My 2016 Ice Fishing Reports.

[Water Wolf]

Hi All,
Well the ice fishing reports are underway.

My first time on the ice this season was on New Years Day.

It was a good day, weather wise, with sunny skies and temps at only -1.9 deg C / 28.5 deg F.
There was some wind from the NW which made the wind-chill feel like -12 deg C / 10.4 deg F.

I chose to try my usual spot at Fishing Lake to see what the action was like.

It was sure good to be out walking on water again.

I was unsure of the ice thickness so I cautiously drilled and checked several spots.
The ice was a good 12" everywhere I checked, and only a small skiff of snow on the ice - perfect.

I set up and fished from 1:33pm to 5:20pm.

A buddy joins me not long after that.
We set up his portable ice shack and he starts to fish too.

Half an hour into the fishing and I get a hit on my set rod.
I see the rod bend, walk over and after a few runs, ice my first fish of the season, this pike.

This first fish turns out to be the big one of the day at 27 7/8" long.

Shortly after, my uncle joins us on the ice.

Midway though the afternoon my set rod goes down again, and another pike is iced.


My last fish hit just as the sun is sinking in the West.
I find that with pike I often get one last bite at or just after sunset, and then that's it for the pike bite, unless there's a full moon.

This one also takes some drag before it's iced.

Although I did catch some fish I didn't see one on camera.
They were  down there somewhere , just beyond my sight.

My 2 fishing partners didn't get so much as a nibble.

In the end I was happy that I was able to catch my limit of pike.
I decided that I would keep these 3, as I have not kept any fish since early summer.

I got home early enough to enjoy a fresh fish supper on New Years with family / friends.
It tased as good as a shore lunch.

The fish that day went for my own loop rig tipped with a smelt and a blue fox pixee spoon tipped with a minnow.

Hopefully the fish bite again for me on on my next time out.

WW

[stickbait]

Great report! Congrats on your first ice action!!

[anglure]

Those are the best eatin size Pike ! Thanks for the post and pics ! More tugs and tight lines to ya !

[reddog11]

Good job, man.

[winnisquam guy]

Lookin good WW

[jiggingfoul]

send some of that ice this way!!! congrats on the pike.

[Water Wolf]

Thanks guys.
Good ice fishing to you as well.

jiggingfoul,
We got more than enough cold to send you.
The temps recently are some of the coldest we have had all winter.
last night it dropped to - 30 deg C / -22 deg F with a wind chill of - 43 deg C / -45.4 deg F.

Going to be really cold all weekend and part of next week.

WW

[Raquettedacker]

Looks like your doing pretty good there WW...    Keep it up...   

[Water Wolf]

Hi Raquettedacker.

WW

[SpitzoMT]

Excellent.....

[winnisquam guy]

how's the season. slow here sir

[Water Wolf]

Thanks winnisquam guy and SpitzoMT.

Hi All,
Here are my reports for the last bit of Jan. and all of Feb. 2016.

The next 2 times out were on Jan 23rd and 24th, at my usual spot.

The first day was overcast with temps at -4 deg C / 24.8 deg F.  The wind was from the N to NE.

I was on the ice at 2:15pm and fished until 6:10pm.

In the first half hour I had a walleye come in, follow my lure, nudge it twice, and then just swim off.  Not what it wanted for sure.

For the most part it was slow out there with no bites until 4:30 pm. That's when I saw, on camera, a pike come in, take a run at my lure and just miss it. The fish then circled around, sized up the situation, and, in one quick sprint, grabs the lure. I set the hook, a brief fight ensues, and, the pike is iced.

It was 25".

That would be the extent of the action that day.


The next day is just a bit cooler at -6 deg C / 21.2 deg F. The wind is from the N to NE and it is another overcast afternoon.

This day I fish from 2:30pm - 6:00pm.

