troutologist

Fishing with Gussy starts on Saturday, Jan 28th Saturday @ 9am and Sundays at 8:30am on CJBN -320 on Shaw Direct, 224 on Bell, channel 12 in Northwestern Ontario and Global Kenora on Shaw across Canada Should be a great program.

Check out this internet based show that a couple of guys from out in MB are doing, some pretty cool stuff.Uncut Angling

Nice fish Tyler! Ya those specks from that small watershed are very unique...miss those snowshoe treks.

I am set on the single sunflower type. I have similar sizes shacks and use the 20lb tank in a milk crate. You can push the crate against the wall and bow it in a bit. I had a colman black cat, it didn't do anything below -20. I really the only reason I have a shack is for really cold days so I want something that will keep it quite warm. The single burner with a 20lb usually lasts me most of a season, its run on low mostly. On a side note, I lean my metal scoop up again the the heater to warm soup or sandwiches. I know Irishfield has a neat setup for cooking with his.

Thats getting there! I'm hoping when I head north this winter its a little milder than that...not interested in sleeping in a tent in -50 or -60c. On the home front I'm welcoming the cold as the ice on L Wpg has been unpredictable and a few trucks went through in the last few days. Warm and cold = cracks/ridges. A good year for the portable ice shacks. Stay warm Dave!

I'm curious to see the new 1775 and 1875 Pro V's. Haven't had a first hand look at them yet. I look forward to the boat show in Wpg each year.

Without a doubt there are changes occurring in the natural environment in recent history. New/invasive species colonizing, once expatriated species recolonizing, extinctions etc. These are tangible changes to be readily observed by astute individuals that spend time in the woods and waters. If folks frequent an area for a number of years, its natural they will notice trends and make comparisons between years, decades etc. No doubt that for the reasons mentioned previously, lets throw in changing climatic conditions as another driver here, the changes in populations, food chain dynamics and finally ecosystems are happening at a rate faster than previously recorded. This is a fact that hurts scientific rigor insomuch that by the time the process of a study is carried out, further changes may have occurred, leaving a whole new set of questions. In my line of work, hearing local ecological knowledge is important since the holders of said knowledge are much closer to the resource and can give clues to its changes or trends. What is often lost from this local knowledge or anecdotal observations is the WHY. Saying there are less fish around is one thing, but getting to the root of why this has happened is another issue completely. There are always "sexy" issues in the media, the spring bear hunt, cormorants, invasives etc. Before undertaking something like mass culling the Gov't no doubt needs to have a number of scientific questions answered, so they can make the best decision (with the information available at that time). Focusing on border issues, like nutrient loads, sedimentation, habitat loss and other anthropogenic outputs will be much better issues to lobby various levels of Gov't about. Good that folks are concerned about the resources, maybe it will turn out cormorants need artificial population controls, but before culling or introducing another cormorant eating bird, I'd like to wait for someone to ask the appropriate questions and go about answering them in a careful, analytical manner.

Like a number of people have mentioned, its pretty basic, top first then sides. In windy conditions, which is pretty much always on Lake Winnipeg, I set up the shelter with a non door side into the wind. Put the anchors in the 2 windward corners as well and another another tied to the center of the windward side. This can be adjusted later to hold it tight, but helps keep the shack from caving 1 side in after you've opened it in the wind. When properly staked out, they will stand up well in high winds. We also try to set up a sled/quad or truck on the upwind side. This blocks the wind and gives a ready point to tie to instead of putting an anchor in, which can be a challenge in some ice conditions. The other day there was no snow on the ice at all and high winds, I put the truck tire over a corner of the skirt to hold it in place. There are a few videos here as well:

Rod 1 Lindy Darter, Live Target or Strike King trap Rod 2 White tube (or other colours pink, chart, smoke all have caught) Rod 3 1/4oz Rattle Spoon with Stringease Fastach clip and a minnow head Rod 4 salted shiner or smelt and No. 2 bait hook last try for finicky fish, they can't resist the way an unweighted minnow (need a flat side) slowly sinks.

Around 20" right now. However, its supposed to go up to +7C tomorrow! Hope we get some stable winter weather. Thanks for the comments guys fishing the Lake is a blast in winter. If anyone is heading this way shoot me a note and I'll do my best to help you catch some fish. Cheers.

