Now that's what I call friendly!

[Mudslide]

This is the year I decided to get serious about hardwater fishing. I have been one of those guys who stand out in the wind; fishing through the one or two 6 inch holes that I managed to drill by hand before collapsing. Mildly successful in spite of it all, but never really experiencing the full Monty. End of last year I bought a flasher and an ice-cube and wow what a difference. This year I bought a jiffy and just a couple of weeks ago I bought a camera. Today was the day I got to try it out. The wife had the day off and so we went to Sylvan this afternoon. I have been trying to tell her how much fun we could have in the ice-cube but she is less than enthusiastic.

Anyway we pull out on the ice at the end of rr23 and immediately there is a fairly young guy named Chris there, so we stopped to talk to him because I've never fished there before and never ice fished for whites or burbs. He points us out to the drop off and tells us what's working (which we did not have). "Go on out and I'll come by and check on you in a bit" he says so very slowly and reluctantly we start to make our way out to where all the huts are set up when another guy waves us over. He says "this is a good spot and these holes right here have been producing for me all week; go ahead and set up here. Turns out he lives right on the lake Can't remember his name but he has a grey handlebar mustache. Great guy!

We set up the ice-cube and five minutes later along comes Chris with a couple of lures for us to try. A "thumper" and a wetaskawin. Later he came back with a couple of wireworms. This completely made our day a great experience. We only caught one whitefish because the bite seemed to dye right after we arrived but the camera revealed there were a ton of whitefish and loads of burbs everywhere. Even saw several burbs ball up just beside where we were fishing. To top it off we had a huge pike come by for a visit and though he was interested I could not get him to take the plunge.

We had to leave after only a couple of hours so we could go out for dinner, but the friendliness of the guys there was just awesome. I always try to go out of my way to help new people out but this was above and beyond. Just wanted to share and say thanks to those guys.

[Jamie]

Mud.. That sounds GREAT
Thats the way I have always envisioned Ice Fishing to be.

Just a load of people having a great time.
That thread a while back was talking about "How Close is to Close".. It kind of put me off a bit. But your story sounds just about perfect.

Jamie

[buckmaster]

awesome,nice to hear stories like this for a change!

[Deano]

Great post!!!!!!!!!! It is always nice when people take the time and say something possitive. It seems people are willing to take the time and bitch, but not willing to do the opposite. Sounds like you had a great day. Hopefully there are many more to come. Having that camera sure comes in handy, especially for people new to ice fishing.

[SNAPFisher]

Great post!!! Couldn't agree more with what Deano said. Enjoy the new fun toys. They will serve you well.

[JohninAB]

Great post and that is what I call being an outdoorsmen or woman is all about. Comradery and helping out where you can.

[gunslinger]

thats great to hear, wifey always says we might as well plan on being here for a hour if hes over there bullshooting...lol i also like to meet new people

[Donny Bear]

This is the total opposite to the post that talked about what a resonable distance was. This is what everday should be like! Over the years I have punched hundreds of extra holes for others lent out spare tents and had people share the deep fryer. Like Gunslinger family and friends know I like the social part of it I give out tackle and just try to have fun the more the merrier Great Post very encouraging to here about this. Whats more is three weeks ago we had a very similar experiance at the end of 23 only three weeks ago

[Drano]

I wholeheartedly agree

X5

[Mish]

So great to hear this story! Seems like lately most of the threads I see are complaining about other fishermen. People don't seem to be willing to share or help out anymore. This story really made my day, thank you.

[sourdough doug]

It is just awesome to see some positive posts. I'm sure it has to do with the extra sunshine we're getting. -Getting rid of that cabin fever syndrome-