Ice Fishing Fun

I was able to get out and do some ice fishing in our wood shack ("The Sportsbar on Rice Lake") last week. On Tuesday I got some bonus fishing in as our flights home from Pittsburgh came in early. My neighbor and I caught several nice eating sized walleyes, a number of perch, and an few pike. Later in the week I met some friends at the Sportsbar and we caught a couple decent walleyes and a jumbo perch. One of the walleyes flipped off the hook and somehow squirmed its way in to the space above the ice but under the floor of the shack. It took some work to get it back. That night I completed a Sportsbar first-I slept out there overnight. It was a warm night and I had a comfortable cot. I had a bite on one of the rattle reels not too long after I fell asleep, but the fish bit through the line right as it was coming through the hole and it got away. When I woke up the next morning, both rattle reel bobbers were down and their minnows were missing. I guess I was sleeping too soundly to notice the bites. We had quite the party out there the next day...the Smoked Fish Guy was there with two of his kids and a friend and Chief MLB came out again with some family members. Chief's daughter and son-in-law brought their new underwater camera and we all watched it get set up, find my jig, and see the jig catch a perch within about 5 seconds of getting the camera going. Pretty entertaining. The unusual winter weather became a factor that night as we packed in a drizzle that covered our gear in ice. Not what you expect in January.

My next adventure will be an opening weekend lake trout ice fishing trip (if the lakes are still frozen up north) in a couple weeks. It looks like I have a full schedule of winter camping trips again this year, and I am looking forward to them all.

Happy New Year everybody!!!