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Hi all, Finally got out for trout for the first time this year. Got 4 or five decent pike waiting for the lakers to turn on, lost one, had a couple chases with nothing more than nose bumps, but landed a nice 35”er that was just CHUNKY! Took almost 6 minutes to reel in, seemed like a lifetime after just getting snapped off a few minutes before.

Looks like the west side of Simcoe (which being shallower usually has more ice) is iffy too. https://www.durhamradionews.com/archives/17989777 This has always been the weekend (weekend before the Super Bowl) I host an "Ice Fishing Jam" at my cottage. I invite a bunch of buddies to stare down holes during the day and stare at cards at night...lots of food and refreshments included. However, as of this week a crack in the ice on my lake has slowly widened to the point that there's now a large stretch of open water right by our prime Crappie and Walleye spot. Not that there was much ice to begin with. So we cancelled...first time in 30 years ! I stayed in town and went out to the pier this morning with my feet firmly planted on terra firma. Kept a bright one for the smoker. One of the benefits of this shytty ice year is that I have yet to put away the long rods...and frankly in a lot of ways it's a lot more fun than pulling them up through a hole..

From what I see in the video, if you have to hop out of the safety of your Argo to get out of your Argo out Then the Argo is only safe if you stay in it and let rescuers save you and there is nothing wrong with that safe is safe but jumping onto the ice where you just broke through doesn’t inspire me

That looks like Colin, who owns Sills Argo that produced the video apparently. Not many people have more experience in an Argo than he does. The Argo in the video has a rear winch installation, which is an option (and which I did get). Moving the winch requires serious effort, and in real life would be much harder, for me at least, than is shown. The one time I was bogged in my very first Argo, and I anchored my spud bar to use as a strong point for the winch, my spud bar BENT. As I said previously, it is hellish difficult to get an Argo back up on ice once you break through. But you won't drown. Doug

That's a BEAUTY!!! Doug

A 650 Argo weighs roughly 1200 lbs, if you drove over the ice before you broke through there's a good chance the ice you just drove over will support the weight of a man. However you are right, if in doubt stay safe and wait for help.

Was in Orillia last week teaching ice water rescue to various emergency services staff. Usually as an instructor you’re able to read the ice and minimize your plunges through it , (makes for a long day if your constantly crawling yourself out ) this year it’s been next to impossible to read , 5” in one spot then 1” a few meters over . Stay safe and dry fellas, it’s completely unsafe in many spots .

Something has been bugging the dickens out of me to go back up to the rocky mountain foot hills where my trail cam went missing, so I did first thing this morning. In my almost 70 years on this planet, one thing I have learnt is to go with my instincts. I knew there was a poacher prowling around in my stomping grounds from the tracks I'd previously found. Well this morning I found fresh tracks leading into the bush so I followed them and I caught him in the act, sneaking through the bush with a rifle. He didn't see me but I saw him. To try and make a long story short I beat it the Hell out of there as there is no phone service, once I had service I phoned the report a poacher no. about 40 minutes later a game warden showed up and I led him into the bush where the guy was and with the help of the game warden and my walkie talkies we caught him red handed gutting a white tail doe. We caught his buddy as well of course that was driving around so as not to create suspicion with a vehicle sitting on the side of the road. I told the warden about my camera gone missing and he asked me what brand it was and I told him, he reached into the back seat of the truck and brought out a trail cam and asked me, does this look familiar? Sure does I replied. So I got it back minus the SD card. The warden ran their ID. turned out the two guys had multiple warrants for poaching and fire arms offences, so the warden called the RCMP and they were cuffed and taken to the crow bar hotel where they belong. So all in all this was a very rewarding day, got my camera back and put two bad guys in jail. Thanks to those who took the time to read this, I know it's a long one, as usual Hahah.

Well done Barry Thanks for stepping up and the great report.. No way would I have the courage u did. Glad guys like u are around.

Got a call from the Game Warden this morning that made the arrest and the guy has also been charged for sexually assaulting his two young daughters. That's the reason for the publication ban. What a sick person. I can't imagine what the girls are going through and what lies ahead. Makes me feel that much better for doing what I did. Makes it all seem worth while now. I hope they lock him up in solitary confinement and throw the key away.

Holy Moly, thats both scary and awesome!

Got out yesterday with Tim Hales, a solid 8+" of ice where we were. It started off slow, didn't have a single bite in the first hour. Then I landed a nice one and as the day progressed so did the bite. It never got crazy busy but the ones we were getting were all good size most were in the 11 to 13" range with several over 13. Now here's the interesting part. My fishing partner was using our triditional drop shot rig, he caught 10 fish all day. Of all the other huts we talked to, most reported 6 to maybe 15 fish, I used my new secret weapon.