solopaddler

Survivor man goes ice fishing! Interesting report despite the lack of fish!

Nice brown bud, well done! Did you try any of the small firetiger stickbaits I gave you?

I used to fish Kaminiskeg through the ice for lakers all the time. Best spot by far for me was the end of the lake where the river flows in. There's a parking lot/public launch there to access the lake. Always a bunch of locals with huts out there so you can't miss the spot. There's an open channel of water flowing out into the lake there that doesn't freeze, don't get too close to the edge! The current seems to draw the lakers in there, it was always a hotspot .

Beyond the tire problem looks a great day Wayne! You've sure got a nice set up for ice fishing..

Love your enthusiasm kid, your package is in the mail.

Yep, custom 14' Raven IM8.

Glad you enjoyed the trip buddy, 'till next time!

You got that right brother!

DAY TWO Monday evening back at the motel we had some friends join us. Cliff (ccmt) had driven 5 hours from his in laws place in Michigan, and my buddy Fergie drove down to join us as well bringing his 10 year old boy Liam with him. My main priority on Tuesday was to try and put Liam onto some fish. When we arrived at the river I let Ferg fish and took the lad under my wing. Not 5 minutes in he hooked a nice chromer . After catching the fish he says "Okay that was cool, I'm done fishing now" . From that point on he spent the rest of the day crawling around in the bush, exploring the forest (within sight). What'ya gonna do?, you don't want to force them. Main thing was he was having fun... It didn't take long for Ferg to get in on the action: This was a particularly big brute that Ferg managed to subdue: Double (one of many) I did get a couple of pic's of Cliff as well: Took these great shots of Ferg way off in the distance by himself battling a fish: Right near the end of the day as we're packing up to leave Liam says "I wanna try fishing again dad!" Okay, no problem . We got him set up and drifting, and just like that he hit his second fish of the day!: Bill actually hooked one of his own to cap the day off with yet another double: Before leaving we had some slicing and dicing to do as we had roped 3 nice little chromers to bring home: What a fantastic two days! Warm temps, lots of fish, great company and a lot of laughs. It just doesn't get any better than that! With winter sinking it's teeth into us now I think that could've been the last small window of opportunity before early spring. T'was a great way to end a truly remarkable 2008 season! Cheers, Mike

First off, Happy New Year to all my OFC friends! Here's to a safe and happy /09, hope everyone has a good one! Nothing beats the post Christmas blahs better than catching lots of fish and conditions were looking extremely good for Mon and Tues. The warm temps of last weekend had melted off the last vestiges of snow and blown the rivers out. I knew there would be a pile of fresh fish to be caught somewhere once the water cleared, the question was where and when would it clear first? Rivers with a shale/limestone bed rise and drop on a dime, they're generally the ones that clear the quickest after a blowout. I had a pretty good idea where our destination should be, but still nothing is etched in stone. This time of year it's always a bit of a gamble, a guessing game. Still, Bill (BillM on the board) arrived at my place Sunday evening full of enthusiasm (great guy that BillM ). We quickly loaded my truck and hit the highway. Leaving Sunday night would allow both of us to get some much needed sleep rather than getting up at 2:30am to hit the river on time... Monday morning suiting up at the river it was obvious the water was up and slightly off coloured. Still, it was definitely fishable. That was apparant as several guys had fish on as we approached our chosen run . In such cold water it's absolutely key imo to use a bait with lots of scent. Yes artificials work. When the fish are really on like they were it's a great time to experiment with artificials, and I did just that. Some fish were caught on jigs, some on pink worms, some on flies, some on salted minnows. The best bait by far though were large gooey, oozing, disgusting skeined roe tied in a variety of bright colours. They leach out an incredible scent trail, and especially in slow frog water the fish really home in on them. Loose mature roe tied exactly the same size with the same colours worked....just not as good. Bill was amazed at their effectiveness and called them "the bags of death" . In my reply to Cliff's post I mentioned I had 120 pictures. In fact it was 154! Needless to say I'm not going to post them all....that would be overkill . DAY ONE Continued......

Caribou tenderloin wrapped in bacon on the bbq, spatzle, salad with an incredible homemade maple balsamic dressing, an excellent bottle of Famiglia Anselma Barolo 2000, and a pretty decent chocolate cheesecake that I made with dark Toblerone chocolate.

Very nice Fidel, Happy New Year bud!

Outstanding trip, maybe the best 2 days back to back of the entire season (numbers wise). How many pic's do you guys want to see? I've got over 120 on my camera and I know they do get a bit redundant after a while .

Lucky you. That was my plan 'till the kids jumped on top of me at 7am. I wouldn't be shopping today even if they were giving stuff away LOL! (Going sledding with the younguns later )

I'm guessing he's a youngster . Nothing wrong with a bit of enthusiasm. Don't you remember getting ramped up over anything fishing related when you were a kid? Man I sure do. I can clearly remember walking into a variety store with my mom at the age of 8 and almost peeing my pants when I found out there were actual magazines devoted to fishing.

I'm currently working at the weather station at Mount Hope. No rain yet, just non stop snow all night long. The temp is rising above 0 now though... Should make for some nice wet, heavy snow to shovel . I've got roughly 18cm measured on the ground here, and some of the drifts are well over 2 feet. That's a far cry from the 6-8cm that was predicted! (But then as you know it's not an exact science. )

They'd be okay in a small hut, or for taking the chill off in a tent while camping. I used one in a large 4 man hut and froze.

Nice pic's! (You guys must be diehard leaving Mississauga at 2pm for the evening bite in Muskoka )

That's crazy but oddly familiar. Back when I lived and worked in Manila, each morning on the way to work there'd be 2-3 guys with high powered rifles trained onto the surface of this disgustingly muddy river. Apparantly every once in a while a fish would surface (usually catfish) and they'd blast 'em . Others waiting on the rivers edge would scoop them up with nets. Living in any 3rd world country sure gives one a better appreciation of Canada .

I'll second Georgian Bay fishing camp. Beautiful area and trophy fish of all species. Beyond that you mentioned your budget was $600 each? You're definitely able to afford a fly in for that kind of coin. That's what I'd be looking at....

Well done! I'm a huge fan of whitefish through the ice, thanks for the report bud.

The worst? That's easy. I bought a bunch of the Risto Raps when they came out a few years ago. I've yet to catch a single fish on any of them. (if anyone wants a bunch of Risto Raps send me your address and I'll mail them to you )

Seriously aquastealth soles are the best. Lug soles are useless without strap on cleats and snow sticks to felt soles. The studded aquastealth have a gummy rubber sole with tiny carbide tips embedded. They're fantastic on all surfaces, no other sole is that versatile. (BTW it's only the very wealthy or very poor who can afford to fish all the time. I'm neither, somewhere in the middle I think. )

Only one choice on boots, either Simms or LL Bean with studded aquastealth soles. Nothing else comes close.

HAHAHA! Insert twangy slack jawed yokel voice: "We dont like yur kind around here, with your fancy rubber pants! Get 'em boys!!!"