Canadian Sunsets

The Arrowhead Angler kicked off the lake trout ice fishing season with a trip north of the border. Saturday morning the Lieutenant, Chief MLB, and I loaded up my truck, hitched up the snowmachine trailer, and headed north through International Falls to the border station in Fort Frances, Ontario. We were lucky enough to undergo a major search of the truck and its contents courtesy of the Canadian authorities. After a discussion about how much beer a "growler" contains and how we should have been more specific about exactly how much beer and booze we had along (even the little bottle someone didn't want to mention because it was a birthday gift for someone), we were sent on our way. We wound our way for about another hour through Ontario, we arrived at the small lodge on the shore of a very large and island studded lake. We got our things into our unit and headed out fishing. A quick snowmachine ride got us to a promising spot and we started fishing on an unseasonably warm afternoon. No houses or heaters were needed all afternoon. I had the hot hole, getting a small trout right away and then a nice 28" laker a bit later. Chief MLB got a nice fish, and the Lieutenant also had some action. Towards evening I set the hook on another nice fish (I was actually standing 20 feet away from my hole attending to another matter when the fish hit). After a pretty good battle I saw a very nice trout below the hole, but it was oddly hooked in the side of the face, and I couldn't get the nose started up the hole. After a while of trying, the line snapped...it must have been wearing on the side of the hole. Shucks. It was still a good day. We headed back to the lodge at sundown and had grilled trout for supper.

On Sunday it was still quite warm out as we headed east on the lake too a new spot. The temperature was dropping and the wind was picking up, so I set my portable house on a steep sloping shoreline. As I sat down and started jigging, I heard a noise outside the house and looked up to see my tip-up flag was up. The noise I heard was the whirring of the reel on the tip-up as the fish peeled off line at a high rate of speed. By the time I reeled up my jig and got out to the tip-up, all the line was off the reel and just the knot held the line to the tip-up. I assumed the fish had broke the line, but he was still on as I began hand-lining the fish up to the hole. After a pretty good fight, another 28" lake trout was on the ice. Soon after I jigged up a nice 25" lake trout, but that was it for me the rest of the day. The other guys also had tougher days, with the Lieutenant getting just one small fish and Chief MLB getting skunked. Blame it on the changing weather-the temps were dropping all day. It was nachos and chili-cheese dogs for supper.

Monday dawned a bit colder and we did some exploratory hole-drilling before spreading out to fish in a deep northern bay of the lake. I missed a fish as soon as I dropped my jig down the hole, and then I didn't have any action until later in the afternoon when the sun came out and jigged outside in a deeper hole. That resulted in a small lake trout, my only catch of the day until an eelpout hit just before packing up. Lieutenant and Chief MLB fared better...the Lieutenant caught a couple real nice trout and lost a big one as well. Chief MLB had good action, getting several smaller trout. Venison stew was waiting for us in the crockpot when we got back to the lodge.

Tuesday we went back to the spot we had tried on Saturday afternoon, and Chief MLB continued to have good luck, getting a couple nice trout and losing a bigger one at the hole. I caught a small trout, and it was the Lieutenant's turn to get skunked. We quit fishing at noon, packed up the truck, made it through US Customs without incident and I rolled into the garage at about 7pm.

I enjoyed the trip thoroughly...the lodging wasn't fancy but was close to good fishing and the price was right. The lake had quite a few other anglers on it, but was so big and full of good trout structure that people could really spread out. The fishing wasn't spectacular, but was certainly adequate and we each had our shots at big fish.

Next trip will be this weekend to a more local lake that the DNR stocked lake trout in a few years ago. We'll see if they survived. Unless another snowstorm hits and I have to stay home and shovel.

Nature Moment: Near an exposed rock near the lake shore adjacent to my fishing spot was an unusual hole in the ice. The snow was packed down around it. I decided it was likely an access hole for otters. Later I saw an otter running in that area, which seemed to confirm my hypothesis. I wonder how often the otters have to use the hole in order to keep it open all winter?