It's a slow day on the ice, with one pike seen on camera. This fish took a good look at my lure as I jigged it. As I moved it up and down, it moved with it, but, no go. Eventually it just lost interest, and, slowly swam away.  At 5:30pm I see another pike come in. This one is different.  It's moving quickly. It flies up to my lure, stops, circles around, and strikes. The strike is a bit off.  It then quickly circles around again, comes in for another strike with it's mouth wide open, the bait disappears, and I set the hook - fish iced.

It was 23".

That would be the extent of the days action.

Just before leaving I chat with a snowmobiler who was going around the lake chatting with other ice anglers. He reported that no one seemed to be have much action on the lake.

Humm, we must be entering that part of winter when everything slows until late February or early March. Oh well, still better than not ice fishing and at least I avoided the skunk both days.






Hi all,
The next set of reports is for 5 days in a row, from Jan 29th to Feb 2nd.
My family was able to make it out with me all 5 days and a friend joined us 2 of those days.

Day 1. Jan 29th.
For the first day I though we should try somewhere we have not tried before, so, we chose Marean Lake.
I have been to Marean before, during the open water season, just to see what it's like, but, have not fished it until now. It's a nice lake, nestled in the spruce, birch and poplar forest of the Porcupine Hills.

Since we had never been there before, I did several test holes to see how thick the ice was.  It was around 2 feet / 24" - perfect to drive on.
What snow they had was hard packed, so, it was easy to drive around on the lake. 

We set up near some cottages on the W side. I had a depth map with me and saw that it was a sloping shoreline there.
We fished at depths of 17 - 36 feet from 1:40pm to 6:00pm.

No one was out on the lake that day, so, we had the whole place to ourselves.

The weather was warm at +1 deg C / 33.8 deg F, but with it came strong winds from the W.  The skies were overcast, and, a mix of snow and sleet rolled in.

While we were there I moved on foot several times to see if I could find active fish. During those moves I saw 12 perch,(one a jumbo), 2 pike and a walleye. The perch and pike were interested in my lures but not enough to actually bite. They would move, in stare at it for a bit, and, then swim off, just window shopping I guess. The one walleye, on the other hand, came in fast, fin raised, and grabbed my lure on the first try. Unfortunately, it was not hooked that well, and, got free half way up. That would be the extent of my action that afternoon.

My uncle did better, and, towards the end of the trip, he iced a small pike and a nice 18" walleye.




We let the little pike go, but the walleye stayed.

The pike went for a regular jig head and minnow and the walleye went for a rattle stix.

At 6:00pm it's starting to get dark so we pack up and head off the lake. Just  S of the lake, we come across a large heard of elk crossing the road no more than 25 - 30 yards ahead of us.
The heard starts out at first as just a few animals crossing the road in front of the vehicle, but then it begins to build like a dam that bust.  When we stopped to let them pass they crowed together at least 4 deep. In total there must have been 40 elk in that heard.  When we opened our windows we could hear them trotting through the hard crusty snow in the field, like an army coming on the run. This is the largest wild elk heard any of us have ever seen.  What a neat experience. Thinking back, I also saw a few elk tracks on the lake that afternoon.

Day 2. Jan 30th.
This day find us heading for the N end of Last Mountain Lake (LML). We make our way onto the ice at the Regional Park and fish from 2:10pm - 5:35pm.
The snow is hard packed making driving fairly easy. The ice is quite thick at about 2'.

The weather was pleasant at only - 3 deg C / 26.6 deg F with sunny skies and some wind from the W. It felt more like late March than late January.

Despite the nice weather there was only us and one other angler and his son in that area, a bit S of us.

Not too long into the trip the fish let us know they were around.  They were neatly picking the minnows off  the hooks without biting.
This happens several times that day.

Half an hour into the fishing I see a pike on camera coming in fast. It starts off as just a tiny dot in the distance, but in just a matter of seconds it closes the distance, hits my lure at full speed and just keeps on going. I slam the breaks on and set the hook. A fair battle ensues as it give several powerful runs before I ice it.

