So I did manage to cart myself onto Kempenfelt bay Saturday afternoon to participate in the charity tournament. Cost was $80.00 per hole with proceeds benefitting local charities (RVH Cancer Centre last year, Gilda's Club this year). Didn't seem that cold at home, but man was I happy to have the survival suit on! Now I understand why "Tarpus Maximus" has some problems on the ice...it gets mighty windy on Simcoe. Even though I live 5 minutes away, I've never actually ice fished Kempenfelt bay before. To make things worse, I've never fished for whitefish or trout before either! Stopped in at Simcoe Bait and Tackle to talk a little "shop" with the local experts. Ended up meeting the guy who finished second in last years tourney and got a few tips... pretty sure everyone lied to me
I ended up with zero trout and precisely zero whitefish. Fortunately, I did land a couple of perch (out of 50 feet of water) and one was big enough to get me in the prizes. I finished 48th out of approx. 500 people, winning $150.00 in ice fishing gear from Bass Pro. Top 50 people got prizes. Funny thing is, the guy in 50th place won an aluminum boat, guess I should have done a little worse! Either way, a fun day and supporting great local charities. I'll definitely be back.