We went up to fish Red Feather for a few hours Wed. Weather forecast was for 15-20 mph wind. Turned out the gusts were exceeding 50 mph, with sustained at least 35, testing the limits of my Frabill flipover.
Lots of open water on Dowdy, and no sign anyone had been on it anywhere. West had a little open water on the north shore, which led to an interesting lake phenomenon (more on that later).
We walked out carefully on West and checked the thickness. The west end was cloudy ice, and about 7", but most of the lake appeared to be good clear ice and 6", and there were signs of previous drilling in several places.
We walked a little east to try and get some shelter from the wind on the south side, and fished in about 13' of water. Fishing was very good. We quit counting after the first 20 or so - browns and rainbows, mostly 10-12". Pretty feisty.
About the lake phenomenon. With the wind coming out of the west, it was hitting that open water stretch and really creating east-moving waves. When we dropped our krill-tipped jigs in, they immediately started drifting west. So much so that I couldn't get my flasher to pick up the jig, as it had drifted out of range. It was like we were fishing in a river. I didn't figure it out until we were leaving (and folding down the flipover was an adventure in itself). While walking across the ice to leave, I looked at the open water, and realized that the powerful wind was pushing the water on the north side to the east. It had created a circular current in the lake, so that after hitting the east shore, it turned south and then flowed west along the south shore past our shelter. Not only had it created a current, but the wind was surely the reason the water was pretty cloudy from all the sediment it stirred up. It would have been interesting to get in the center of the lake and see if the jig stayed still or made little circles.
All in all, it was fun to get out and catch some stockers and eat some good hot chili. Off to John tomorrow, where we will be consuming Thursday leftovers. Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone!