Lake of the Woods Walleyes

After what was a slow holiday season as far as fishing has been concerned, a friend and I headed west to Lake of the Woods, Minnesota. We left on Sunday morning and drove four hours to Zippel Bay on the massive lake's south side. Lake of the Woods and the surrounding area is very interesting geologically...it sits at the cross roads of the flat, boggy prairie and the rocky Canadian Shield. The south portion of the lake, most of which is in Minnesota, is an open, relatively shallow sand flat. The northern portion is deep, rocky, and full of islands. Zippel Bay is a narrow river-like bay, and the Zippel Bay Resort is located well back from the main portion of Lake of the Woods.

We checked in at the Resort's office and learned they had put us in Sleeper House #224. The attendant pointed out where the house was located on a large map that showed an actual grid system of plowed roads on the ice of the main lake. After we settled up ($114 per person for 2 nights), we drove down the landing to ice road on the bay. We wound our way up down Zippel Bay, crossed a sand bar and went onto Lake of Woods. It was an impressive scene...thousands of ice fishing shacks of every make, model, and quality stretched to both the east and west horizons. The northern horizon was a frozen, snow covered lake as far as the eye could see.

We followed the street signs on the road system to "Bobber Street" and took a left, eventually finding the Sleeper Fishhouse labled #224. It was a solidly built house that was about 7' x 12'. It had two beds that folded down from the walls, six already opened fishing holes, a stove top, a heater, a table, and a propane light. Outside there was an outhouse-like structure with a bucket and some garbage bags. Thankfully, a toilet seat was kept inside the fishing house to keep it warm. The house was a respectable distance away from other houses.

We got our lines set up in 24 feet of water and settled in. It took a little while to get going, but we eventually caught several walleye and sauger (a slightly smaller, but just as tasty walleye cousin). Some of the fish were quite small, but we caught some nice eaters up to 16". After dark, I caught a good sized eelpout (burbot), which my friend had never seen before. He wasn't impressed. Overall the fishing was little slower than expected. After a fish supper we turned in, leaving one line down on a rattle reel.

Monday was a sunny, warm day and the fishing was pretty fast for an hour or so right away in the morning, but they were mostly small. We took a drive out and about that afternoon, checking out all the different kind of fishhouse set ups and noting the big spray foam igloo that the Resort keeps on the lake. It has a bar and grill inside. That evening the fishing picked up again. After supper, well after dark, I was jigging on the bottom and noticed a wide mark on my depthfinder, well off the bottom. I reeled up to the spot and got bit right away. After a short tussle and a battle to free the 4lb test from the depthfinder transducer, I pulled up a large walleye. It measured out at 26.5". Probably 6 or 7 pounds. One of the nicer walleyes I've ever caught. A few minutes later another mark came in 10 feet off the bottom and struck my lure. My line snapped immediately. The other fish must have nicked the line somehow. Aargh. That was the last bite of the night.

On Tuesday, we had another pretty good bite in the morning, and my buddy caught a 17.5" walleye, which was a good addition to the pile of fish we were taking home. The trip home was uneventful. I got the fish cleaned and in the freezer (just for you, mom).

It was a fun and interesting trip. Now this weekend I am headed north of the border with two friends to get started on the lake trout season in Canada.

The Sportsbar Has Landed!

It was an exciting day on Saturday as the Sportsbar was deployed. The process was pretty smooth, thanks to all the help we had. In fact we didn't even use a snowmachine or ATV this year, we just used people power and pulled and pushed it about a mile onto the lake. It is all set up on the tip of the point as usual. There is about a foot of ice and very little snow on the lake.

The Sportsbar is our wooden ice fishing house. It is about six feet by eight feet. It fishes four comfortably and has hosted parties of up to eight. Putting on the ice and fishing in it that first day is always an event that reminds you another year has past and that life is good.

Unfortunately, fishing continues to be slow. We had only one bite on Saturday-a northern pike that bit through the line. On Sunday we hooked four pike, landing three small ones and losing one at the hole. The water seems to be clearing a bit (it was very murky the previous weekend), so maybe fishing will improve. There were a ton of people out on the lake both Saturday and Sunday. All that activity can't help the fishing too much.

I won't be fishing again until after Christmas, so I'll take this time to wish everyone Happy Holidays.

