Back Lakes to Big Bays: 5 Days of Ice Fishing

[Ramble]

This is a fairly long report covering 5 days of fishing. Hope you enjoy it. Here we go.

 

 

The 30th of December saw me returning from Hamilton on the Go train flipping through a few fishing mag’s on the way. In Ajax I met up with my good friend Chris (also known as Sweet Pea) who I have worked with the last 3 summers at the lodge. He was on his way from Sudbury area to visit at my place for a few days. We met in Ajax and 401’ed it to Belleville. We saw 8 deer in a field with a 6 point buck in the mix, with super long tines, really impressive, and good start to the week.

 

That night we got all our gear together, had a rum and decided on a lake to hit near Bancroft for rainbows. Not to mention, check out a small stocked lake with brookies in it (alleged) for January 1st.

 

We awoke at 9:15 am…we both slept through the alarm - damn. Well, we better have a quick breakfast. That “quick breakfast” turned into a full meal, and by the time the car was loaded, we left around 1130. Defiantly WELL behind schedule.

 

An hour later we were nearing Bancroft; I pulled out the GPS, and fired it up… only to find the Bancroft maps weren’t loaded into it. *sigh* This was shaping up to be one of those “legendary” trips…The kind of trip where you learn a lot of lessons you felt you already knew, and “build” a little “character.

 

 

Thank god for logical naming systems. We caught a break when the road we were looking for was named after the one of the lakes in the area we were hoping to park near. We found the lake and the next thing you know, we were parked where the plow stopped and looking at a snow mobile trail running off into the woods. HURRAH! We are back on track. Right?

 

Half hour of walking later we come out to a road. Hmmmmm. I don’t remember this road from the maps last night. After a discussion we headed down the road, and based on what we remember from the maps, the lake’s north shore (where we had parked), kinda pointed at the lake we are looking for. So after some guess work we headed along another trail with the hopes we would find the lake we were after.

 

A few hundred meters later, after passing some hydro lines and cottages, we realize we have walked for about 2 km and don’t know where we are, let alone where we are going, or where this lake is. (Insert some cussing and puzzled looks here) We decided to head back the way we came. Scenery was keeping us happy.

 

 

 

 

On the way back we notice a lake through some trees. So we walked to it. Snow was thigh deep, and we made it to shore with a little effort.

 

 

“Hmm, this could be the lake, but it doesn’t really look like the lake we are after, at least it’s not the same shape I remember from the map.” A quick glance at the time, and we decide this has to be the lake we are looking for.

 

 

After a couple of test holes and finding about 8 inches of ice, we headed to a nice looking point and set up our lines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a beautiful sunset, and didn’t catch a single fish.

 

 

 

 

The ice scoop, which has been on its way out finally, flew apart as well on the 4th hole. Scooping ice outta the holes with my fingers in -17 weather is a lesson about treating ones equipment with respect.

 

There was however another lesson in store. It turns out New Years Eve is the worst time to loose a scoop. It turns out no one who sells scoops is open that night or the next day. So I raided my mothers cooking stuff for a “new” scoop. Besides the scoop I also lost a nice, new, jigging spoon, to what I believe was a trophy log of the Pinus genus. That was it time to go.

 

I threw a waypoint into the GPS and we headed back to the car around dark.

 

 

We made it back in good order. Once home, and after putting the desired maps into the GPS. I checked out the waypoint for the lake we fished. I then consulted the regulation book and indeed I confirmed that we had fished a lake which is closed all winter to fishing. Spectacular!

 

It seems that road we found walking, was actually the road we were looking for to park on originally. Matter of fact, we walked RIGHT past the lake we were after. If we had of gone right, instead of left to the lake we weren’t aloud to fish, we would have been on the lake we were looking for.

 

Well that was the icing on the cake.

I think I actually heard a Gong as I read the sentence in the reg book about closed winter fishing. It was a Grade A Certified Gong Show. At least the weather was nice, around -17 and clear.

 

That night we relaxed to some live music in my neighbor’s basement, after watching the Junior’s play the USA. We also refined our packing, poured over the maps, and applied lessons we had learned that day.

[Ramble]

January 1st

 

We woke at 7:00am and I made breakfast, as Sweet Pea was still “tired” from the New Years Eve festivities. We ate and hit the road. We arrived on the proper road, found a place to park, and got ready. We were in good sprits, with no urge to repeat the mistakes of yesterday. We headed off into the woods confident and content.

 

We didn’t get far before we realized snow shoes would be helpful but we didn’t have too far to go so we trudged on.

