Jan 29th Port Bolster, New Species for me

I went out solo this morning at 7 am. It was a bit cool at -35, but no wind. The walk was easy, and found a spot to set up. Got the tent up, drilled my holes, but I couldn't get the heater to work. I stuck a minnow on a dinner bell, and got something right away. I didn't even set up my fishfinder so I didn't know how deep I was. It wasn't a perch, but it didn't feel too big, but it put up a weird fight. Finally got it out of the hole. Nice little cisco, about 12 inches. First one of those, nice.

My next drop (using the same minnow) I got a decent sized perch. Not a jumbo, but over 8 inches easy. Looks like its gonna be a good day. I was in 26 FOW, and minimal weeds on bottom. I've been here before, so hopefully I am set up on the fish highway, when the fish will travel in schools and you have to wait like a bus stop for them to come to you.

I spoke too soon. Got my fishfinder going, got my heater going (very nice), and the fish were gone. Added my micro camera to see what was going on, and nothing, nothing at all. I'm too lazy to move, so I just wait it out, and after about 30 minutes, they come back, catch a bunch of perch, toss em back, and then nothing for a bit. This pattern continued until I left around 12:30.

I waited for the last pass, and then headed home. Got enough for dinner. The biggest was 12 inches, and the cisco was a nice addition.

Final result was about thirty or so caught, kept enough for a meal. One day I 'll be more like James and catch a huge amount, but I'm still figuring it out and having fun learning. I had to keep some smaller ones as they inhaled the treble hook too deep.

Dinner was good. Nothing fancy, just pan fried and added a greek salad.

Very nice, but not too sure is its a cisco. Looks like the mouth is pointing down. I seen baby whitefish like that near Minets, they eat minnows and dont smell like smelt

That was my first thought as well. However, the mouth did not point down at all. The eyes made me second guess, though. I looked it up and it matches the picture I saw for a cisco. Having never caught either, I'm still not 100% sure. It tasted okay, though. I thought whitefish had light bites. This one didn't.

good outing


100% cisco/herring

Nice catch, nice plate and congrats for braving this arctic cold. And yes it is a Cisco (lake herring).

Congrats on your catch on such a frigidly cold morning 🥶
Good fishing report!

Funny enough, I got a mystery fish just like yours in the same area, I think theyre cico, mustve been a school around.

Completely agree with LS and Icecy on the cisco

Looks very delicious and yummy!

Good score....Good meal...Perfection.

Well done!

well done very cold out there in the lake