20 Inches of Amazingly Clear Canadian Ice
I must apologize to my faithful readers about the long delay in posting my adventures. December turned out to be a non-fishing month. Ice fishing started out with great clear ice, but three short day trips resulted in no fish. I then wandered up to the Gunflint Trail for a day and found a few nice walleyes and jumbo perch. Just after that, It started snowing. And didn't stop for three days. One of the biggest storms in our history dumped 30 inches of snow on the relatively thin ice. Snow weighs down the ice, water comes up the cracks, snow insulates, keeping the water from freezing on top of the ice. Slush. Lots of sticky, cold, watery glue. Ice fishing ground to a halt. I didn't make it out fishing again until January...but that trip made up for the poor December.
January 10, 2014
Early morning. Cold and cloudy, but way warmer than previous seven days in Duluth that never made it out of negative temperatures. The forecast said we timed our trip perfectly, we were about to hit a warm spell. I had been wondering when the other foot would fall regarding our luck, but my ominous feeling had been dispelled when I hit a deer the night before. With my WIFE'S CAR. I never drive that thing and the one time I do... Anyway, my fear of issues were alleviated.
I picked up the Colonel and we met the Captain and the Chief where we hitched up the snowmachine trailers. Everything went smoothly and we began on our way northwest. The drive was uneventful, and we went right through Canadian customs, so we made great time, it was 9am. Then, tragedy. The Canadian beer store didn't open until 10am! The humanity! We did an inventory and determined that, yes, we would wait for the store to open. It was then that a couple of people got picky and wanted to look for a different brand of beer at a different store. Long story short, we ended up getting an unintentional tour of Ontario. We finally started our way north again, but not until I took this entertaining video I've titled "Canadian Bacon."
We finally got pointed northwest again and cruised up a typical Canadian roadway - ice covered, lots of logging trucks, hills, curves. It started with a sign the signified a downhill at an 8% grade. The sign immediately after it said "Sharp Curve." Nice. We made it safely to the next turn and now headed east on a icy gravel road. It was a bit slower, but we soon found ourselves at a little parking lot. It took some time to organize our gear in the sleds behind our four snowmachines, but soon we were on our via a new mode. The first part of the snowmobile route was on a summertime road, plenty of width and the hills and curves were not extreme. After a major delay (see Hubs' Flub at the end of this post), we soon turned off the wide road and headed off on a rougher trail with lots of small but steep hills and sharp curves. The snowmachine ride was about 25 miles, and with the delay, it was nearly dark when we arrived at the well kept, isolated lodge on a bay of a very large lake. We met the owner and she directed us to our cabin. It was very nice with electric lights, a very efficient wood stove, and several bunks. The siding and windows were newer and the wood heat reached all the rooms. The running water was shut off for the winter, but lake water had been brought up for our use after boiling. We unpacked the gear, had a toast to good luck, and settled in for the night with the Colonel's awesome smoked ribs.
January 11, 2014
It was warm (for January in Canada) and cloudy when woke. We are not the ball of fire, get up with the sun type of anglers and lake trout's friendly "banker's hours" fits our style. So we were the last group out of camp (there were two other parties) and we cruised out of the bay on our snowmachines to the main part of the lake. We chose a spot pretty far down the lake and I set up my fish house on the edge of a steep drop off. The Captain chose a sloping point and the Chief and the Colonel chose the top of a reef. I set up my tip up, got the fish house heater going and settled in, setting my breakfast burrito onto the heater to warm up. It was nearly 10am. I didn't get to eat the burrito until 1pm. I had a lake trout feeding frenzy. I steadily jigged up laker after laker. If I wasn't fighting one, I was seeing one eyeing my bait on the fish finder. All the fish we nice fat, healthy specimens. I ended up catching 12 and losing 4 at the hole. Each one was a hard fighter and none came up the hole quickly. The smallest ones were about 22 inches and the biggest was 27 inches. Not huge, but a great average size. The frenzy slowed at 1pm, and I didn't get anything between 2pm and sunset just after 4pm. It was a blast. The other guys were not seeing the same action, but after moving to new spots more similar to mine, they did get a few fish. The Captain was a little ways farther away and he reported fast action in the afternoon. So, it was a pretty good day all around. It had remained gray and windy and in fact one wind burst actually lifted the Colonel's fish house off the ice and he had to chase it down as it tumbled down the lake. We got it back into shape and it was still serviceable, but its days are numbered. Can anyone find us a quality fish house that is lightweight, handles wind, you can stand up in it, and it easily transported by someone that usually walks, not snowmobiles, to fishing holes? We got back to camp and chatted about our days. Unfortunately the celebration was cut short. The lodge owner came up to our cabin with a note for the Colonel to call home immediately (the lodge had a satellite connection). I am sure it was a long walk for him from our cabin to the office. I went and checked on him after a bit and learned that there was a medical emergency on his wife's side of the family on the west coast. They talked over their options and in the end they found homes for their kids to go to, she was able to fly out west, and he decided to keep fishing. We enjoyed our favorite lake trout curry and rice that night.