 

 

Then we found a snowmobile path, and made it to the lake in good time.

 

 

We even stopped to take some photos on the way.

 

 

 

 

It was a beautiful lake, and looked exactly like it did on the map. It was too good to be true.

 

 

 

 

The lake even had some nice canine tracks on it.

 

 

We were heading for the next lake over this trip though. We were hunting brookies. We headed down the lake and found an old path in a small bay which looked like it headed to the lake we were after.

 

 

 

After confirming with the GPS it was pointing the right direction, we took off on the trail.

 

 

 

There was lots of animal sign in the snow along the way. We just kept a steady pace and chatted about what we saw and life in general. We even allowed our self to speculate about the fish in the lake we were hoping to find today.

 

 

We crossed a creek and then the trail turned towards the east. We were half way up a tall ridge and I said;

“This doesn’t feel like the right direction. We need to go West I think” I pulled out the GPS and indeed we were heading away from the lake. *sigh* The trail starts the right way, and then veers east. Here we go again I thought.

 

After mutually expressing our disappointment, and having a good laugh, at out crappy luck 2 days in a row, I wised up, and put a nice BIG BLUE way point on the lake, and we made a bee-line for it. I was hell bent on punching a hole in that lake if it killed me.

 

Trying not to break rod tips.

 

 

We crossed a lovely ridge with snow just under the knees. We both like bush-whacking and hiking, so the walk wasn’t a totally unwelcome aspect…if the trek had of been an hour shorter perhaps. We pushed through some hemlocks, and evergreens then followed a creek bed to the bottom of the hill.

 

We were within 600 meters of the lake. We went along the creek, and came to an intersection of 3 creeks, where we found partridge feathers.

 

We hiked up the 1st steep hill, and then had to cross another stream on the other side.

 

 

Snow was at the knee the entire way. Then we got to out 1st big hill. It was not looking too friendly. My pack was around 30 pounds, and Sweet Pea had the sleigh, with auger minnows and such. We stripped off our jackets, and a layer or 2 as we were already sweating. The steam was rolling off of us, as it was -16 and we were a few degrees warmer. Later, rather then sooner we made it up the hill.

 

 

 

Then after a nice down hill slope and more snow over the knee, some around the upper thigh for a little change, we made it the lake.

 

 

 

 

What should have been 300m hike was between 1.5 and 2 km. It took us 2 hours to push our way in. The little lake didn’t disappoint. It was a small, secluded and beautiful. Well worth the walk, just for the solitude. We punched some holes and got the show on the road. We fished around where the lakes drainage was, up close to timber, from 3-10 feet of water. We tried a little point as well. We didn’t see 1 fish.

 

 

 

We looked around the lake and at the opposite end we saw a bucket on shore, so we packed up and went over to check it out. Some one had been their, that morning. Four holes in the ice but no sign of fish. They had their holes in a line close to shore. No variation in depth. Not wanting to put all my eggs into one basket, we punched a few holes in a line off the point to fish the drop. Deepest hole was in15 feet of water and the shallowest was about 4 feet. We set up our lines and jigged a little.

 

 

Not long into jigging we decided it was time for food, so Pea got a fire going while I made some tea on a small stove.

 

 

 

Some where around here, something stole 2 minnows off a set line. I saw the rod tip bounce, and when Pea got to the line, there was nothing their.

 

 

I took the auger while Pea went back to cooking hotdogs and drilled some holes down the shore a little. I punched the 1st hole, and was about to start the second hole. I habitually glance at the rods every few minutes. I looked up and saw the tip bounce on the ultra light 20 yards away. I dropped the auger and broke into a sprint. Just as I got to the hole the rod doubled over, I grabbed it and set the hook. FISH ON!!

 

 

It immediately took drag and I kept the pressure up. She sure was scrappy, but I persuaded the fish to come to the hole after a good tussle in the depths. For the 1st little while, the fish just circled the hole and I never got a glimpse, but it felt like a good fish for sure. She just wouldn’t come near the opening. I wasn’t about to try and pull her too hard, for fear of loosing her. I felt like I had a good hook up so I stayed patient, and let her tire. A few more circles and we got a flash of colour, and saw the tail. We realized this was a really good fish.

 

 

The 1st time I got her head to the hole, she gave 1 good flop and pulled about 3 feet of line on a short run. I was in no rush and played her a while longer. The next attempt was successful and I plucked her from the 6 inch hole and pulled my personal best brookie onto the ice.

