johnnyb

Hey Wayne-- I figured you'd post a reply to this one. Since the 16th is family day, it gives us enough justification to head up there early Sunday morning, and not be too pressured to get back to the real world on Monday. If you end up going, definitely let us know -- we'll be there for sure...Jessy is claiming it as her Valentine's gift...so I can't back out now We will either stay up there, or stay in North Bay and hit Nipissing on the morning of the 16th. Any idea what the depths are like between the main lake launch and Bear Island? I would think any of the points out there would be good places to start...

Hey all -- just cleared the calendar to hit Temagami on Feb. 15th for lake trout opener. With no sled or quad, the plan is to drive out on one of the ice roads in the Jeep, park, and walk. Anybody care to chime in on where we might go? I'm torn between the ice road out of town, which doesn't go too far, but provides access to the 40 FOW mark....and heading down the Main Access road to the road from the boat launch. I have no idea what the depths are like out there...so I would kind of be going in blind. Also, if anyone knows of any cheap accomodations in the area, that would be great...if we can stay the night, it would be better than driving back in the same day. Any and all input is appreciated -- thanks

Very nicely done!! I've never seen a spoon like the one in your first pic....you mind telling us what it is? Thanks for the grrrreat report!

Awesome!! That's a trip you'll remember forever!

*sigh* soon that will be me too! Congrats, Sonny

WOW!!!! That's amazing!

Uh-oh....Mike the Bass Fisher got a boat...it's like that Tracker commercial with Kevin VanDam....I can see a bumch of little white flags popping up all over the lake

Really amazing, Bernie -- I had the pleasure of working at a lodge on the South Shore one summer...I got to keep all the Giesler boats cleaned and gassed and shuffled for new clients. In the spring when we were getting them ready, I noticed the signature under the bench and asked my boss "Why did Bert Reynolds sign this boat? -- And why is his name spelled wrong?"

Nicely done, Joonmoon...how romantic...reaching for the fish...sure you were! Nice to know I'm not the only guy getting outfished by my missus

Hey Jen -- the walleye is my elusive species, as far as ice-fishing goes...so Jessy and I may be paying you and Fishmaster a visit soon!

Yup -- quad floated thanks to the tires....the other quad stayed out there after they did a thorough check of all the ice around them. Mind you, I didn't stick around for the ultimate moment of truth....but I'm assuming they got it out okay...seemed like they knew what they were doing. Oh! Forgot to mention the 3 guys who were at least a mile out into the main lake...they were back at their car the same time we were....they hopped two pressure cracks and were breaking through the ice with one shot of their spud bar...but apparently this was worth the pile of trout and whities that they caught.

Since my lovely wife and I had the day off today, we decided that a few hours on the ice would be a good idea. I’ve been wanting to try Simcoe for some whitefish and lake trout, and had heard that there was walkable ice at Bear Point, and Big Bay Point. Having missed the turn to the public access at Bear Point, we ended up at Big Bay. Weather-wise, we couldn’t have picked a better day to hit the ice. Cold, crisp, and absolutely ZERO wind…we were carefully walking toward a cluster of portable huts and open air hardwater anglers by 10:00am, on 4-6 inches of newly formed black ice. By 11:00 am, everyone turned to watch two guys come out on their atv’s….and then watch one break through. No pics of it going in…camera was in the other direction, and I was on the run with the other folks in the area to head over and see if the driver needed help. Luckily, he hopped off without getting too wet….couldn’t say the same for his quad though. More on this later. Headed back over to the hole, where I had a silver Williams Whitefish with a patch of green prism tape on it resting on bottom, just shy of the 100 FOW mark. Thanks to a recent thread about how to use these particular spoons properly, I was snapping it off bottom and pausing it alternately, when something stopped it – my first whitie!!! 21 inches…not too shabby! The rest of the day was fairly uneventful….even though Laker Jessy wasn’t hauling fish in like usual, she was seeing all kinds of them on the Aqua-Vu. It sure was nice of her to let me catch up on the fish count…even though I only narrowed the gap by one. By the time we left, at around 2:30pm, we had bumped into a fellow OFC’er…Rick_Ont. Thanks again for the great tips on jigs today, Rick! See…there he is! The ATV guys had also built themselves a pretty nifty tripod and were bringing their quad back from what was almost a watery grave. Good job guys – hopefully the next outing you can focus on catching fish, not four-wheelers! And that’s it…can’t wait to get back out there….I’m definitely hooked on the Simcoe whitefish. See you out there!

