AlbertanGP
12-13-2020, 10:44 AM
My son-in-law wanted to go fishing yesterday. No problem. I've been fishing two full days a week on the ice for over a month now and know where the fish are. And I also know all the places they are supposed to be. Or so I thought...
So off we go Saturday morning to a local stocked lake to set up where I've had luck the past few weeks. We get everything set up right around dawn. It's so cold with the wind that the jaw jackers freeze up in 5 minutes. The tie down straps on the Otter hub are thrumming in the wind like an idling quad. But we hook up the 20lb bottle and fire up the Big Buddy and the jackets are stowed in short order as we get down to business. Fishing was slow...like really slow...with only a few fish caught by 10:30 or so. I've noticed the slowdown the past two weeks, but this just wasn't going to be acceptable for an all-day event. So we bundled up and headed out into the cold with our electronics to find the fish.
My son-in-law was using an Ice-55 and laying on the ice looking down the holes scouting in -24*C (with wind chill). It brought a tear to my eye to see that he gets the sacrifices you sometimes need to make to have a good day on the ice. While I wasn't down for laying on the ice, I did rip a dozen or so holes spaced far apart and then went back to the shelter for the LiveScope. Within three holes, I had pinpointed the fish suspending 5-15' down in deeper water. I also found the brown trout I had been looking for in this lake the past few visits. We took a picture of the first one immediately after taking it out of the water and removing the hook, and it was that cold with the wind that the fishes surface was starting to freeze in that few seconds, even with me trying to block the wind.
We decided to move the shelter, fighting the wind to drag it to the new spot still set up (a two man job for sure). Once set up again, we had the day we'd set out for with somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-40 rainbows and browns caught and released for the next trip. The work we did to find them made the day that much more rewarding. On to brookies and cutthroats next weekend for a change. :)
https://photos.smugmug.com/Ice-Fishing-2020-2021/i-RhnbSdZ/0/bdd77b99/X2/East%20Dollar%20-%20Dec%2012%20%285%29-X2.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/Ice-Fishing-2020-2021/i-mzVVTH9/0/f8b94266/X2/East%20Dollar%20-%20Dec%2012%20%283%29-X2.jpg
So off we go Saturday morning to a local stocked lake to set up where I've had luck the past few weeks. We get everything set up right around dawn. It's so cold with the wind that the jaw jackers freeze up in 5 minutes. The tie down straps on the Otter hub are thrumming in the wind like an idling quad. But we hook up the 20lb bottle and fire up the Big Buddy and the jackets are stowed in short order as we get down to business. Fishing was slow...like really slow...with only a few fish caught by 10:30 or so. I've noticed the slowdown the past two weeks, but this just wasn't going to be acceptable for an all-day event. So we bundled up and headed out into the cold with our electronics to find the fish.
My son-in-law was using an Ice-55 and laying on the ice looking down the holes scouting in -24*C (with wind chill). It brought a tear to my eye to see that he gets the sacrifices you sometimes need to make to have a good day on the ice. While I wasn't down for laying on the ice, I did rip a dozen or so holes spaced far apart and then went back to the shelter for the LiveScope. Within three holes, I had pinpointed the fish suspending 5-15' down in deeper water. I also found the brown trout I had been looking for in this lake the past few visits. We took a picture of the first one immediately after taking it out of the water and removing the hook, and it was that cold with the wind that the fishes surface was starting to freeze in that few seconds, even with me trying to block the wind.
We decided to move the shelter, fighting the wind to drag it to the new spot still set up (a two man job for sure). Once set up again, we had the day we'd set out for with somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-40 rainbows and browns caught and released for the next trip. The work we did to find them made the day that much more rewarding. On to brookies and cutthroats next weekend for a change. :)
https://photos.smugmug.com/Ice-Fishing-2020-2021/i-RhnbSdZ/0/bdd77b99/X2/East%20Dollar%20-%20Dec%2012%20%285%29-X2.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/Ice-Fishing-2020-2021/i-mzVVTH9/0/f8b94266/X2/East%20Dollar%20-%20Dec%2012%20%283%29-X2.jpg