 

 

 

 

 

I was THIS excited.

 

 

We measured it at 17.5 inches and she was a fatty. I was beside myself. So much crap the last two days and 1 fish made up for all of it. Brook trout are probably my favorite fish. I think they are just beautiful, and was thrilled to see this girl. Pea hardly ever fishes outside the lodge setting and I think this was the 1st brookie he has seen up close. We were both really happy.

 

 

 

We invited her to dinner, and she grudgingly accepted.

 

 

At dark we left, with no other fish showing up.

 

 

We opted for the most direct route back. It went through a marsh. We were into snow up to my lower back in places with a slight crust on top. Snow shoes were on my mind yet again. Any headway was really slow, and we were dead when we got onto the 2 inches of snow on the main lake. We removed our packs, and sprawled out on the ice for about 20 minutes watching the stars in winter sky while we found the energy to get back to the car. The trip to the car was a cake-walk compared to the other hiking we did that day. We were worn out, and the day felt like a success.

 

I made a mental note: When bush whacking in the winter, bring one of the 6 pairs of snowshoes from home.

Edited January 7, 2009 by Ramble On

[Ramble]

January 2nd.

 

The night before we made a couple calls to my usually ice fishing buddy, Jeff and to another Kesagami guide, Tom, who just recently moved to Bancroft. I was up at 630am, made breakfast for 3, Jeff showed up about quarter to 7, we ate and hit the road at 715. We met Tom and struck out for the lake. Tom had only ice fishing twice in his life before, and was interested in getting back into it. We went to try a rainbow lake none of us had ever fished before. I gave Tom the details of what, and how, and we had no problems except finding fish.

 

Tom drilling his 1st hole.

 

We punched better then 50 holes that day, and we were all over the lake; Points, flats, shallow bays, and deep water. A couple times we all went different directions, trying every thing in the book.

 

 

 

We had lunch around 2, and then some other people showed up.

 

 

 

Between then and dark, the other group only had 1 bite. It was a beautiful day to be on the ice, and the scenery was fantastic and rejuvenated the mind. I wasn’t too concerned about a skunk, because I was still dreaming of my 17.5 inch brookie from the day before. I’m not sure what Pea was dreaming about, but he was sleeping up there for about 45 minutes.

 

 

The day ended and everyone had a good time. That night for supper Pea and I had a fillet each. I shared a little with my dad who was pretty jealous of my catch.

 

 

January 3rd.

 

Sweet Pea was supposed to leave, and he hadn’t caught a fish yet. I wasn’t about to let that happen, so I dragged him out of bed to hit the Bay of Quinte for perch off the East side of Point Anne. I had been getting conflicting reports on the ice, but we were going to give it a shot anyway. It was only about -9 and it was the warmest day yet. When we arrived at the parking spot, there were 2 guys sitting in a truck with all their stuff in the back.

 

While we were unloading they approached in the usually fisherman, to fisherman way. “We don’t mean to bother you, we just want to chat and pump you for information” A nice short chat, I was ok with. But I wanted to get out on the ice, not banter with a couple of pansies.

 

After the usual pleasant good mornings he said;

“Do you fella’s fish here often?”

“I haven’t been out this year yet.” I replied.

“We went and checked the ice out a ways, about 6 inches of black ice, but there is a 4 inch pressure crack not far out.”

“A 4 inch pressure crack eh?” I reply “And how thick was the ice again?”

“About 6 inches.”

“Did you go out past the crack?”

“Yup”

“Ok so what’s the problem here then?” I inquired, trying to end the conversation.

“Ah, umm, nothing I guess. Are you guy’s going out?”

“Yes we are.”

CONVERSATION OVER.

 

Being afraid of a 4 inch crack in the Bay of Quinte off point Anne is like being afraid of a crack in the pavement. They followed us out and set up not too far away. Pansies.

 

 

I hope they didn’t expect to find walleye near us, because we were after perch.

 

The ice out there was the best ice I have seen in a long time. It measured 7.5-8 inches and you could, see right through it in most places. It was perfect black ice. The kind one dreams about. The only white ice was on the top from melted snow.

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t long and we were into fish. We both caught about the same number of fish (whatever that was), and Pea had a good time. There was a bit of wind but other wise nice weather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Between schools of wish, I would put on an orange buckshot rattle spoon with a minnow head then did some hardy jigging about 3 feet off bottom, with the hopes of attracting some more fish. On the drop I got a hit. I set the hook, and the fish was on. My little ultra light was at it again. We could see the fish through the black ice, and at first I thought it was a small pike, since it was upside-down. Then its head went passed the hole in a blur, but the glace I got ruled the pike out, then I saw the scales…. WHITEFISH!