It seems to vary, right now visibility is about 18-24", but that can change with high winds or precipitation/meltwater influxes to the Red and Winnipeg Rivers. There is always some colouring to the water in my experience.

I hear you Dave, this has been the best colour for me last year and so far this year. A close second is either the pink or purple combos. The rattle bait brings 'em in and the Darter gets the hookups! What size are you using for the pike?

The past few days I've been having some success tracking down the wide roaming walleye in Lake Winnipeg's south basin. Starting shallow then following the fish deeper as the day progress has been the key to consistent action. With the near gale force winds the last few days having a good portable saved the day. In decent weather I prefer to run and gun without a shack, just some good outerwear. Loud baits have been key to attracting attention from these fish, however, they seem to inspect these baits and commit on a deadsticked jig/minnow or a smaller follow-up offering, like a Lindy Rattlin' Flyer Spoon. Good luck and stay safe Jay Hamilton

I'm a firm believer in scents for icefishing. It compliments the way I fish, aggressively ripping lipless cranks and darter style baits, any live bait quickly falls off. I also find that the gulp spray is useful for only a brief period. I am sold on Pro Cure gels and bait butter. Sticks to the bait and provides scent a long time. Actually have to wipe your bait off when storing it. The slower diffusion of an oil based product isnt a concern as I'm using sound, flash and vibration to attract fish from far away. Its when fish are inspecting the bait that I want the extra attraction. I seem to catch more fish using scent, so it gives me confidence. Which is half the battle in fishing, the more confident you are that any moment you will catch a fish, the more effectively you will fish, and usually pay closer attention to detail. Trolling for fall muskies we ran a little experiment on a day when both pike and muskie were hitting well. 3 identical lures, 2 unscented. Rotated the location of the lures in the boat. Eliminating the fact that some lures just run better, we caught 7-1 on the scented bait....confidence booster on those long fall days.

Going through the states there are a lot more small towns to slow down for. I think the roads are better in the states as there are few hills similar to those from T Bay to SSM. If the weather is decent I drive through Canada, even though the states is a few less kms it is quicker through Canada. But in bad weather the north shore of superior is not fun. Last Christmas it took me almost 18hrs from Wpg to SSM, usually is around 14hrs. I always throw in a sleeping bag and some water and food driving 17N in the winter.

Great write up. Sounds like a heck of an outing. Can't wait to get after some steel myself.

There are a bunch of step by step videos on the Simms website Repair videos

Great shades. I've had 2 pairs of 580 triple tails. Also great warranty service from Costa, gave me a new pair when I smashed a lens when a jig popped out of a fish at boatside. Can't understate the importance of wearing sunglasses always when fishing to protect from objects and damage from the sun.

My experience is that fluoro does degrade fairly quickly especially if exposed to sunlight. Always a good plan to use new line minimum every year. FWIW I've always had good luck with Raven and SunLine leaders.

Critical to wet the line when tying fluoro, it heats up and weakens more than mono when cinching a knot.

The St Croix are nice rods, the lighter actions seemed to have fragile tips but have not had this issue with the M or MH rods. I also like the Clam Baitcaster or spinning rods Spin Casting

I have to say I'm much more impressed with St Croix rods than Fenwick. I've only had 1 issue with St Croix and it was dealt with quickly and for $20...it was a client rod and was subjected to just about anything one could imagine. In my opinion, they are a premiere rod maker and offer excellent customer service. I do have one 15yr old HMX which has been a go to for countless portage trips for trout that has stood up well. Also a Techna AV muskie rod that has been great. Besides these, I've blown up 5 or 6 other Fenwicks in the last 5 yrs....made the switch to St Croix and have broke none. In the end the brand doesn't mean as much as its feel to you. The brand usually means reliability and warranty.

Can't wait to get after the big girls.

My vote would be for char, never was crazy about grayling....not much better than char.

Dana I think you're missing the point here. Obviously, the act of fishing causes stress on every fish. Making the choice to selectively harvest fish or release them all, is about using a skill set to find, pattern and catch fish, most of it being about the hunt for those bites. Once this choice is made to release fish, thinking about and taking neccessary steps to minimize your impact on these fish is a responsible way to use the resource and promote angling.