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Well folks I finally plucked up the courage to leave solid ground and venture out on a frozen lake to fish for my favourite fish - perch. I decided I would take lots of photos of the whole experience so I have a good record of my first ice fishing trip and because no one back home in the UK would believe me otherwise! Here's how my day unfolded.... Well my day (Saturday) started in a sunny downtown Toronto, waiting for the bus to Newmarket where I would meet up with a friend who was taking me to Cook's Bay, Lake Simcoe for some ice perchin. After an hour on the bus and a quick car journey we arrived at Gilford at noon and in the middle of a snow squall. I must admit I was a little nervous of going out onto the ice, especially as we couldn't see a thing. As we drove closer to the shoreline my friend decided that he was going to park on the lake ice close to shore. I thought he was joking, but no. Next thing I know I am on the ice. To my surprise there were actually quite a few other vehicles on the ice. As we walked to the bait huts to get minnows I hoped to myself that his car would still be there when we got back! So there I was on the ice for the first time covered in snow - nervous and excited and not a clue where to go. The guy selling us the minnows advised us to head out to where the huts were and drill some holes. Problem was, with all the snow I couldn't see any huts. So we headed out into the blizzard in search of the huts and trying to avoid being whacked by snowmobilers racing around in the white mist. After a few minutes walking through the snow, the snow stopped falling and the clouds parted, and to my amazement there on the horizon were fifty or so black silhouettes of huts, tents and vehicles. Wow, what an amazing feeling, being out there on the ice, 400m from shore over 20 ft of water - it was a truly unforgettable and surreal experience just being out there. I knew I would go home with some good memories even if I didn't catch any fish! Here's a few pictures of my first experience of a winter's day on a Canadian lake. So what was the fishing like I hear you ask..... well we got to a likely spot near some huts and started drilling holes and setting up. As this was our first time ice fishing and because we won't be able to go too regularly we had pretty simple gear and no gadgets. We just had to drill a hole, drop a minnow down on a jighead and see what happened. The ice was about 10-12 inches thick and we estimated we were in 20ft of water. Beginners luck for me I guess but on the first drop I got a bite and not long after that the first perch was through the hole. After a few more perch, all 8 inches or so, the wind picked up and made life very uncomfortable. I really wished we had rented a hut at that point. The bites also dried up and I started getting frustrated as I was spending more time solving tackle problems - the main problem being the wind catching the line which caused my cheap reels to get tangled up so much so that it was difficult to fix with cold and numb hands. With the sun starting to go down and a couple of hours of fishing left we decided to regroup, fix our tackle, try to warm up and find a new area to fish. We moved south a little and started to drill holes. This was a good move, because the last few hours of daylight were the best in every way. The clouds cleared and made way for blue sky, the setting sun painted the ice and sky with warm tones, the wind dropped, and the perch started to bite! We weren't catching large numbers of fish and they weren't that big, biggest maybe 9 inches but they were beautiful fish, we were having fun and thoroughly enjoying the experience. Here's some pictures of a few fish, all caught using small jigheads tipped with minnows and returned alive to their watery world under the ice. As we packed up and headed back to the car at dusk. You could hear the ice groaning and expanding and I realised I was glad to be leaving the ice but so happy that I had been out there to experience this quintessential Canadian outdoor activity. Despite the difficult conditions for this city boy from London, England it had been a truly memorable day. What a great way to spend a winter's day. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story. Enjoy the ice and stay safe 007

Good job Clampet. I was out at Gilford in Cooks Bay and caught a few perch too - report to follow tomorrow when I have thawed out and slept!

Thanks for the encouragement dsn. Am a bit apprehensive at the moment but as you say once i see all those huts and people out there I'm sure I will just want to get out there and catch some fish I'll try and do a report tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks for clearing that one up for me 007

Good Like Mike the Pike! Stay safe and show us some pics on your return. 007

I've seen a few people mention bait spreaders in relation to ice fishing but I can't find what they are in any of the books/mags I've got. What are they? Do I need one for Lake Simcoe? Are they for a particular way of fishing or for targetting a particular species? Cheers 007

Hi folks. I'm planning my first ever ice fishing trip tomorrow. A friend of mine has an auger and we are planning to head out and fish for perch in Cooks Bay on Lake Simcoe. Was thinking of going out from Gilford. Being from the London, England the idea of walking on a frozen lake is a bit alien to me so am a little worried about safety. I've looked on the Simcoe boards and it seems to suggest Cooks Bay has 8-12 inches of ice - that should be safe to walk on? Any tips for fishing Cooks Bay? How far should I walk out from Gilford to get to good perchin depths? Any good baits? jigging action? etc. Thanks in advance for the help. 007

Too right Nanook - it's true I had Roach doing that too without the float moving too! Joonmoon - you refer to the maggots going brown. When this happens they are hardening up to become a chrysalis before they turn into a fly (similar thing to what caterpillars do before turning into butterflies). You're right that you don't want to hang onto them too long after that or after a while you will have a lot of flies buzzing around your house - been there... done that.. when I was a kid. Needless to say my mum wasn't too happy! LOL However, when they turn brown and lifeless you can still use them for bait - at least we did in the UK. They even sold them in the bait shops - they were called 'casters'. Quite often some species of fish back home would even prefer them to the maggots despite them not wriggling. In fact many people would use them to catch the larger fish. Not sure how it would work here, where the fish seem to be more aggressive and generally liking things that move around or wriggle! But my guess is even a perch over here couldn't resist a 'caster' jigged around! Hope this helps. 007

