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Posts: 680
Member No.: 7784
Joined: December 31, 2014
QUOTE (mykola @ Jan 29, 2023 - 05:04 pm)
Changed plans last minute and decided to fish close to home on a large lake recently frozen. Slot size 40-55cm release, and one line only. This was the big lake I was getting all the herring from in the Fall. Set out around 8:30, roads still not plowed, snowing like the dickens. Get to the lake, no signs of traffic, no signs of any angling. Two sled tracks out off the launch, appeared to have bombed across the lake day before… so we had some kind of path to follow. Spud our way, my buddy Paul and I, and our immediately run into epic levels of slush. The trail helps, but fishing grounds were about 200ft off trail, that was a slog through foot and a half of snow and slush…. My buddy is wearing hiking boots by the way… no comment… I’ve almost always got my baffins and I’ve suggested it before to him, and he knew, he just genuinely forgot the conditions. Anyway, we shovel out a rink for his double wide XL pop up hut, and drill some holes, which of course floods the rink, and we’re up to our ankles in water. Guys a trooper though we toughed it out til 2:30pm.
3-5” all black ice.
Marked fish right away in 30 fow, on top of a point, some big marks, some smaller marks, I get a 15” trout and release it and we keep fishing until 10:30, when we decide to go deeper, so about 100ft away we dragged the tent to 47fow. This time we packed the snow down and drilled holes and it kept off dryer longer. We set up, start marking fish again, which are following but lazy to commit. I manage to coax one of the bigger marks to hit a simcoe bug on 4lb line tipped with a pea sized niblet of worm, and bang! Fish on! Great fight on the ultralight gear, managed to get it the fish top side. 23” laker, Paul’s scale said 5lbs on the dot but I had estimated maybe 3.5-4lbs. This was right at noon. It was a beautiful fish, and a keeper over the release slot. Perfect. Kept fishing, had some chases, no commits, I landed one more at 20” had to release, also on simcoe bug. We wrapped it up around 2:30… because when the 23” fish was landed the ice cracked when Paul was standing next to me, and began to sink and water began coming up and flooding us out. We walked back through the nightmare of slush and back to the car, I hope Paul doesn’t have frostbite. We had the entire lake to ourselves…. What a great day out despite the slush. Snowed like crazy all day. Suns out now. Cheers.
I've a funny feeling we're on the same lake......I'm only guessing but when you mentioned there was no pike in the lake....that's what got me thinking that I'm on the same lake because there are not supposed to be pike in our lake as well then one day I was in the bay waiting my turn to trailer my boat so I dropped a line and landed a 14lb pike......when I brought it to shore soon after....locals did not want me to release it but I didn't feel right killing such a beautiful specimen that I had no intentions of keeping and eating.......I was in doubt so I figured I couldn't go wrong putting it back where it came from.
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Laker Sunday, Brutal Slush
