TDunn Posted January 11, 2011 Report Posted January 11, 2011 Hey OFC! Since my last report the open water has left us and the hard water is now in full swing up here in the Soo. The end of the soft water season had me out on the St. Marys in the boat and in the rapids with waders. On the river we trolled spoons and cranks off the riggers and one of us always bounced bottom with spawn/gulp/pinkies/flies off the bow. Nothing bouncing the last 2 outings. All fish came off the riggers. Ted with the final fish of the season in the boat The fish holding in the rapids were also hitting hardware. My 2nd last outing only resulted in one bow on a spoon and my final for 2010. My last session in the rapids was one afternoon and it was chalked full of these. Landed 4 out of a half dozen that hit my countdown. It was pretty cool watching a few follow it in and strike right at my feet in full view. December Ho's Our ice fishing season didn’t start off very well. From the reports I read on here it seems some places in southern Ontario had first ice at about the same time as us or maybe a week later at most. I began my year east of the Soo fishing some areas a few times on Lake George/Lake Huron. The tip-ups were hot but the perch were hard to come by at the beginning. A lot of pike in the 2-5 pound range were caught and all released. We landed a few bass also. Ted fought this hog for 15 minutes on 2 # test. That 15 minutes fell into the 25 it took me to go back to the vehicle and grab my cell that I had left. The fish was caught OOS but I don't blame Ted for snapping 2 quick photos of this fish. One in the hole and the other just at arms length quickly. This largemouth was released within seconds of being out of the water. Please no haters,I thought some here would enjoy a pic of this bass. 8" hole for comparison A couple days and a few hundred holes later I finally started to get a decent perch bite going. Took the first cruise of the year up the highway to Lake Superior Provincial Park for some trout just before Christmas. I was pleasantly surprised to see no signs of previous fishing on the lake. We were probably the first anglers to hit the lake and we weren’t disappointed with the results. We never landed any trophies but action was steady throughout the day. Biggest was 18" Boxed a few. Beautiful orange meat! Aside from the warm weather we had at new year’s everything has tightened up nice. During the warm spell at the new year, I was staying at a lodge on Wakomata Lake for the 31,1,2. We got onto the ice but it was way to dangerous. We had 2.5 - 3 inches of ice in 20 feet of water. Open water was still all over and no more than 30 feet away at the closet spot to us. The ice at the shoreline was sinking under our weight. We could literally see the ice cracking under us do to no snow. Needless to say we pulled the pin.It was a bummer but we spent the 3 days bringing in the New Year drinking, eating, hitting the hot tub and playing cards lakeside Moved to a new place on the 3rd and literally assembled furniture for days! Wouldn’t hurt my feelings if I never have to put together another dresser, end table, coffee table or night table ever again! After a few hectic days of moving things, I finally snuck away for some fishing north on Superior. Target species was perch with maybe a bonus whitie. Well we started the day at probably the busiest ice fishing spot around the Soo. If you know the Soo, gitchee gumee is all I have to say. Slow for us. After 3 hours we only had a few dink perch, smelt and lost 2 whities Earlier that morning I ran into a good friend of mine and his GF when we were getting minnows at the bait shop. Found out we were heading to the same bay and told him to come over and say hey. Well they did! They also brought this with them! Her first time fishing let alone ice fishing. What a way to start! Giant Lake Superior Pike - 25 pounds 10 ounces on a digital scale 1st ever fish 6# test no leader through a 6" hole For the record I'm against keeping trophies but what can you do. It was a legal catch and already dead by the time I seen it. I never had a tape on me so I used my ice scoop as a measuring device. 2 3/4 almost 3 of my ice scoops long and the fish wasn't even laying flat nor had a pinched tail. Scoop ended up measuring 16.5". The fish came in at 45-49" using that method. I would give it a healthy 46-47 inches for my guess. After we took a few pics and the holy hell's were done he told me the story on how they landed it. Turns out the fish had both of their lines at one point. My buddies broke and she keep fighting it. When they realized what they had on. They had no idea what to do and a guy beside them helped them land it buy jamming the end of a metal ice scoop in the gills and reefing it through the hole. The fish didn't stand a chance if it was released anyway. He did get his lure back which was in the northerns mouth. We proceeded to make our way down the highway to our next spot. After moving twice we set up shop on a spot that was producing a bit better. Caught a lot of dinks and only ended up keeping a dozen and a half between a couple guys. We did get a few bonus fish though! Another Superior Pike (I have this on video but it is taking forever on photobucket to upload....might add later) Superior Whitefish I hope you enjoyed, TDunn
bigugli Posted January 11, 2011 Report Posted January 11, 2011 Great report. Thanks. Seems you guys were suffering the same slow start we had down here. That monster pike is beautiful. Under the circumstances they had to keep it.
