I've invented a new winter sport....

Ice RocketFishing!




the Mini Amazon landed on our Rocket Eating Pond, and as I was unsure how safe the ice was, As Maine is suffering some unseasonably warm temperatures (high 30's to high 40's), I decided to play it safe and *literally* fish my rocket off the ice

a black jointed Fred Arbogast jitterbug in 3/4 oz worked nicely, and the rocket was landed safely...

....it still put up more fight than a yellow perch, then again, a wet newspaper puts up more fight than a yellow perch...

And here I thought you were catching fish with a rocket! Or maybe send one up automatically when the pop up flips?

Either way, great idea. Better to play it safe than sorry!

I recovered an Arreux from the sludge ponds (um, recycled sewage) on Fiesta Island once using the same technique! Wrapped it in a trash bag and drove home with the tailgate open (wife was in car making retching noises all the way home!) I rinsed it off in the bathtub and still have it today. +1 for determination, my friend! +2 for using common sense and a great pole to retrieve it with and +3 for the pics! Way to go! Straight smoke and good chutes!

fyrwrxz said:

I recovered an Arreux from the sludge ponds (um, recycled sewage) on Fiesta Island once using the same technique! Wrapped it in a trash bag and drove home with the tailgate open (wife was in car making retching noises all the way home!) I rinsed it off in the bathtub and still have it today. +1 for determination, my friend! +2 for using common sense and a great pole to retrieve it with and +3 for the pics! Way to go! Straight smoke and good chutes!

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I hope your Arreux had its Hepatitis shots before swimming round in the sludge pond? Did you ever get the smell out of it?

I was wondering from the title what you were using for bait, or if the rocket WAS bait. I'd like to see what you catch with that! "We're gonna need a bigger boat...".

McKailas Dad said:

And here I thought you were catching fish with a rocket! Or maybe send one up automatically when the pop up flips?

Either way, great idea. Better to play it safe than sorry!

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[YOUTUBE]dG6ReEhHFYw&feature=youtu.be&t=2m15s[/YOUTUBE]

YouTube link no workie. It says it's a local file?

Hah! The end of that clip was totally worth waiting for... loved the books, but the feature length movie was less than so-so... Doc is one hero that would benefit form a new treatment, something akin to MARVEL studios.

McKailas Dad said:

YouTube link no workie. It says it's a local file?

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Worked for me That was great!

Reminds me of a glider flight I made on a cold day. Only time I was GLAD it was a cold day to fly rockets.

Did not have a rod and reel. But was able to cobble together (translation = Duct Tape) three long poles to just barely reach it and drag it back.

SecretSquirrel said:

[YOUTUBE]dG6ReEhHFYw&feature=youtu.be&t=2m15s[/YOUTUBE]

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The end of that was exactly what I was imagining when I read the preview blurb when I moved the cursor over the thread title.

Yes, please do play it safe! I launch off ice and always take precautions. I won't go into the steps I take to check that the ice can support my weight, but I always wear a life jacket and carry ice claws/ice picks when I go out.



The ice claws are important since not being able to get yourself out of the water and back onto ice is usually the big problem.

Additionally, if you see someone fall through, don't go out there onto the ice...call 911 and find rope or similar (even a ladder can help - it distributes the weight load across more ice). If the ice couldn't hold them, it likely won't hold you. My :2:

Back on the lighter side, I've considered using a drone with something on the end to drag the rocket back once the ices gets too thin. Or maybe an RC swamp boat with a catcher in the front to push the rocket back.

KenECoyote said:

Yes, please do play it safe! I launch off ice and always take precautions. I won't go into the steps I take to check that the ice can support my weight, but I always wear a life jacket and carry ice claws/ice picks when I go out.

The ice claws are important since not being able to get yourself out of the water and back onto ice is usually the big problem.

Additionally, if you see someone fall through, don't go out there onto the ice...call 911 and find rope or similar (even a ladder can help - it distributes the weight load across more ice). If the ice couldn't hold them, it likely won't hold you. My :2:

Back on the lighter side, I've considered using a drone with something on the end to drag the rocket back once the ices gets too thin. Or maybe an RC swamp boat with a catcher in the front to push the rocket back.

Click to expand...

When I was a kid, my next door neighbor and his fishing buddy both drowned when the ice covering the lake they were on gave way. Neighbor was riding a three-wheeler, his son and the fishing buddy were on a quad. The quad broke through, sending the boy (8) and the friend into the lake. Neighbor jumps in (despite his poor ability to swim) managed to grab his son and haul him out. Dived for his friend, and drowned. I remember that it happened on Valentines day. The widow had just beat leukemia and then had to deal with raising her son and daughter without their father.

Be safe out there.

Also note that even though it may seem like it would take too long if you called 911, very cold water is very oxygen rich and people who drowned in frozen waters have been revived even an hour (or so) later, so IMHO unless you know what you're doing, it's best left to the trained rescuers.

Many years ago I gave my father a set of those ice picks for Christmas since he loves ice fishing and I actually explained to him what they were for and how to use them.

2 years ago he told me that he and his friends fell through the ice and couldn't get out. A helicopter had to come to rescue them; however by the time they grabbed him (he was last), he was so delirious that he actually fought the rescuers (another note that for drowning rescues sometimes you have to let the victim go under otherwise they may pull you down to get themselves above the water due to panic). I asked him if he had the ice picks...he said "what ice picks?".

Rockets are replaceable and if you lose one you have an excuse to buy more rockets and enjoy life!

Nice catch! But it doesn't look as big as you said it was. :neener:

My pond recovery was during the summer. I had to hack my way through 20 feet of reeds, wade out to the middle of the pond, which was waste-deep, reel in the chutes and cords, gather everything up in my arms, carry it back through the reeds and mud, and walk soaked and dirty back to the flight line. Fortunately, AMW let me hose off with their outdoor hose. The worst part was having to put my GPS tracker, cell phone, and wallet up under my hat so they wouldn't get wet.