days in a
row. But everyone knows exceptional fishing does not last. This is especially true when outdoor media
comes to town! Day One on PIB yielded only one crappie, although bluegills and small perch were ac-
tively taking baits.

Day Two was a jaunt down the road to Pleasant Lake. Writers dabbling in the holes on Pleasant were
rewarded with yellow perch of a size far superior to the ones taken at PIB. Late in the day, Lefebre dis-
covered some of the lake’s famed trout were hovering over the deepwater basin. So on Day Three,
everyone returned to Pleasant to focus on roaming trout suspended several feet down over 40 feet of
water. This was far different approach than fishing the weed edge!

Everyone departed with ample material and photos for future articles on NW PA ice fishing.