The start of the ice season started out to be not too much fun. Shady ice and then loads of snow on top of it made for some less than perfect conditions. Mobility was an issue as was safe ice on decent areas to fish.
After a few fruitless missions that yielded good numbers of fish but no real size frustration began to set in.
I hopped in the Silverado and set off with no real plan. Wanting to check in on a few spots I’ve fished in the past to check ice conditions I loaded all my gear in just in case I found something I wanted to give a go.
First stop was to an area that needs a bit more time to tighten up safely. Second stop I made my way out to set up on a school of Largemouth that harassed me and obviously the panfish so after an hour I packed up and back to the truck.
Last stop was to a lake I’ve fished a few times in the boat. Access is sketchy at best but was able to secure some access that led me to the promised land.
Setting up on a 16 foot flat the Vexilar was lit up in no time. Dropping HT Tungsten Marmooska tipped with plastics it wasn’t long before a nice Crappie flopped out of the hole….paydirt.
It was an awesome few hours on the ice and I’m certainly looking forward to getting back out there!
The next day I met up with my buddy Yan. I’ve known Yan for years through internet message boards but we had never fished together in all that time. What a shame, great guy to fish with!
We plucked around and put up some decent numbers. Yan landed big fish of the day on a one inch tubejig..
The following night was the HT Ice Fishing Tour stop at LeBaron in Ottawa. Big Jim McLaughlin spends lots of time getting these put together and they are always a success. Joined by David Chong and Wil Wegman we all gave some informative tips and tricks that we hope put some more fish on the ice for everyone this season!
A January thaw has hit Eastern Ontario, which is perfect! We had loads of snow that is now getting knocked down to a more manageable level.