It is 29.6".

Twenty minutes later and my wind rod starts to bend, I jog over and set the hook. This one also takes a good few runs.  My uncle helps it surface.


This one is a bit bigger at 31.5".


Not too long after that, the wind rod gets a hit, and with several powerful runs it really puts a bend in the rod.  This feels like a big pike.  My 40lb fluorocarbon leader is pulled hard against the the sharp edge of the ice and breaks, NOOOOO! .
It took off with the rattle spoon that caught the walleye the day before.  If any of you catch a LML fish with a orange and yellow Xstream rattle stix in it lip you will know where it came from.

After that there is a lull in the action until 4:00pm. At this time my uncle gets a hit on his set rod, he sets the hook, but, the fish only had a hold of the bait - another free lunch for the fish. Not too long after that the minnow is stolen off his jigging rod. I
While I'm baiting him up again, the set rod goes down, and, "yes bait gone again". After an hour of this back and forth action we think the perpetrator is caught. My uncle feel a tick, and sets the hook, this time the fish is hooked well and up comes a 27" burbot.


The burbot would be the last fish that afternoon. It stayed with us but the 2 pike went back.

Along with the pike I also saw, on camera, 1 good sized perch and 1 whitefish.

The angler and son duo came over to see how we did before they left.  They also had a big pike and burbot get off but iced 2 smaller pike for the day.

The coyotes were howling all afternoon, and just as we were leavening, their evening serenade started up again.


Day 3. Jan.31st.
After the fun we all had at LML, we decided to try it again.
We went back to the Regional Park area and spent from 1:00pm - 5:30pm on the ice.

It was another dandy day out there with temps at -5 deg C / 23 deg F, a mix of sun and cloud and just a lite wind from the NW.

There was only 1 other angler out.

This day was a lot slower and in total I only saw 2 whitefish on camera.

Our buddy joined us at 3:00pm and set up with us.

Later on we had a snowmobiler ride up and chat fishing for a bit. He said that he found 1 pike on the W side of the lake early in the day and now he was just seeing how everyone else was doing.
He said that everyone he chatted with had 1 or no fish at all. After a bit more chatting he continued on down the lake.

Finally, as we were packing up to leave - action. I was gathering up our set rods when I noticed that the jaw jacker was up and the rod tip was bending. I went over and felt for weight on the line, and,set the hook again. As soon as I did that the fish took off in a typical pike run. After at few more runs the fish was iced. This pike went for my home made loop-rig and big smelt.

It was 27.6"

Phewww talk about cutting it close, thought we were going to get skunked this time.
After a photo I released the fish who thanked me with ice cold water in my face.
I packed up that last rod and we were off.


Day 4. Feb.1st.
This afternoon we made our way to Fishing Lake, but this time my uncle and I tried a different spot.

We got on the ice with the vehicle as the ice was thick - about 2 ', but there were a few snow banks to watch out for.

We set up and fished from 2:45pm - 5:50pm

The weather was the coldest so far with temps in the -10 deg C / 14 deg F, stronger winds from the NE, cloudy skies that produced lite flurries the whole time out.

There was only 1 other angler out, to the N of us, watching his tip-up from a shack. I did see him run once and ice a pike.

For the most part it was slow here.  For the longest time the only thing I saw, on camera, were freshwater shrimp (scuds) and backswimmers.

While we fished we had a visitor on a snow machine. He pulls up and asks, "how's fishin'?".   "Not too good," I say.
He explains that he has recently got into the sport since he retired and is eager to learn all about it.

He shared that he and some friends had good luck with full limits of walleye recently in Manitoba's Dauphin Lake.
He said with all the fishermen out there the lake looked more like a small town.

