limeyangler

WTG those are awesome 'eyes

That was great...but man o man are we screwed!

Fantastic stuff Gerrit, that sure sounds fun, and a sweet rod and the end too.

I have not fished Cuba, but have fished in the carribean (Grenada, Antigua, Barbados and the British Virgin Islands). I have seen those "fishing the flats" shows when they are in Cuba and those areas look pretty similar to the ones i have fished elsewhere. Whilst i would love to take a deepsea charter for the experience...they are always way over my budget. Instead i have had the time of my life fishing mangrove flats...you can catch Trevali, ( member of the Jack family) Permit, Barracuda, Shark (usually small white tip reef sharks) some big snapper sometimes, tarpon, snook....i even caught large stingrays while trying small crab baits i collected from under rocks on shore. I used light spinning gear with a good wire trace and anything from topwater poppers to live baitfish caught myself with sabiki rigs from docks and off the rocks. ALL THESE FISH FIGHT LIKE YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE>>>EVEN THE SO CALLED "SMALL ONES". Have a blast if ya go, i'm only slightly....tiny bit jealous ...lol...look forward to seeing the posts, will be a welcome winter warmer.

Hey Bluegill, Thanks for posting this topic. Ever since I moved to Canada almost 2 years ago i wanted to try for Whitefish, and last winter i got the chance. Now they are my second favourite target species behind lake Trout, They are big, fight pretty hard and where there's one there is usually a whole lot more...makes for exciting days fishing. THEY TASTE GREAT TOO!!!. An added advantage up here where i live is that the lakes i fish for Lake trout tend to have whitefish too. All the methods/tackle discussed so far by the other members are proven winners for whitefish. I think it depends on what lake you are fishing though, as in my limited experience it varies quite a lot from lake to lake what is the MOST effective tackle/bait/method. I got taken to Shoal Lake by a member of an ice fishing forum, who swore by, and advised me to bring Swedish Pimples(small) and 1/8Oz or smaller jigs with Micro tubes....so off i went and got them. SWEDISH PIMPLE.....this was a picture I used last spring to show folks back in England what i use here....that’s why there is a British pound coin for scale MICRO TUBES GOLD JIG WORKED WELL ON SHOAL LAKE, Google Earth co-ordinates: 49 33 04.45 N 95 00 13.43 W MY CATCH ON SHOAL LAKE THAT 1ST TIME OUT After that 1st time out i was hooked...so to speak....what a great fish to catch and eat. I then was desperate to find a lake that was closer to me, as Shoal lake was a 2 hour drive. After looking through the Off road Mapbook, i decided to try Big Sandy Lake, only half an hour away which also held Lake trout. First time out i was not successful, despite getting two break offs almost immediately on the micro tubes. ALL I MANAGED MY FIRST TIME OUT WITHOUT A GUIDE Like i said i did get 2 very distinctive whitefish bites on the micro tubes, and before they snapped off they certainly fought like whitefish. My problem that day was 2 fold. Firstly I had been advised to use very light line, as little as 4lb test because whitefish are spooked easily apparently. So i decided to use a fluorocarbon line leader for extra stealth. My knot was not strong enough though...hence the break offs. I did get advice later and was told to use either a TRILENE KNOT or a PALOMAR KNOT. By the end of the season i was using Micro Ice braid line...better bite detection, with a 3 meter leader of 6lb Vanish Transition Fluorocarbon. Second problem that first time out is that i was not reading my Fishfinder right. I had only had my Lowrance X67c for 4 days, and had never used a fishfinder before. What i thought was interference on the screen, turned out to be a thick cloud of smelt that extended 3 meters up from the bottom, and with hindsight i was right on a hotspot that first time...if I’d known how to use that fishfinder i would have hammered them! This is not to say that you need a fishfinder...but i would highly recommend using one when fishing for whitefish....it shows perfectly what technique/lure is being rejected accepted. As you can see from the picture i had tried using a WILLIAMS ICE JIG. I got this idea from a helpful member of an ice fishing forum who posted a pic of all the tackle he used for Whitefish on Lake Simcoe......... A SELECTION OF LURES USED FOR WHITEFISH ON LAKE SIMCOE, POSTED BY A GUY ON AN ICE FISHING FORUM On my way back across the lake on that day...i bumped into some guys who were catching fish. They were really helpful. They shared a lot of good tackle/bait/technique info with me and even better was one of the guys had exact same fishfinder as me, ahhhhhhh....so that’s how to use it...lol. They were catching both trout and whitefish, mostly using a small white jig tipped with a small minnow. I was very surprised to see the size of trout they were catching on such small minnows, as another lake i go to for trout, the trout will only really go for big tubes or large dace/sucker minnow THESE GUYS TAUGHT ME ALOT...THEY EVEN ASKED IF I WANTED TO SIT AND FISH WITH THEM A WHILE...THEY TOOK PITY ON ME....LOL <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value=" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value=" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> THEY HAD A GREAT MIXED BAG OF WHITEFISH AND TROUT The next day i went back to that spot, and armed with small minnows and white jigs, a good idea of how my fishfinder worked and some good quality small live minnows. Needless to say we did great, and i cant wait to get out and expand my knowledge for this species, try a few more lakes that hold them and post some good reports. Once again...thanks for posting this topic, its really got me looking forward to ice fishing even more than i was before. I hope some of this helps, you probably know all the knot stuff already as I’ve seen your posts before and you look quite the accomplished fisherman anyway. In summary i would say... 1. Everything tackle wise that’s been posted on here by all the members works great, but obviously there will be some that work better on different lakes...or at differently times. 2. Use a light line...they are picky fish at times. 3. If you don’t have a fishfinder for the ice...GET ONE!!! HERE'S A FEW OF OUR FISH FROM LAST SEASON AT BIG SANDY LAKE.... Google Earth Co-ordinates: 49 48 43.38 N 92 21 42.37 W <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value=" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value=" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Look forward to seeing your posts for whitefish

Red Bull

good luck leechman....look forward to the report......