The Arrowhead Angler

First Ice Adventures

After much anticipation and waiting for safe ice, I finally made it out ice fishing this weekend. On Friday I took the day off and went to the Fish Lake narrows, a spot that always has good ice early and where I have had good early season crappie and walleye fishing in the past. It was very cold and windy, so I took the bigger, warmer blue house. I don't use that house very often (I even tried to sell it) and after a few hours of fishing I remembered why-it is the most uncomfortable portable ice house ever built...it is short (can't even come close to standing up in it), and the built in seats are convenient, but uncomfortable. Getting in and out of it requires you to be a contortionist. My back was screaming by the end of the day. It didn't help matters that I only had two bites all day, resulting in a small northern pike and a decent walleye. To top it off, when I went to pack it up, two of the house poles suddenly snapped in half. Not good, but I was already leaning towards never using the house again. Fish Lake was awash with other anglers...tons of people...too many for my taste.

On Saturday, the forecast was for warmer temps, so I put my very small, mobile 1-man flip-over shack in the truck. As I packed the rest of my gear, I realized I couldn't find my new headlamp. I had used it the day before. I finally grabbed my old one. When I back out of the garage, I found my new headlamp. It must have fell out of my pocket in the alley and now it was in several pieces as it had by driven over several times. Argh. I drove an hour north to a little lake that I heard has big crappies. To get to the lake, a person must walk down a swampy winding creek. I checked the ice at the bridge and it had 6" of good ice. I reasoned that the current should be strongest where the bridge constricts the creek, and if the ice was good there, it should be no issue to get to the lake. Still, I walked carefully on the creek as I drug my gear towards the lake, pounding my heavy ice chisel ahead of me as I went. When I was nearly to the lake, I heard some odd cracking noises under me and so I pounded the chisel harder to test the ice underneath me. I discovered I was on about an inch of ice. The cracking continued as I did an about-face and went back to the truck. I am sure the water was very shallow in the creek, but I didn't feel like getting wet just for a couple crappies. So, back towards Duluth I went. I went to Wild Rice Lake, where the ice was much thicker (There were even some brave four-wheelers out there setting up permanent shacks). There were lots of people fishing on Rice. I sat in my tiny flip shack all afternoon and only had one bite all day, and I failed to see the fish. I also decided the small flip shack is not the fish house for me. It is fine for warmer days when you are moving around a lot and all you really need is a windbreak, but on colder windy days, it doesn't cut it.

On Sunday, the weather changed again and it was very cold with a brisk northwest wind. I went back to Wild Rice and set up a bit deeper and closer to the main lake. This time I took my ultra-portable 11lb tent that fits two people, but is a major pain to set up in the wind and doesn't heat up very well (especially if it is cloudy and windy). I had the TV with, and I watched the Vikings as I waited for fish. The Eager Angler joined me after noon and we never had a bite all day-not even a hint of a fish. It was very cold that late afternoon as we packed up.

So another first ice weekend has come and gone, and I can't say it lived up to expectations. I'll blame it on the unstable weather. I will now start my search for the perfect portable fish house. I'll get by on old ones for this year, but I will be examining all the options for next year.

Okay then.

Interesting Ice Fishing Gear for 2009/10

In response to my many fans' requests for my Christmas List, I began trolling the internet looking for cool new Ice Fishing gear items I might need. Here are a few of the more interesting ones (note: this is not really my actual Christmas List...that is being delivered to you via courier in an armored truck as I write this):


Item 1: A battery operated seat heater that runs on a 12v battery…not sure that my butt is the first thing to get cold when ice fishing…I am also concerned about the heater being an ignition source.
http://www.clamcorp.com/Accessories/SeatsHeaters/SeatHeater/tabid/409/Default.aspx


Item 2: A light/fan combo that runs on 4 AA’s…a fan could be handy in the Sportsbar due to air pollution. For people not in the know "the Sportsbar" is our ice fishing palace we keep on a lake north of town.
http://clamcorp.com/Accessories/LightsFans/FanLightComboSmall/tabid/411/Default.aspx