January 12, 2014
It was another gray, but warm (25 degrees!) day as we decided to head to a point closer to camp. I set up in a bay on a reef that was very similar to the hot spot the day before, and the other three fellows spread out on the point. I immediately caught a decent trout. Here we go again, I thought...but that was the last action I had at that spot. The others were catching fish, not hyper fast, but steady action, on the point. I moved to a steep bay mouth. Nothing. I finally tossed my pride and moved in on the point near the others. I started on the point about 2pm...right when the fish quit biting the day before. It was not a repeat. Between 2pm and 4pm I managed to get 7 trout, including another nice 27 incher that literally bit when I was reeling up to quit fishing. Another great day. The others had steadily caught fish all day, so it was good all around. It was a sauna, a shower, and lake trout jambalaya that night. One of the fun parts of the first two days of fishing was the ice. I have never been on such clear ice that was that thick. Once we cleared off the fluffy snow, it was 20 inches of pure glass, hardly a bubble. We could watch our jigs below the ice and we could see the fish come up from the bottom. I tried to make a hard hitting documentary film describing the ice, but the fellas and their walkie-talkies got in the way...
January 13, 2014
Yet another cloudy day greeted us as we cruised to another bay of the lake in the morning. We set up back in the bay aways and the ice wasn't clear in this spot. I caught a few fish, lost a few fish. I caught my first non-trout, a largish (10lbs?) northern pike. I spotted it on the fish finder hanging out just under my feet only a few feet from the ice, even though I was in 33 feet of water. I reeled up to it, and it hit with only a few feet of line between my rod and the lure. We call those "Vexilar Fish" - fish that you would not have caught if you didn't have the sonar unit. Others had more luck than I did, with the Colonel having the most action and the Captain wrangling the biggest trout of the trip, a 30 incher. The temperature dropped throughout the day and headed back below zero that night as we enjoyed a pasta dish.
January 14, 2014
We got up relatively early on the first sunny day of the trip. It was crisp outside as we packed up, but the sun felt great. We coordinated our ride out with the lodge owner, as she didn't want to be making the ride by herself for safety's sake. It took a little longer than normal (see Hubs' Flub) but before too long we were at the truck, loading up, and heading back to the USA. Everything went smoothly and I was greeted at home as a conquering hero - like always.
It was a great trip with really good fishing. The ride in is long, so we decided that to do this trip right, we really needed to add another day to it. Otherwise, it doesn't justify the long drive. Wouldn't you agree, Honey?
Nature Moment: There really wasn't a notable wildlife sighting on this trip. The realities of the Canadian forest in the heart of winter is that you really only will ever see a few active animals. Ravens are the most common and they love to use multiple loud calls. Right above your head when you are in your fish house trying to nap. The snow reveals that other critters are in the area, but the fox, otters, wolves, moose, and lynx are rarely actually seen.
Hubs' Flub: Well, as you may have figured out from the hints in the trip narrative, this one was interesting. As we were cruising on the snowmachines on the first day, going to the lodge, I headed over a hill and my machine just died. No warning, just going and then quiet. It was mile 18 of the 25 mile ride. Not good. I futzed around with it a bit but it would not start. I could tell the fuel pump sounded weak and it appeared it was not getting fuel to the engine. I racked my brain and said, "yup, it won't go." Despite my auto repair family history, this is usually the diagnosis I give every breakdown. We moved the machine to the side of the trail, rearranged the gear sleds, reorganized ourselves, doubled up on one machine, and continued on to the lodge. We discussed it, I grumbled, and decided to forget about it until we could do something about it. Worst case scenario, we would pull it off the trail, put a tarp over it, and come back for it in the summer. By the next morning I had decided that the issue was the engine not recharging the battery and the fuel pump had exhausted the stored charge in the battery. To tell you the truth, the recharging system may have never worked since I bought it...I may have never ran the machine enough to draw down the charge before I recharged the battery at home. I chatted with the lodge owner and determined she had a portable generator and a battery charger. Simple, I thought, we use the generator to charge the battery, and we drive it on out to the truck. So on the day we left, that is what we did. Less than an hour of charging got us all the way out. Whew. Could have been worse.
Quote of the Trip: "24 incher"....."25 incher"....."22 incher"....."27 incher"...."23 incher"... We usually make a radio call to the other guys whenever we catch a trout and we report its approximate length. During that crazy first day feeding frenzy I pretty much took over the airwaves and made an announcement every 10 minutes as I released yet another trout. Pretty damn fun.