Thats not pink...thats "cinnamon sunset".....lol

Amazing pics Danc, like Fishindevil said...."postacard perfect". Is that the river that runs along the highway 17? Always wanted to fish it, but usually on the way to medical appointments ...lol. You icefishin' this year....wanna meet half way perhaps sometime? I'm in Dryden.

Great report and pic streamerguy, thats a lot of perch you caught, must've been fun, congrats on the PB too .

WTG i'm like cliff(ccmt) always thinkin' i have to stop.

Nice haul of perch there Bigugli. Really nice colour to 'em. The lake i live on is stained a coffee colour from all the clay...looks like a giant Timmies double/double with islands in it...so the perch in have no colour at all, they look pretty sick actually...lol.

Truly awesome. Everytime i see reports of the BOQ i'm always in awe of the number of big...i mean HUGE walleye there, congrats on what looks like a great day on the water...great fish porn too!

Solopaddler, your're a genius, i'm only 4 hrs from thunder bay......might have to get that organised for spring....lol.

i'm getting a tad envious of all these fantastic steelhead posts...lol

stop!!!!! i cant take it anymore....lol...NOOOOOOOO FAIR....we dont get those up here...and i wanna play too!!!!! Awesome fish, do you float fish for those?...if you say yes...'m even more jealous. Great report....go get 'em.

DITTO Your doing it again solopaddler...making me green with envy. Thanks for posting...the colours on those fish are awesome.

Thanks for the replies guys. GCD...me and dave are among the few folk up this way that dont mind catching pike....they are not the most popular species up here at all, but i love 'em....fight hard and are always hungry...perfect fish if you ask me....and yup...i eat them...i actually prefer it to walleye...but if i said that out loud up here i would be shot at dawn...if not soooner!

SO...YOU COME UP TO DRYDEN ...VISIT THE FAMILY.....WHAT A BOUT SAYING HI TO ME WHILE YOU WERE HERE....SHEEESH...SOME PEOPLE! Great report though, you are absolutely right in saying its a fishery you need more than a couple of days on...on our way back from Williams bay last week my buddy Dave and me haved vowed to go up at least once a week next year starting ice out...really go xploring. Great pics, awesome catching that wally on the spinner bait...lol...i will try that next summer.....Lac seul is also where i plan to break my musky 'virgin' status. Thanks for sharing....and if your heading this way again lemme know...hell this is such a small town i probaly know...or know someone who knows your relatives here. Cheers.

Hi Y'all, wasn't planning on going fishing , then Dave called at about noon yesterday...nuff said....we were on the water by 3:30pm...would have been sooner but ...blah...blah...blah. The weather was just awesome, compared to the last week or so. It was still about minus 2, but the sun was out, skies blue, and no wind. maybe not the best for our target species walleye, but just too nice a day to pass up on the chance of fishing STARTED CATCHING NORTHERNS STRAIGHT OFF THE BAT AND CATCHING AND CATCHING AND CATCHING AND CATCHING THEY WERE LITTERALLY FLYING INTO TE BOAT....A 3 HOUR SNOT ROCKET FEST AS THE SUN STARTED TO SET WE HAD BEEN FISHING FOR THREE HOURS, MOVED AROUND A BIT, CHANGED DEPTHS/STRUCTURE ETC....BUT NO WALLEYE THEN AS THE SUN DIPPED BEHIND THE HORIZON...IT WENT COMPLETELY DEAD WHAT A GORGEOUS EVENING ON THE LAKE THOUGH JUST AS WE WERE GONNA CALL IT A DAY...THE WALLEYE BITE STARTED....AND ENDED 15 MINUTES LATER...BUT WE GOT SUPPER.

i dont hunt....but i will fish all year....i'm gonna winterize my boat despite there being at least 3 weeks of softwater left...just dont wanna have to do it when its minus 20. Last year i was on the ice December 1st...COME ON ICE!!!!!!

Nice catch there Kemper, thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the advice guys...really helpful...more to think about now...but has definitely been an education. I have a slight problem though...lol....my budget is only $3500 max! and not much seems to be around for that...oh well only another 3 years to pay off the truck (if it survives me that long...lol).

Beautifully put...truly poetic.......but even put so well....does beg the question...guess we are slighty 'touched in the head'

Hi Y'all, I am in the process of looking to buy a second hand sled, prefeably a 2-up. I have never owned a sled, coming from a country that shuts down with even a light dusting of snow...lol...i saw this ad locally and the seller is asking for a 'best offer'. Any of you good folks familiar with this sled...i think its a 2 -up touring model...is that right....here's the ads details.....what would be a fair price forthis sled...thanks in advance for any advice Item: 2006 Panther Details: 2006 Artic Cat Panther 660 four stroke, low miles, mint condition MUST GO!!! Asking price: B.O.