Saw the title a couple days ago, and ignored the thread. Checking in now to see where it's at after 4 pages. Seems like the usual response....the all-topics-welcome General Discussion really is what makes this site unique. All the great folks on it make exceptional. All the jerks keep us coming back for more Kidding.... Just to throw my $0.02 on the pile...if you want a board that has different forums within it, we won't hold it against you if you post over there too

what a great way to spend the day with your family - thanks for sharing

nice! i bet your drag is set right now...

switch over to the driftwood setup if you don't like it, Scrooge

We were using ours on the weekend, and as long as the lights weren't on, the fish had no problem. So far though, with the lights on, the fish never came around....time will tell, but for now, I'll hope that it was just coincidence.

LOL -- that's too much Don't know if I'll still be online by then....but it sounds oh so entertaining

THey obviously weren't California plates....but more importantly, California wasn't a state back when he claimed to be mowing the lawns down there.

LOL -- how very true indeed

GCD -- I kept up on the lakers... Joonmon -- tell me about it! The trick is to tell people I'm the guide when she's out of earshot Steve_Paul -- I read you loud and clear Leechman -- we're all in this together...just keep your tip-up on the ice....we'll be feasting on delicious filets d'or pretty soon!

Simon, when I first told my wife where you live, she said "If we're driving 18 hours, we're going to Halifax to see all my old friends". After all she hears about your fishing exploits, she's starting to change her mind on that.... nice report!

So, real short and sweet, here’s a quick rundown of our ice fishing exploits this year. We started out a bit rough for the Scugog opener, but got into the swing of things with some decent laker action in Muskoka. Correction: My lovely wife says she did just fine on Scugog, and was par for the course in Muskoka. So here’s all the gory details: Jan. 1st on Scugog…carefully walking out on about 6-8 inches of decent ice. Jessy is loving the new ice cleats Santa brought her Jessy was sure that our old dome tent would work as a shelter on the ice. After anchoring it down, it was pretty warm in there…warm enough for this OOS smallie to show up. A quick pic, and back down the hole…see you in the summer! By the time it was getting dark, we figured out why everyone waited until later to come out on the ice. This little walleye was a welcome site after a quiet day on the ice. It is also another notch on Jessy’s ice-rod that she can claim over me….one day I’ll ice a walleye….one day… So that was Scuogog…two fish. Oh, no, wait a second…I caught a rock bass! Yay me…I was a bit too annoyed to take a pic though. Moving on to better things, the lure of lake trout up in Muskoka was too much for us to bear. We packed up and left town after work on Saturday, and, after putting in a call to Bait on the Lake, got even better news that Lake Rosseau has safe ice. We were the first ones at the particular spot we tried, so it was a slow, careful walk, with lots of holes drilled to sample the ice on the way. Started out with 6, and got down to 4 inches by the time we found our spot…and even found 2 inches, so we made sure to stay away from that spot. The old standby white tube jigs were working hard for a few hours, to no avail. After a while, I heard my blue and silver kastmaster saying “put me in coach, I’m ready”. Am I ever glad I listened, because the spoon didn’t even make it to the bottom before this guy picked it up on a shoal in about 30 FOW Jessy, or, “Laker Jessy” as she likes to be known at times, was also using a tube jig, unsuccessfully. She was also using her new AquaVu that, once again, Santa got her. That Santa is one smooth operator! I gave her a blue and silver Krocodile spoon, and she immediately had trout on the screen…and then…on the end of her line! She made me wait to take this pic until she took her extra (by extra, I mean THIRD) coat off…the silly thing thought it made her look fat. Once Laker Jess gets the trout dialed in, they usually keep coming….she was good for another. I added one more for the day….it was nice to keep pace with her for a change… So that’s about it…looking forward to a bunch more outings… but first we have some fish to fry!

What a great tribute -- thank you for sharing that with us....our thoughts are with you and your family.

Wow. An adventure you won't soon repress...I mean...regret! Thanks for sharing