While we were chatting, I see a pike checking out my lure. We watch on camera for a while, but the fish just looks and won't bite.  About 15 min. later my uncle alerts me that my set rod has a fish on!  Sure enough, it's bobbing and bending. We all hustle over, and, after a few pike runs, the fish is iced. It was 28".
No picture of this one, but I was glad to be able to show our visitor that there was some fish willing to give us some excitement.  We had a good visit and he was off. 

My uncle and I leave soon too, as it's starting to get colder now and dark.


Day 5. Feb.2nd (Ground Hog Day)
On the last day we made it out to Pasqua Lake in the Qu'Appelle Valley.

We have never fished Pasqua Lake before so, were unsure of the best areas to access the lake.
We decide to drive along the N side and finally found a spot at the Wabash boat launch. Wow, that's quite a steep launch. 
That may be a bit tricky later on in the season when things begin to melt.

We drive out and find that there is hardly any snow at all on the ice, with just a very thin hard crust in places. This lake has the least amount of snow of the ones we have been to so far this season.

We set up amongst the closest group of shacks, far away from the "Danger thin ice" sign that was closer to shore.

It's another dandy day, with a mix of sun and cloud, lite winds from the SE and - 4 deg C / 24.8  deg F temps.

There is one angler across the lake on the S side and one to the W of us in a shack.

Our buddy joins us 45 min into the fishing and as he is setting up I get a strike on my loop-rig and smelt. I go over and set the hook. This fish feels a bit different, and, for a while, I though I had a burbot on.  When it gets close to the hole, it puts on a burst of speed in the tell tail pike run. The fish is iced and it's a long lean darker colored pike of 29".

After a photo it went back.

Later on, while jigging, our buddy gets a hit, looses the fish only to have it come back and hit again. At first he though he had a nice big perch, judging by the bend in the rod, but, it turned out to be a hammer handle sized pike, lol. 

Those 2 would be all the action that afternoon and I didn't even see a fish on camera this time. Not sure if this was an off day for this lake or off area. We were in 21 - 22 feet. There were a good number of shacks around, so, they must find fish there some time!

And with that, it brings me to the end of a fun 5 day adventure.  I am glad to have met the new folks I did and was able to experience all the good times with my family and friend.

I have concluded that, no matter what lake, the ice fishing, in general, is slow. Oh well, it make the hot days even more meaningful, and, at least we were never skunked.
We will see what happens next time out.




The next ice fishing report is for Feb.6th where we decide to try LML's regional park again from 1:00pm - 5:30pm.

The temp is great at a balmy + 3 deg C / 37.4 deg F with a mix of sun and cloud, but, there was a very strong wind from the W ripping across the lake at 40 - 69 km/h or 25 - 43 mph.

I think that was the strongest wind I have ever ice fished in. A few times it was even hard to walk against it, and, I had to lean into the wind. I also had to secure any ice fishing items that I was not using or they would blow away, tip or spill.

Even though it was very windy there was still 2 trucks a bit N of us. The one truck left not too long after we got there, and, the other vehicle stayed out almost as long as us.

I am not sure what fish species were around as my camera was not working for some reason, and yeah it was charged.
I will have take a good look at it later on.

I did have back up with me in the form of a showdown unit. I set my uncle up with his jigging rod and a set rod and I proceeded to cover water, moving from spot to spot fishing each one for 10 - 15 min.
I did cover a fair amount of area that afternoon, but in the end only one spot produced a fish. It was the shallowest spot I tried and I was jigging when all of a sudden I felt a tap on my rod and a bit of weight out of the blue. I didn't see this fish on the sonar it must have came in fast from the side and hit.
After a brief fight I ice the only fish of the trip, this pike.


A quick photo was taken and it went back.
It had cuts on each side of it's body and looked like a bigger fish tried to make it lunch.
I guess the that's the size of bait you need for the really big ones.

Just as I was releasing the fish the other anglers drove up and asked "how's the fishing?" I said this was the only one so-far. They said that they had 2 fish on tip-ups, but lost them.
They then tried a bit S of us, but only fished there for an hour or so before leaving.