We use maggots all the time back in the UK. The best way to hook the ones back home was through the flat end, just knicking them through the skin where the two dots or eyes are - done properly there isn't too much juice. Out of interest Gerritt where did you get them? I haven't been able to find any in T.O, and I bet they are great for panfish and perch as Rich says. 007

Congratulations FHR. It's a great shot & deserves to be in print. All the best in New York! How about a picture of you and a pike (or some other fish) with the Empire State Building behind ya! LOL 007

I noticed in the MNR release it states that the virus "has been linked to the die-offs of at least four species of fish" - presumably in the infected Lower Great Lakes. Does anyone know what species these are? Also, do we know which of the remaining species are likely to be most affected by the disease? Could it affect the fishing opportunities in the coming years for bass, pike, carp, panfish etc in Lake O? 007

One of the things that upset me when I was there was the fact that you had guys that were obviously down there everyday catching 30-50 fish and taking them home regardless of size (many of which were small and i'm sure get wasted). Meanwhile there were kids there (the future of fishing) who were obviously depserate to catch just one small fish with their new rod but not being able to, mainly because the number of fish in there was reducing all the time as they were ending up in buckets not back in the water! Put some back for others to enjoy, I say.

Agent for her Majesty's secret service and womaniser of course! But when I'm not doing that I'm an Airport Planning Consultant. 007

Caught my first fish when I was about 10. Was sea fishing from a beach on the English Channel, back home in the UK. Caught a small flounder (flat fish). My first freshwater fish was probably a perch or roach (its similar to a rudd - the invasive fish you get sometimes over here) from a canal in London, UK when I was 12.

Well done as usual Snagman! Looks like you finished the year with some beauties So what would you say has been your biggest Pike from T.O waterfront/Islands this year? Length? Weight? Thanks for posting the reports. Hope you have a great New Year. 007

Have fun at the islands. Won't be out there now until next year. Just got back from fishing in Barrie and need a few days to thaw out - us Brits are not used to fishing all day in -12 wind chill! :-)

I was up in Barrie for some perchin today too. Never seen so many people fishin in such a small area, and on a cold windy day too (-12 wind chill off the lake). There are certainly some perch still there but not many big ones and even the small ones won't be there for long with that kind of pressure. I caught about 20 perch in 4hrs, all 7-9 inches and all released to fight another day or another hour before someone else catches them and puts them in a white bucket! I wish people wouldn't take as many fish as they do - It may be legal for keeping up to 50 but i'm sure its not sustainable when you consider how many people are doing it. Put them back and let others have the chance to experience the fun of fishing/catching too. Just my opinion. 007

Great pics DanC. Some beautiful trout and some good wildlife photos there. Looking forward to seeing your 2007 pics! Thanks for sharing 007

Thanks guys. Lots of good advice and help. Will let you know how we get on. 007

Hi folks. I'm planning on taking a trip up from T.O to Barrie on Friday to go fishing with a mate and his brother from Spain. Its the first time i've fished there but have heard such good reports for Perch fishing from the docks that I'm really looking forward to it. With any luck I might even beat my PB of a 1lb Perch caught when I was a kid living in the UK. Can anyone give me a clue as to where to go and what to use to catch a few jumbos from shore? Are the docks easy to get to from the bus station? Do lures, Jigs or worms work best? Morning or afternoon best? Should I bring my xraps for some pike action too? Any help would be appreciated as i've not been there before but am hoping to show our guest from overseas some good Ontario soft water winter fishing, seeing as our ice fishing plans have had to be shelved. We're totally catch n release fishermen so any we catch will be going back in the water for another day. PM me if you don't want the world to know your top perchin tips Thanks in advance for your help 007

Merry Christmas to you too. Keep up the good work. 007

Nice report dsn. Man you get up early to get out there! I know where I would be at that time of day Snag's report has certainly got all of us T.O anglers itching to get out there at the islands for some winter pike action! But your report certainly shows its not as easy as Snag makes it look! Thanks for sharing - fish or no fish - all those pics have got me looking forward to getting out there at the weekend to give it a try too! You're certainly putting the new camera to good use too! 007

Hey fishindevil. I was down at Bass Pro last week and bought the deep diving x-raps in perch and silver, but I missed out on the rainbow trout colours. They must be restocking but selling fast each time! I also picked up some of the new minnow raps - the detail on some of them is amazing plus some have red hooks and bill at the front - they look good and hope they catch me some fish next year or may be this weekend Hope you find some more soon. 007

WTG Snag! Good to see that those pike are still there. That last one is a good size. Have caught a few myself from that area this year but never that big - always little rockets. A nice reward for the long walk to and from the ferry! Did the racoon make it into the hole? Maybe I'll get out there this weekend for one last cast for this year. Thanks for sharing. 007

That's a big pike. Nice report as usual Snag. May be I should dust down my rods for one last try this year. 007