Ice Fishing Adventure..

[bicephalic]

So last Sunday Johnnyb and I decided to head out for an icefishing ‘adventure’ we had been trying to plan for some time.

 

The plan:

 

Leave Mississauga at 4am Sunday and head for McKellar. Fish a new lake near McKellar for some early morning Crappie action as the sun came up, then head slightly west to a set of small pike lakes that have produced very well for us in the summer and fall months. Following this, we planned on dropping back down to Muskoka, and trying to coax some pre-spawn walleye into biting.

 

The actual:

 

I arrived home from a poker game around 1am, and after tossing all my gear in a pile in the middle of the living room (much to my wife and dog’s annoyance) and crashed for a few winks.

 

3:45 the alarm went off.

 

3:46 the alarm bounced off the wall.

 

3:46 I got up and went and shut the still squalling alarm clock off.

 

Me at 4am looking bright and alert :S

 

 

Tired or no – we were packed up and on the road shortly thereafter – a quick stop for coffee and off we go.

 

Sun-up found us skirting our first lake looking for access without tracking through someone’s backyard – didn’t take us too long to find a snowmobile trail and make our way out onto the ice.

 

We set up shop off a rock face ranging from 10 to 30’ of water 5-25 feet from a shoreline peppered with stumps hoping it indicated we had some brush cover under the ice.

 

Directly across from our first spot, at the end of a point where we had been told to definitely try there was a fallen tree sending up smoke signals. We even found soot floating below the ice – not sure if this was a keep-warm fire gone wrong or a fluke lightning strike. Either way it was isolated enough that it hadn't touched anything else - thankfully.

 

 

This little guy scored me first fish of the day after he slammed the little Swedish Pimple I was jigging up a storm with:

 

 

John followed up with this beauty shortly thereafter.

 

 

A few teeny perch later, and we were left scratching our head wondering where the fish went…but not for long – daylight was burning after all!

 

John is modelling the smallest here:

 

We headed back and packed up the truck and scooted down the road for our date with some toothy pike. We sent down some 8” sucker minnows on our tipups and spanned out drilling what could have been 30-40 holes. Seems the water drops substantially in this body of water in the winter – had trouble finding anything deeper than 10’  After a couple hours it became apparent to us that either we were doing something wrong, or the fish just weren’t going to turn on for us. These ponds are divided by a roadway, and the opposite side to where we started has a decent tributary that flows into it. We wanted to head over that direction, but it would have been hard going through the bush to get around to even try to access it – open water was trickling through in more than a few spots – not worth the risk, so we crammed our gear back into John’s jeep and roared South to Muskoka. The walleye wouldn’t let us down..

 

But just in case they did, we cut off and drilled a few holes at a nice trout lake first

 

While I was working the water column with a jigging spoon, John set about getting some live bait lines setup..the first minnow he dropped didn’t even hit bottom before drag started peeling out...and stopped before he could get a solid hookset on it.

 

With the sun hanging low in the sky, we had to make a decision – stick to the plan and go get set up for some night-bite walleye – or commit to the potential lake trout action…we decided on the walleye.

 

One last lake, 6-8 more holes. Things were finally starting to cool down, and we got the fish trap ready to flip up if needed. We lost a few more minnows, and thought we were missing some soft pickups by what we hoped were some picky walleye, until I managed to set the hook on a big fat wormy looking rock bass. - fattest little thing you ever did see!

 

I think that may have been the last straw, and since daylight was long behind us, and the fish certainly weren’t hanging out around the weedbed we were sitting just off on the edge of a shoal – atleast not the biting ones – we trekked back to the truck and headed for home.

 

Not the day we were expecting – but certainly a good time. Thankfully there are no pictures of the sunburn I decided to get…its funny what a toque and sunglasses will do when you stand in the sun all day! Not.

 

It’s true what they say – the memories last longer than the catch! We’re already planning the next trip – whether it will still be on ice remains to be seen!

[johnnyb]

Yup....we sure siezed that day! Even though we came up a little short of our expectations, I'm glad we stuck to the plan, and made the most of it. Until next time!

[Leecher]

Great report and pics Bicephalic

 

Nice slabs!!! Not the results you guys had expected but looks like you had fun..... I'm sure you'll get'm next time

Great job you guys and thanks for sharing your adventure with us!

Leechman

Edited March 24, 2009 by Leechman

[SNAGKING]

Sounds like you guys had a great adventure. Thanks for sharing

[richyb]

Sounds like a fun, long day but im sure you would have been way more productive if you spent more time at fewer locations.

[johnnyb]

Richy I think you have nailed it...I've been spreading myself out a lot this winter, not catching much but getting around to a lot of lakes....the upside is I have a few choice spots to work on next year.

Oh...I should also mention, in regards to the low catch ratio....I AM CURSED! or something like that....

[bicephalic]

Richy I think you have nailed it...I've been spreading myself out a lot this winter, not catching much but getting around to a lot of lakes....the upside is I have a few choice spots to work on next year.

Oh...I should also mention, in regards to the low catch ratio....I AM CURSED! or something like that....

Yeah that's it - it's YOUR fault. Just remember...you said it..not me.

Maybe the fish are too busy laughing at your tiny little 4x4?