My uncle also had similar luck, the set rod he had in the stand had something hit it hard, tipping the rod holder over. He got there just in time to save the rod from going down the hole, but not to save the fish. Once it had slack in the line the hooks came out.
That must have been a bigger one, as the rod holder is quite sturdy. Oh well that's fishing for you, those big ones have a knack of getting away, that's one reason they get that big,lol.

Despite the slow day at least it was not dead, and I did fend off the skunk with the one fish.
The slow to dead days make us appreciate our good fishing days a lot more.



Hi all,
This next set of reports is for Feb. 14th & 15th.

The first day our group head for the N end of LML's regional park area.

Since it's the free fishing long weekend there are a few more trucks out on the ice - 6 counting us.

We set up away from the other groups but, still close to where we had luck before and ice fish from 1:18pm - 6:30pm.

It's another nice afternoon on the ice with a mix of sun and cloud, some wind from the W calming at times and a temp of -3 deg C / 26.6 deg F.

I started drilling the first hole of the day and found that my electric ice auger was not cutting like it usually does. Normally it just bites in and powers through the ice. I did all the checks and everything was OK until I got to the blade. I then realized that I was only using half my blade. The outer edge broke neatly off on both blades right through the outer screw hole.
I am not sure why they broke like that as I have not forced my blades at all.
Luckily our buddy had his gas auger with him that afternoon.

There were a few fish around, but I didn't see one on the camera that afternoon. The only way I knew they were there is when 2 got off the set rods.
The first one played around with the bait for a bit and then slowly pulled the rod down without getting hooked - might have been a burbot.

The 2nd one came in hard, hit the rod bent it down hard and took off on a run. My buddy ran over and set the hook, but the fish,(we think a pike) had the fluorocarbon leader in it's teeth and as it ran, cut the leader. He said it felt like a nice one.

Our last bit of action took place at 6:00pm.  I see one of the set rods bend. I jog over and set the hook. This gets an immediate reaction with a long line burning run, definately not a burbot and too many head shakes for a walleye, must be a pike. Pike it is, and after 6 more of those line stripping runs I finally maneuver it up the hole and my uncle is able to grab it. Yeah, the biggest pike so-far this season.

She was 38.1" long by 16.3" round. She had quite the belly on her.

After a quick measurement and photo she went back.  My thanks was slush and  fish slime to the face,lol.

Although she was the only fish we caught I was still happy to get that Valentines Day treat.


The 2nd day we go out to a lake we have not tried yet this winter - Good Spirit Lake.

We get to the lake, drive through the Provincial Park and set up in the SW area.
We fished from 2:15pm - 6:00pm

It's a bit cooler today with the temp at -7 deg C / 19.4 deg F. The sky is cloudy and wind it a bit sharper from the NW.  Off on on there are snow flurries.

All afternoon there were a good number of snow machines going here and there all around the lake. I could see 7 vehicles and 9 snow machines.
In our general area there were 3 other vehicles.

It was another slow day on the ice and again I saw no fish on camera.

Towards the end of the day my buddy walked over to our nearest neighbor and chatted with him for a bit. He said that the last time he was out he didn't catch at thing and today is still waiting for his first bite. My buddy asked how the fishing had been in general. He said in the open water season the pike and especially the walleye fishing has been good, even from shore.  He did say though that the burbot population seems to be on a decline and they are becoming a more rare catch each winter. He said if you get a few each winter your doing good now, before there were lots and in the early days there were piles of burbot like cord wood all around the lake.

No wonder the burbot population is down.

After my buddy walked back we saw the neighbor pull in a small pike on his set line.

10 min or so after that my uncle's set rod gets a hit and almost goes down the hole.  Thankfully my rod holder prevented it from disappearing. He runs over and all he can see is just the reel above the ice. He pulls up and I take the rod holder off. The braided line froze up on the reel so the rod had no drag and when the fish took off the rod went with it. After a brief fight he also ices a smaller pike.

