Ice Fishing Report

[Ramble]

Well Dad and I finally got out on the hard stuff today now that Christmas business is subsiding. Yesterday we made a couple of very basic still lines, and they worked well.

 

 

 

 

Last night we agreed that we would get up early and head north to good ice and maybe a lake trout our luck was good. Then we had some more rum, and went to bed much later then we had previously intended.

 

The weather was terrible here(Belleville)…raining and about 0 degrees. We figured that as we went north from Belleville it would switch to snow so we left. We were out the door at about 11am. It was hardly the early start we were talking about the night before, but we were ready to go. As we went north the rain had more and more ice in it. We then stopped at Hook Line and Sinker on the side of highway 62 near Madoc and bought our minnows. Not to far from the rain switched to snow…and was it ever coming down.

 

 

 

When we got to the lake, we threw on our coats and boots, and piled the gear on the toboggan and headed out. We drilled a test hole to check the ice part way out. There was about 8-9 inches of ice. There was 2-3 inches of good black ice at the bottom, with white ice on top. As far as white ice goes it wasn’t too bad.

 

We got to our spot and punched a few holes and started fishing around 1pm. After about an hour of no action we started drilling more holes. We tried various spoons and jigs trying to entice the local lakers…no dice they weren’t interested in what we had. By this time dad had wiped out on the ice about 3 times and stuck a hook in his thumb once….while I laughed. We also noticed that the snow was melting as soon as it hit our jackets. So we did the only thing we could do... we kept fishing.

 

 

 

While all of this was going on, the set lines weren’t getting any action… and I think the fish were still laughing at dad. Not too long after I was watching some ravens flying around the west side of the lake and my mind was drifting quite a bit. Then I remembered something from philosophy class… Occams Razor…which basically states "All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best." So I swithed to a yellow headed jig and a minnow. (my philo professor would be proud)

 

Not long after this I had a “bite” but no hook up. Then I noticed the line jiggling on my home-made set up. I walked over and set the hook…a rock bass. Then while I was jigging I had another bite…another rock bass. The yellow jig was working but not exactly as I had intended. So I moved the still line to a new hole in deeper water.

 

 

 

About half an hour later the still-line was on the move again. I walked over and set the hook… “this fish had weight”…I had just enough time to have that exact thought run through my mind before the fish was gone…whatever it was.

 

So I re-rigged and we fished some more. Dad wandered from hole to hole jigging and hoping, while the snow melted on this parka. I sat jigging, content in the holes I was working even though they had failed to produce a trout thus far.

 

 

The sun started to set behind the snow clouds somewhere, and the ravens quieted down for the evening. In the last hour I had 2 more rock bass. One made a brief

appearance in the hole before simply swimming away after letting the minnow go.

 

 

This is a rough drawing of the area we were fishing at. The red dots are the holes we drilled. The rock bass were caught in about 15-20 feet of water and the larger “mystery fish” hit in about 20-25 feet of water.

 

 

At dark packed up the stuff and headed off the lake, sometime after 6pm. We only spent about 5 hours fishing, and didn’t catch one trout, but we didn’t mind too much. We stopped at Northway in Belleveille for a clubhouse before heading home.

 

It was a good day out on the ice even without the fish cooperating. Can’t wait to do it again.

And now…it’s time for a beer.

 

-Ramble

[camillj]

Great report ... thanks for sharing !

[b2kptbo]

Nice detailed report (like the drawing), no lakers but some action, thanks...

[Greencoachdog]

Nice report and pics!!! Ya gotta love the WGSF! It looks COLD up there.

[Smokey]

Thanks for the report Ramble. I fish alot up in the Bancroft area inthe winter but won't get up there till all the Trout lakes have opened in the New Year. I find the fishing is usually at it's best this time of the year and the next couple weeks. So keep at it and keep the reports coming.

 

Better Luck next time.

 

Mike

[mistyriver1]

Great report !!!

 

I really like your home made set up.

[fishindevil]

Glad to see a nice report from up in the bancroft area !!!! ...well at least you guys got out for a fish,and had a good time,great pics and a really neat diagram....thanks for sharing all that info,i sure hope i can get up there this winter some time,we fish several lakes around the bon-echo area,and they all look the same,cheers

[rhare]

cool report thanks

[fatherof3]

good report,wtg

[solopaddler]

Nice report bud, I'm sure you'll get 'em next time!

[Terry]

great report

[irishfield]

Rock Bassin at it's finest !! Thanks for the great report!