Item 3: A Sled Pulling Harness…an engineered 4 point sled harness for hauling ice gear...I may get this one for all my buddies-I doubt they make my size.
http://clamcorp.com/Accessories/SledsTowing/SledPullingHarness/tabid/415/Default.aspx


Item 4: A tool for your power drill that installs ice anchors. Ice anchors are used when it is windy and your portable ice house threatens to sail away. In theory, you pound anchors, which are big metal screws, into the ice to hold the edge of your tent down. This theory does not work. Ice is hard and brittle. The anchors either don't go in the ice or just break it. This tool might help, but if I bring a power drill, couldn't I just bring my other tools and build a permanent shack?
http://clamcorp.com/Accessories/IceAnchors/IceAnchorInstallTool/tabid/402/Default.aspx


Item 5: Winter Lubricant. I believe this is for fishing reels.
http://www.frabill.com/store/index.php/catalog/product/view/id/122/s/1669/category/8/


Item 6: The Mr. Heater Buddy heater has been improved…same heat, but significantly more compact unit…folding handle…swiveling hose attachment means easy hose hook up, especially when using a filter…it now has a single switch lighting system (one handed lighting). Basically, they took all my ideas for improvements and made them.
http://www.mrheater.com/product.aspx?catid=41&id=24


Item 7: Battery Operated Ice Auger engine…there are a couple brands of these out there. I wonder if I could an alternative energy tax break for buying one.
http://www.icegator.com/
http://www.strikemaster.com/electra_lazer.html


Item 8: Someone should buy one of these new "hub" styled lightweight fish houses and let me know if they set up easier in the wind than the polar ht house I already have-for now (it has threatened to enter the atmosphere a few times).
http://www.geteskimo.com/foundations/store_getEskimo/shopdetail.asp?params=69151*79&tab=docs


Item 9: LED fishhouse lighting systems eliminate the need for the fragile lantern that is waiting for the opportunity to burn a hole in your portable fish house’s nylon wall…these light strings appear to have improved recently.
http://outdoorprostore.com/led-ice-fishing-lights.html


Item 10: These rod holders would work better than the metal hooks we have in the Sportsbar, but they are permanently mounted, so everyone would have to have the same length fishing pole to use them. And everyone's rods are probably different lengths (but that's okay-the length really has nothing to do with a good fishing experience-right?).
http://todaystackle.com/rodrocker.html


Item 11: A motorized lure spinner. If you are really too busy to jig your own lure, aren't you too busy to fish?
http://todaystackle.com/miniteaser.html


Item 12: I can see how in lakes that don't have much structure these fake weeds might make a difference…until my fishing line got wrapped around them and I lose the fish.
http://www.reelweeds.com/Products/StructureonaString/tabid/126/Default.aspx


Item 13: These skirted leaders might help get pike or lake trout on a tip up if you had a really lively minnow…or they could be used in the annual "Aloha Sportsbar!" hula dancing contest.
http://monsterfishgear.com/FeaturedProducts/TeaserLeaders/TrophySeriesTeaserLeader/tabid/256/Default.aspx

There you have it-I have successfully saved you, the loyal reader, from hours of shopping for the angler on your list.

The Arrowhead Angler

Snowy Sojourn

It was my last shot at open water fishing this past weekend. Early Friday morning I left town with three friends and headed up the north shore in a steady rain. We turned inland and stopped at designated trout lake near the road. Designated trout lakes are interesting spots. A designated trout lake is a lake (usually a very small one) that the Minnesota DNR has deemed as not having a viable fishery (either no sport fish or just small northern pike and/or perch). The DNR poisons out the existing fish and then stocks the lake with brook trout, rainbow trout, or splake (a cross between a brook trout and lake trout). Splake are the most prevalent fish, with brook trout and rainbow also being in several lakes.

We fished in the rain at the first lake and quickly caught 3 keeper splake. We then cruised on to another designated trout lake and set up camp. As we cooked up some splake bacon cheeseburgers for lunch, the rain turned to snow. After lunch we hiked around the lake on a nice trail and shore fished several spots. Despite constant snow and wind, we caught several decent rainbow trout and splake. During the final few hours of the afternoon it really snowed hard and began sticking to the ground. That evening we relaxed in my canvas tent around the wood stove and ate pesto pasta for dinner. The local radio station was playing old time music, which seemed to fit the setting.

