One more Simcoe report? Why not?

[Acountdeleted]

So, back on family day weekend I had planned on taking my parents, My grandfather, a few cousins, aunts and uncles out for ice fishing, we had it all preped and thanks to the family fishing weekend, no one had to get a fishing licence. Sadly mother nature would not have it and decided to throw -20 temperatures at us. My grandfather and I are that hardcore but did not want to subject the rest of the family to terrible coditions like that.

 

So we replanned for this past Saturday. Sadly, with scheduling conflicts the only people that we able to make it were my parents and my grandfather. Friday night my grandfather comes over and we cook up the perch, lake trout and herring I had in the freezer. The perch and the lake trout were perfect, my grandfather had the herring first and didn't say anything,
I tried a piece..... OH! Thats why no one frys it up. Man, was it ever fishy. So we head off to bed,

 

next morning my grandfather and I wake up at 5 to go hit up Kemp bay for some Lake Trout, with the plan to meet my parents on cooks at noon. It was a chilly morning, we didn't mind too much but the holes were freezing over
fairly quickly and the line kept getting caught on the ice. So I'm smacking a goby coloured Meegz off the bottom and feel my line get caught on the ice, pull up and realize that its not the ice. A good fight later and I was able to land a good eater Lake Trout. I got my grandfather to hold it for a photo. So a few more hours and nothing is biting so we head out to cooks.

 

Timing works out well and we meet up with my parents at around noon. It was nice having company as we made the walk
out to about 20 FOW to try and land some jumbo perch. My dad brought out a stove and cooked up some hot dogs and some hot chocolate as we tried to land some fish. The only thing was the fish would just not co-operate. We were out about 2 hours and could not mark a single fish. I had never seen it like that on cooks before. I mean, usually there are a lot of dinks but there are A LOT of dinks. We were seeing nothing. So my grandfather and I wander a bit and check some different depths. Finally I say 'I get the feeling the fish are holding up deep. We need to hit about 30 FOW.' We talked to my mom and dad, sadly my dads knees and back were being effected by the cold so they headed back home as my grandfather and I made the trek to deeper waters.

 

As we got to our spot and drilled our holes the flasher lit up with the marks I know all to well on cooks. FINALLY! We were able to get into some perch but I have never seen them so finicky before. There would be a group of about
20 around my jig and I would have to finesse them into hitting. Thankfully a few took the bait, nothing big enough to keep but enough to make for a fun afternoon. Sadly I don't think my dad will be out again as the cold was a little too rough on him, but my mom and grandfather seemed excited to head out again. All in all
I'd say it was mission accomplished.

 

 

Grandfather going after the fish.

 

 

Preping for the walk out on to cooks.

 

 

Drilling holes for 4 people is tough work.

 

 

Mom is plenty excited to be out on cooks.

 

 

Now which lures will the perch like best today?

 

 

The spoils of the morning.

Edited March 5, 2015 by jeremy84

[misfish]

Great report Jer. Fishing with grandpa. I miss those great days I did. Treasure them bud.

[Joeytier]

Sometimes ya gotta poke and prod to get the family members out there eh? Sounds like a memorable trip, where's the laker pic?

[Acountdeleted]

Thanks guys. I love fishing with my grandfather. Mom said that she sees more of him in me everyday which I take as a compliment. Everytime I get a chance to get out with him I realize how lucky I am.

 

Joey, its the last pic. He had it cuddled and the thing kept shaking. Sadly, getting family out on the ice can be like pulling teeth at times.

[Fisherpete]

Great report Jer. My grandfather is the one who got me into fishing, taking me perch fishing from shore in the Keswick canals, and then for pike in Cooks bay. I still remember the feeling of amazement when he hooked a nice pike, handed me the rod and made me bring it in all by myself. He passed when I was only 9... I miss him a lot and always think of him when out fishing.

[NAW]

Good stuff Jer!!!