This pike had it's gill torn and was swimming around with it hanging out. It was an old injury that was completely healed over.
Hard to imagine that the fish could survive having one gill cut like that.

This would be the only action of the day, but I am glad he got it to avoid our group getting skunked.

We pack up after the fish is caught and my uncle decides to keep this one for his lunch later on.

The big pike the first day hit on my home made loop-rig and large bait. The smaller pike hit a jig and minnow.

It seem that the fish are still generally in a more negative mood and not moving too much. Hopefully as we get closer to March their attitudes improve.


This next report is for Feb. 21st.
 My uncle and I try Fishing Lake again and we drive onto the ice and are fishing from 2:23pm - 6:10pm.
Our buddy joins an hour later.

The temp starts off chilly at -10 deg C / 14 deg F, with a fair wind from the SW, but half way through the afternoon it begins to warm to -5 deg C / 23 deg F and the wind calms.
The skies remain cloudy.

There are not a lot of anglers about with our 2 trucks there are 6 scattered here and there amongst the shacks and 1 angler on a snow machine.

The ice that afternoon was making a few cracking sounds from time to time, but it is still quite thick, roughly 1.5 feet near the bulrushes and under the larger snow drifts, and, 2 feet everywhere else.

My buddy and my uncle stationary fish while I walk drilling holes and fishing each spot for 10 min or so.
My buddy watches the camera and I have the sonar with me.

Over the afternoon I cover the depths from the shallow 5 foot deep bulrush bay to 10.7 feet and everywhere in-between. Out of all holes I drilled and areas I covered I did finally score one pike in the 6 foot depth + 2 feet of ice = 4 feet of water. I was jigging there for a while and was thinking of moving when my rod bent over. I didn't see that one on sonar as it came from the side not below. After a brief fight  it was iced.

The results.


We did keep this guy as a meal for my buddy later on.

My uncle and buddy didn't get so much as a nibble.  All that was seen on camera was shrimp(scuds) and lots of them.

I am not sure how the other anglers made out that day, but I did not see anyone running for tip-ups or rods, nor did I hear shouts of joy.

I am glad that I avoided the skunk once again, but hopefully the fishing picks up a bit more some time soon.




On Feb. 26th the family and I made our way to LML's Regional Park area.
We set up further S than we were on out last trip out.
Along the way to our spot I chatted with a group of anglers who reported slow fishing so far with just 2 nibbles.

We got to our spot and ice fished from 1:08pm - 5:30pm.

It was a dandy afternoon out on the ice with spring-like temps, making it feel more like early April, not late Feb.
The wind was lite from the W. It was mostly sunny and the temp was + 5 deg C / 41 deg F.

My uncle did not have any luck that afternoon, but I was able to find 2 pike.

The first pike hit at 3:30pm on my wind rod. I waked over, felt for the weight, and set the hook. At first it was just a slow steady pull at the other end that felt like a it might be a burbot, but as it got closer to the hole it took off in a pike line peeling run. It did this several more times before it reluctently came up the hole.


When I got it to the surface I saw that it must have been diving into the lake bottom to shake the hook free - it's mouth and face was covered in dark oozy mud.

This pike was 35.6" long and quite chunky around.

The 2nd strike came when I was walking and drilling, looking for active fish. This fish was seen by down viewing as it streaked in from the side and clobbered the lipless rattle bait.

It was 25" and would be the only fish I would see on camera.



On Feb. 27th we went back to LML's regional park, but this time tried a new area further N than we have ever been, passing 2 groups of anglers as we went.

Once we got to an interesting looking spot I set up and we fished from 1:18pm - 5:30pm.

This was a totally different afternoon than the day before. It was cooler at 0 deg C / 32 deg F, with cloudy skies a stiff wind from the NE, and, later on, a heavy snowfall creating whiteout conditions.
It eventually cleared enough for us to get off the ice before it got dark.