 

A short scuffle later, and I had my 1st whitefish in my possession. Not a bad size either, less then 1/4 of an inch past the 20 inch mark. Not only a new species for me, but I also achieved a goal I had for myself this year. A whitefish through the ice. We added it to our fish pile and went back to jigging.

 

 

Jeff and a couple of other guys I knew showed up, and we fished together for a while.

Pea and I went out to some deeper water as the fishing slowed. We found a few more fish before we left around 1pm as he had to leave for Sudbury.

 

 

We had lunch at Northway and went back to my house. He packed his stuff, I packed the 6 biggest perch of the dozen we kept into a bag, and I sent him on his way back to Sudbury. The largest perch was about 10-11 inches. Last I heard he was looking for the Sudbury stocking list and scoping out ice fishing equipment. I think that means he had a good time.

 

Still in the mood to fish, and my parents taking my sister back to school, I called my uncle Steve to see if he was up for a fish. He said he had to call me back, because he was painting the basement. About half-an hour later I get a call from him “I’ll be their in an hour, I have to dig my stuff out.” Apparently painting the basement can wait. Seems he had already put it off for about a year, and wasn’t too upset about putting off for a second time.

 

We went out off the other side of Point Anne…the current side. We walked out, and there was a bunch of other people. We went a little past them. The ice didn’t look nearly as good as the other side of the point where there is no current.

 

A few cranks of the auger, and we were through the ice. I measured it. 4-4.5 inches of the crappiest white ice I have ever seen. I was not impressed. We stayed and fished as long as everyone else did, and like everyone else out their, I didn’t see a walleye that night. The ice had me pretty nervous every time it cracked a little. I’m not used to sitting on poop ice in the current. I also didn’t have my water wings, and it’s not my favorite month for swimming either. There were also 3 big pressure cracks not far away which didn’t inspire any confidence. I won’t be going out off that side again anytime soon.

 

 

 

 

 

That night I had perch fillets and a whitefish fillet for super along with some of dad’s 12 year old rum since he wasn’t home to guard it.

(Whitie fillet is still in the pan)

[Ramble]

January 4th

 

The next morning, Jeff and I were back out off the safe side of Point Anne with his little sister perching again.

 

 

A balmy -13, and with my coffee I sat extremely content jigging up the odd perch. Jeff and his sister were in the 2 man hut having a riot.

 

 

 

 

I was releasing most of my fish and kept only bleeders, or good sized eaters. The kept inviting me inside, but I would much rather site out side in the ice with the wind at my back.

 

 

 

 

I ended up with 15 total. The biggest being 12.5 inches.

 

 

 

Jeff’s pile had 30 some perch. He had 2 which were bigger then my biggest. 1 caught by his sister, and the other by him. She defiantly has the perching touch.

 

 

He left at noon after about 4.5 hours of fishing. I stayed out after he did till about 1pm playing with the perch. I moved a little and got into them pretty good a few times. Areas with snow or white ice seemed more productive then clear ice. I’m still wondering if shade was playing some sort of role for the perch.

 

A few time I had both lines going off at the same time. It it’s not only a hell of a good time but mildly confusing when you are out alone. The ultra light didn’t disappoint either and got another good work out. I’m not sure how many I landed total, but I bet it was 50 or more.

 

 

 

 

After Jeff left, the ice started making some noise as the temperature warmed heading for -3 the weather network said. I heard a good deep crack way off in the distance and then another one much, much, much closer. Within six feet of my hole to be precise.

 

 

A small crack showed up with water coming out of it. It was pretty cool. About 15 minutes after that another good crack sounded and I felt the ice lurch a couple inches under my feet. It definitely surprised me but my underwear remained free of stains. Then a short while later the ice jumped another few inches under my feet again. After the cold temperatures the warming spell had the ice gods all upset I think. Here I was sacrificing some perch, but they weren’t happy.

 

 

I landed a few more and headed in 1ish. The 4 inch pressure crack had defiantly gotten wider in some areas, and pushed together in others. It was neat to be out their when it was shifting like that. I didn’t feel nervous at all after the initial crack.

 

 

 

I got home and headed up to Peterborough to resume my schooling that night.

