Search the Community

I got out to Lake Simcoe recently with some TonyB and friends for a good group of six of us. One of the nice things about ice fishing is the social aspect of being able to get out in larger groups, and sometimes meet new people. You can't do this in most fishing boats. We headed out slowly just as it was getting light out, making sure to check ice conditions as we went. We got to an area that looked good in 100 feet of water and set up without a soul around. Before we knew it we were completely surrounded by hundreds of anglers and our sonars had a lot of interference. The fish must have been in the area recently with the amount of anglers there. We tried all kinds of things with only a couple bites and lazy looks on sonar to show for our efforts after a couple hours of daylight. We had to move... but where? Everywhere we looked around us had quiet anglers not getting much. Without any clues as to depth or location, we had to make a big decision. We thought about two things; moving shallow or deep away from everyone. Nobody wanted to make the call in our group at first, but we eventually decided as a group to make the trek out to deeper water well away from any anglers. We moved out to 123 feet of water and looked on sonar. We immediately saw several fish on sonar at once and we spread out and set up. It didn't take long and Johnny got into a nice laker. Once we were all set up and jigging, the action was fast and furious. It was non-stop action one after another! My tip-up line with an emerald shiner and jigs were both taking shots, although jigging was by far the best approach. It is so much fun watching fish teased into biting on sonar. It never gets old! A jig and pause worked well at times, as did reeling up a foot or two and pausing, then reeling up again and pausing. They hit on the pause and you can totally read their behavior on sonar to realize which approach would work best on individual fish. We lost a few absolute beasts that pulled almost all our lines out at times making for an even more exciting time. These are the days that we live for. Pure adrenaline action-packed fun where everyone in your group is hammering fish!!! Sadly, I had to leave midday, even though the action was still hot. That was a very tough thing to walk away from, but I am a man of my word and family comes first. It was ok, I got more fish in a couple hours than many full days spent on the ice at times. I was content, and we all had an absolute blast. The heavy snow and mild weather this week will spoil the ice. We only had approximately 3.5- to 4-inches of black ice on the weekend, so it will not be safe for a while. Make sure you take all precautions when you think it is safe enough to venture out. Wearing a flotation suit and carrying ice pics is a good idea. So is a buddy system and a floating rope. Enjoy the photos These are from my phone. My wife broiled the whitefish I brought home for something different, and it was great! Much healthier than frying it in oil as well Good fishing! Aaron