The first fish hit at 2:30pm and gave several runs before coming in.

It was 26.3"

The next 2 fish were close together coming in at 5:24pm and 5:28pm respectively.

It was 31.7" and would be the big fish of the day.

The last one was 28.9".


My uncle had no hits that day.  Not sure why as he was just a few yards from where I was fishing the whole time.

We decide it might be best to pack up after the 3rd fish is caught.

In total I see 4 pike and 1 fair sized perch who also boldly goes for the large lipless rattle bait, but, being too large, just hits it in the side and then swims away - maybe pleased with itself for scaring away the lure.

Over the 2 days travelling to and from LML we noticed that the wildlife were quite active. Both days we saw herds of whitetail and mule deer, some good sized herds, groups of 2 or 3 coyotes, horned larks every where and twice a snowy owl, not too far from the lake.
On that snowy 2nd day there were also several flocks of Canada geese flying around. They are a bit early, but hopefully that's a sign of an early spring.


The next trip was on Feb. 28th when my uncle and I made our way to Fishing Lake for part of the afternoon. We arrived at 3:20pm and ice fished until 6:00pm.

A storm was still blowing from the day before and it was colder out now at - 7 deg C / 19.4 deg F with biting wind from the NW and again it was snowing + swirling snow that raced across the ice in little snow devils. These made the fishing conditions tougher as the blowing snow was filling in our holes in a matter of minutes. It looked like I just stuck a rod and line in a snow drift. If that soft snow starts forming into tough drifts it's going to make getting around with a truck a lot more difficult.

The fish were definately around in the area we picked, and, in the end, I saw 8 pike on camera - 1 that was a lot larger than the rest. Despite the numbers they were in a neutral to negative mood and were more than willing to come up and check out what I had to offer, but that was it.

My uncle started off right away with one of them stealing the bait right off his spoon. He had that happen 2 more time, but that was as close as he got to a fish this time. I on the other hand, did better and was able to ice 3 of the 8 pike I saw. 

The first fish hit an hour into the fishing. This one came in slowly, and, I tried something different this time.  I banged the lure on the bottom. It slowly swam along the bottom and sucked it right up.

I was lucky to get this fish at all. As it surfaced the hooks flew out and I dove in up to my wrist in the ice cold water to get it.
This fish was 25.1".


Time passes, and, so do the fish going by me. At 5:30pm my 2nd fish makes it's appearance followed by a buddy.  Now I have 2 pike staring at each other and my lure. The one that got there first goes for my lure and takes the bait, but not the hook. I set the hook but it just pulls off the bait and I can see it swallow it as it swims past me and just hovers in the distance. I quickly get another minnow on the jig and in 1 twitch the pike swims slowly back and eyes the hook. I again bang it on bottom and then slowly raise it. The fish slowly follows behind, and, all of a sudden, "bang", it hit, and, is hooked this time.


The third fish is caught shortly after the 2nd. I return to find a pike eyeing my camera so I quickly drop down my lure and start to jig slowly. This gets an immediate reaction and the fish turns and hits in one shot.

We tried to take a photo of the the other 2 pike, but for some reason, my camera malfunctioned.
The other 2 were 24.6" and 25". They were all so close in size.

While we were fishing we chat with another angler who was near by, he said that he had only 1 pike so far, but saw walleye around also.
He left a bit before we did.

I decide to keep these 3 fish for a future fish fry for the family and I leave happy to have caught my limit of 3 for this lake.

In the end I had a better 3 days than I have had for a while.
Hopefully this is a sign of good ice fishing days ahead in March.

WW

[winnisquam guy]

enjoyed your report

[Cub]

Wow! Great report.. Thanks!   

[perch chacer]

We didn't get on the ice til February this year due to weather, but when we did we just hammered the perch.

[Raquettedacker]

Great looking season WW.. I might have another week of ice then I'm done..

[IceDog88]

Nice fishing adventures for sure. Way to go!