solopaddler Posted January 11, 2011 Report Posted January 11, 2011 Awesome Tyler. Funky looking Ho Ho, and the pike your friend caught....WOW. On 6lb test with no leader, that's pretty amazing. Your day in LSPP looked amazing, I'd kill for that kind of day around here. Well done!
corvette1 Posted January 11, 2011 Report Posted January 11, 2011 awesome report nice mixed bag congrats on the giant gator
Aaron Shirley Posted January 11, 2011 Report Posted January 11, 2011 Great report Tyler. Love the multi-species reports. That is a wild looking coho, kind of has colouring like a chum. That pike is insane, that chick is smiling from ear to ear!
I'mHooked Posted January 11, 2011 Report Posted January 11, 2011 Wow, nice report. Nice looking girl pike the girl is holding! They're all nice looking specimens. Too bad about the New Years ice. Oh well, at least you kept hydrated!
torco Posted January 11, 2011 Report Posted January 11, 2011 Great report. You are so fortunate to be close to Lake Superior Provincial Park for those specks and that monster pike wow, well I guess the whole report is wow.
Headhunter Posted January 11, 2011 Report Posted January 11, 2011 Great report! Thanks for posting it... looks like a ton o fun! HH
Governator Posted January 11, 2011 Report Posted January 11, 2011 Wow what a great report. What a monster of a pike too, congrats!
asdve23rveavwa Posted January 11, 2011 Report Posted January 11, 2011 Fantastic report Tyler. Those brookies are beautiful, and, your buddies GF's pike was amazing...I agree with you, too bad it was killed, but, wow anyways!!
TDunn Posted January 11, 2011 Author Report Posted January 11, 2011 (edited) Thanks to all for the kind replies! Yup, weirdo looking december ho's forsure. The males seem to really turn red in the rapids. The female with the close up pic actually isn't even spawned out yet. Full of roe still! Oh and just for the record those trout are splake. Thanks again for the great replies OFC, TDunn Edited January 11, 2011 by TDunn
asdve23rveavwa Posted January 11, 2011 Report Posted January 11, 2011 Oh and just for the record those trout are splake. Thanks again for the great replies OFC, TDunn Oops, my mistake...still beautiful, and, I'm sure they tasted awesome!!!
Grimace Posted January 11, 2011 Report Posted January 11, 2011 Beauty report. Living in a great area like that would not mean anything if you did not know how to use it. Clearly you do. Cheers.
WeedLine Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 Great report. Nice bunch of fish. Huge pike for that girl. Bet you wanted to catch that one
Rod Caster Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 It's only January 11th and you already had a good ice fishing season. Nice pike and bass.
johnnyb Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 Great report -- that pike is insane! On the one hand, yeah, would've been nice to realease it....but the trout population has to be getting a bit of a break now that that gator has been removed from the food chain! LSPP -- definitely on the bucket list!
highdrifter Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 I'm blown away brother.. Great year and great pics!! Thanks
Leecher Posted January 13, 2011 Report Posted January 13, 2011 That's some serious kipe dude Multi species galore Congrats Tyler Thanks for sharing Leechman
Guest blairwelsh Posted January 13, 2011 Report Posted January 13, 2011 (edited) *SMILES* Edited February 1, 2011 by SecretSpot
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