trapshooter

in the winter i like to check out iceshanty.com, which is a huge US based ice fishing site. It's a very active board and there's tones of information there. Only problem... the forums are broken down into A LOT of sub-forums and it's a total PITA to sort through everything to find what you want. IMO, having everything in one place is part of what makes OFC work so well.

Thanks everyone. Mike - no, I won't be back at SWWL this year. I have accepted a guiding position at Moosehorn Lodge, which is only 15 mins drive from our house in Sioux Lookout. One of the major plus's to the move is having muskies at this end of Lac Seul and boat access to Minitaki, which holds lakers. Of course I'll still be guiding for walleye a lot too. I'll be busy come ice out learning all the new water on this end of the system.

Mustache is purely for entertainment value and will be gone soon. Thanks for noticing though If I lived in Dryden I'd be on Upper Manitou all the time. Big lake with huge potential if you spent a season exploring it. I'll be back next year for sure. You definitely recognize my buddy there and he remembered you too.

Over March break we did a little trip on the Ski-doo's into the Silver Water Wheel Lodge on Lac Seul. This is the place I guided at for the past 4 years and Mike (owner) let us use a cabin for some winter camping and fishing. We trailered as far as we could up the logging road out of Dryden, then switched to the snowmachines for the last 18k. We had a nice ride in breaking trail most of the way. Molly, our dog, tagged along for the ride too. Our cabin for the weekend. On to some fishing. Our real goal for the trip was to target late ice pike with tip-ups and dead bait. Our timing wasn't right though and the pike just weren't staging in or around the spawning bays. We were definitely too early. I landed one 30" pike that we didn't even take a picture of and other then that, we moved 2 lines with no hook-ups. We spent the rest of the time targeting walleye on some of the structure we know well from the summer months (reefs, sandbars etc). We fished from 10 FOW to 40 FOW and came up with a true multi-species effort. Pike, white fish, sauger, walleye and ling. All from the same spot, all mixed in together. Dinner time. Multi-species smorgasbord. Kelly with a ling. I was happy to see her catch it and hold it for a picture. Sunday we packed up and left but the fishing wasn't over yet. We had a trout day planned for Monday on Upper Manitou Lake with our friend Rob who lives in Dryden. Rob didn't disappoint, he showed us a great day of fishing despite all the RAIN. We set up about 40 yards off the point of an island facing a main lake basin. I was surprised when i turned on the flasher and it read 102 feet. I soaked a live minnow on a tiny jig about 5' off bottom and had 2 small trout on the ice in under 15 mins. I didn't even get pictures of them, they were small and we ate them for lunch on the ice. We moved shallower to 75' and started picking up some larger fish on tube jigs. Graham with a nice trout that he hand-lined up. Rob played the chase game with this trout on his vex for several minutes before getting it to commit. Turned out to be the big one for the day. Another for Graham on a hair jig that he tied himself. We ended up with a limit of trout and had a great day on a new lake. Next up, back to chasing specs on the ice before it goes.

Seems like most of the numbers do suggest that pike spawn in cooler water, therefore first, like I thought. However it does seem that some overlap happens. Thanks for the info everyone.

Either way... pike and walleye in a river or pike and walleye in a lake. Which spawn first. Also, from the research I did I found that there's greatly differing numbers published for spawning temperatures for both species. Just look at the numbers thrown out on this thread alone.

I have always thought that pike spawned before walleye, however, I got into a discussion today with a credible guy who insisted that walleye spawn first. So I'll put it to the people. What are you thoughts on this topic?

Another great report. Love those specs.

Glad to see you got your supper Simon. Heard you got stopped by the CO on the way out.

I've always signed mine since I first got my drivers license 16 years ago. My father was fortunate enough to receive a new heart from a donor in July 2007. An organ donor saved his life. Sorry to hear about your friend Rick.

Congratulations. Working at a lodge and guiding changed my life - for the better - in many ways. If I can offer some advice - invest in some quality rain gear. Gore-tex if you can afford it. You will be spending a lot of time outside, rain and shine, and it's miserable to be wet under your outerwear. Oh yeah, and sunscreen... apply multiple times daily. I was a fool my first summer and rarely used any and I did some real damage to my face and hands. Polarized glasses - buy them and wear them 100% when fishing/guiding even if it's raining or cloudy. I had a jig come loose from a guests fish and the jig shot up and hit me in the glasses. I would have lost my eye if I wasn't wearing my glasses. All the guides at my lodge do the same. Good luck and have fun. If you have any other questions about guiding or working for lodges, don't hesitate to ask.

You're a great guy for getting your daughter out on the ice Jacques. I'm sure it's something you'll both never forget.

I'll never get tired of your reports Mike. Thanks for taking the time to share your adventure.

What a way to cap off your hard water season Steve. Congrats, those are some beauty fish.

That's awesome. Something I want to try this year for sure.

I don't have much desire for the exotics of the oceans. I would like to catch a big BC sturgeon though. Other then that, I'm quite content chasing new PB's of the species available in Ontario.

FYI - a lot of people modify a graph from their boat for use during ice fishing. There are even graphs specifically made for ice fishing. ex lowrance X67 Ice Machine. Flashers aren't for everyone and some people prefer the standard graph view. Personally I'm a flasher junkie through the ice. Different strokes for different folks.

Hey Simon, that's great news. Congratulations to you both. Now ask mum and Jack when you can come back to Lac Seul. lol

For dog sakes man, don't let my wife see this!!!

Very nice Jacques. Too bad your ice fishing season is over, but you've had a great year. Congrats!!

Ah damn bernie. That's a tough one for sure. He was a beautiful dog and I'm sure you gave him a great life.

That's some good fishing right there. Congrats on a fine day indeed.

Beautiful chrome gentlemen. As far as I can tell, steelhead and wild turkeys are the only things missing from Sioux Lookout.

great pics, thanks for posting. I like the underwater release shot the best.

Stradics have been great to me. I own 5 - 2 1000's and 3 2500's. I honestly like my 1000's better. Lots of size for a walleye/drop shot combo AND I use both my 1000's all winter on ice rods. Double duty, gotta love that.