 

I had a really good time over the Christmas break, landing my PB brookie, and catching my first whitie. I love to catch perch so that was welcome as well. Socializing with good friends, and bush whacking into back lakes is always a riot. I was home for about 20 days over X-mas, spent 6 days ice fishing, and 5 of those days were in a row. I wish I could keep at it. Hopefully I’ll be out on the old Scugog soon, looking for some walleye and crappie. This weekend maybe.

 

Hope all of you had a good Christmas as well and this report didn’t drag on too long for you.

 

Tight Lines

-R-

[Grimace]

Great Read. Nice to see you get that big beautiful speck.

[Sinker]

Great Read. Nice to see you get that big beautiful speck.

 

Thats exactly what I was thinking!

 

Thanks for the report!

 

Sinker

[lunkerbasshunter]

wow that is a great report! SOme of those pics are breathtaking!

 

Cheers!

[irishfield]

Great report... I would have had a heart attack 1/2 way thru day 2 !! LOL

[walleyejigger]

beauty speck, "special" reaction, awesome report

[steverowbotham]

I see where you got your screen name. haha.

 

awesome report.

[NAC]

killer report Ramble On!

 

I was in Haliburton from Dec 26-29 with the intent of doing similar to you in Bancroft. After seeing it rain non-stop for the first three days, I called it off and headed back to Waterloo. Apparently I made a mistake.

You have now renewed my quest to go back and try for some specks and/or splake.

Thanks for pointing out the snow depth, I'll bring snowshoes for sure.

Edited January 7, 2009 by nomad

[solopaddler]

Ahhh to be young and full of p!$$ and vinegar.

You're a good lad.

[troutologist]

Good report for sure. Its trips like that on which you learn and earn your fish. it does however make successive trips go much smoother.

 

I unfortunately never learn and would rather go the wrong/most difficult way fast than the easy way methodically.

 

sweet fontinalis

Edited January 7, 2009 by troutologist

[drwxr]

thats one awsome report

[blakewalk]

Dont oft see speckels that size! Great report; im headed over to the county soon here; thanks for the heads up

[tibbs]

Fantastic report!

 

Looks like you and your friend had a blast!

[Northhunter]

Awesome report!

 

I've been on a few trips like that Took (well, tried to take) a buddy into a secluded beaver pond for an early goose hunt one year. It was supposed to be a 10-15 minute walk. We weaved, broke, thrashed through and cursed at the bush for over an hour. At one point we even had geese flying over us above the trees in an ash swamp, so we knew we at least got close. We never found the pond.

 

Myself and two buddies picked out a secluded pothole lake using stocking lists and maps a few years ago. It was supposedly stocked with brookies and rainbows. We drove in as far as we could, then broke in on foot. Waist deep snow. We finally get to the lake and it looks awesome. The sun isn't quite up yet but the sky is clear and it's calm. It was the perfect morning until we started punching holes. In every hole we drill we got coffee-stained water and bits of the mud bottom, which smelled like $#!!. It wasn't much of a lake.

 

We packed up, hiked out (through the same waist deep snow - not 20mins later) and hit another new lake we had been looking at. The "lake" was so small I had a line on the opposite shore. We sat there all day. Nothing. Then as the sun started to dip and we were thinking about picking up, the flag on my farthest tip-up shot up. I never adjusted the rig. It had the same minnow on it for about 5 hours and counting, and he was still kicking strong on a drop-shot rig until a 3 1/2lb speck ate'em up

Edited January 7, 2009 by Northhunter

[Dano]

Awesome report, that looks like a ton of fun! Beautiful brookie too, congrats!

[tbayboy]

Sweet report. I'm tired just from reading it. Quite the adventure, thanks for taking the time to put the report together.

[danbo]

Truly Awesome..you earned your rewards!

[BillM]

Printing out a few google map pages beforehand would have helped you tremendously...

 

Nice report!

[corvette1]

awesome couple of trips congrats on your pb

[blaque]

reports like this are alot of work man.............thanks for puttin that all together. Looked like a blast.

[ehg]

Real excellent report! The tons of photos along with the story made this great.

 

That brookie is a real beauty, and i like the rare whitefish from Quinte ice as well.

 

Great post, thanks

ehg

[limeyangler]

Holy carapolla!...that is one hell of a report.

 

I was exausted and exhilerated just reading about your trekking off the tracks in the first 2 days, what an adventure! glad you got a trout after all that effort!

 

Absolutely brilliant write up, but the pictures are fantastic too....lol...am i raving?...

 

 

I especially like the Snowflake pic on day 1, the sleeping in the tree Day 3, and the perch through the shelter window

 

 

thanks for sharing.