After a chilly night, we dallied a bit over our breakfast burritos and the wood stove. We then hiked around the lake on a sunny but cold morning. One of my friends caught a really nice splake right away, but oddly, that was the only fish of the day. A couple additional fiends joined us after driving up from Duluth and we enjoyed the sun all afternoon. We made Quetico Supremes for lunch (grilled swiss cheese, salami, and mustard sandwiches) and spoke to a few hikers as they passed.

That evening we all drove to a nearby bar and grill and had burgers as we watched the Iowa Hawkeyes pull out an amazing victory with 2 seconds left in the 4th quarter. The smoked fish guy was ecstatic over his Hawks. After some more laughs in the tent after the game we turned in on a slightly warmer night.

Sunday morning was pretty dreary...cold, wind, and rain. It made for a mess to pack up camp. We drove to another nearby lake and the rain turned to heavy snow as we fished on a very brisk day (in fact, there was a couple small, shallow lakes near the road that were 1/2 frozen over). At the new lake, the splake were really biting, but only a couple of them were big enough to keep. We soon hit the road again and got back to Duluth around 4pm. In Duluth, being next to Lake Superior, it was rain, not snow, again. Baked splake was might tasty for dinner. Now it is time to get organized and switch out all the gear to ice fishing and winter camping mode.

Nature Moment: On Saturday afternoon we were watching our bobbers when a big splash was heard to our west. Soon a whitetail deer with an impressive rack of antlers was spotted swimming across the lake. We didn't spot any wolves, but something made that deer want to swim across a very cold lake.

Getting Ready for Winter Camping

The recent cold, rainy, and even snowy weather has inspired the Arrowhead Angler (me) to start getting ready for the Winter Camping season. Winter Camping season is my favorite of all the seasons in the north woods. The north woods seasons are Winter Camping (Ice), Waiting for Open Water, Open water, and Waiting for Ice. Some outdoorsy folks also talk about the short season in the middle of Open Water called Going to Weddings of People You've Barely Met.

I have done a few things in preparation for Winter Camping. Last weekend I got the wood stove out, set it up in the yard, and lit a fire in it for the purposes of burning off the preserving oil. It is a sheet metal stove and, to protect it from rust, I had sprayed it down when I put it away for the summer. Last year, I hadn't burned off the oil and so when I went camping the for the first time, the tent filled with an acrid smoke when I got the fire going. It took a good hour for the oil to burn off and the smoke to clear. So it was good to get that task done.

Also, last night, I rolled up my sleeves and made a bunch of burritos. I wrap them individually in foil and freeze them. Then, when I go ice fishing and winter camping, I set the burritos on the wood stove or ice house heater until they are grilled a golden brown and have a nice hot lunch (or breakfast). In total I made 36 burritos (they are small). I decided to make them now because on Monday my lovely bride had cooked a giant turkey for dinner (I could go into a long dissertation on why we made a 24lb turkey for 2.5 people in October, but for everyone's benefit, I won't). I used all the leftover turkey for the basis of the burritos. So I made the following kinds of burritos:

Turkey Fajita Burritos (turkey, cheese, fajita seasoning)
Chipotle Turkey Burritos (turkey, cheese, chipotle seasoning)
Turkey Pizza Burritos (turkey, mozzerella cheese, pepperoni, pizza sauce)
Turkey & Gravy Burritos (turkey, cheese, gravy)
Breakfast Burritos (scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon)

I admit, by the time I got all done, I was a bit nauseous and didn't want to see turkey for a while. But I am now all set for winter lunches in the woods.

This weekend I am headed up north one last time to try and get some rainbow trout and splake in designated trout lakes. The DNR has stocked these trout in a bunch of small lakes in the National Forest that did not otherwise have viable fisheries. The trout bite great in the fall and taste really good. Judging by the weather report, I'll be bringing the winter tent and wood stove, not the summer gear. I'll let you know how it goes.