A few more firsts...

[Thriller]

I was supposed to take the family out with IS members for perch and burbot today, but the kids woke up grumpy and we decided it was a bit too much of a drive.  So, we went to http://www.fortwhyte.org/fwNews.html for a bit of fishing and sledding.

One first is the maiden voyage of the S.S. Thriller, seen loaded here:



Another first was using the Aqua-Vu Scout.  A friend sold his nearly new unit to me and today was the first time trying it out.  It was a pretty bright sunny day, so it wasn't the greatest, but my wife played with it for a bit...she saw a pike and as I was baiting up the last rod, I dropped down that hole and she went on to another for more play time.  A few minutes later, I brought up this pike -



We didn't measure, but I guess it was about 2 feet long.  It is the biggest we have caught since we began fishing in Manitoba (admittedly we haven't really targetted them) and, if I recall correctly, it is my first one through the ice (second season).

My 7 year old (middle child) was the only one who had any desire to fish today...he had a hit with the rod in the holder, but when he grabbed the rod, there was no weight and no bait 

Here's a photo of the boss with my flasher and the kids off playing...



It was around freezing today with bright sunshine - a great day to be out in the fresh air, even if there was only one fish caught.  We were there about 2.5 hours...my wife fished pretty much straight through as she has had a bit of a dry spell.

I've had worse days.

[Trophy Hunter]

Great pics bud!!Is that one of those calving sleds?? Looks like exactly what I need I'm getting sick of carryying everything when I go .

[MikePike]

looks like a fun day on the ice

[big walleye]

Nice shots thriller. Glad to see you had the family out. Nice memories. 8) 8)

[Thriller]

Yes TH...got it at Feed-Rite here yesterday...it is the bigger one they call a chore sled...a bit pricey at $90 - the smaller ones are $70...just lose a couple inches in each dimension.  I wouldn't call it exactly easy to pull with the weight that was in it, but it was much better than trying to strap things down to the top of the Clam.  There is enough room for me to stand up a Clam or two in there as well.

BW - the kids had a good day, it's just a shame Luke missed the one bite he had.  I really wanted to have a shot of one of the little ones with a fish to display.  Oh well.

Next time we will probably try for some place with a higher success rate - trout pond or perching most likely.

[Skiff]

Glad you got some fish on the ice there Thriller.  The longer trip you'd planned would have resulted in an in-car riot driving slowly through the pea soup fog we encountered.

[perchfisher89]

Hey nice pics, also just wondering what kind of sled that is and where I can pick one of these up and also how much do they retail for?  Thanks!

[tk10fire]

The day was a perfect day to have the kids out. Never got out myself, again had to spend the day at the arena. That is a beautiful sled Thriller.

[Thriller]

Hey nice pics, also just wondering what kind of sled that is and where I can pick one of these up and also how much do they retail for?  Thanks!

It is a large calving sled made for transporting newborn calves around, so they are tough.  This one is about 55" x 2' by 1'.  It cost me $90 at an agricultural supply place here in Winnipeg (Feed-Rite).  They have others that are a bit smaller for $70.

One thing I think I will do is make some sort of a cradle for the powerhead and take apart the auger.  It fits OK now, but if I need to add the extension it won't work so well.  Also, having it upright will eliminate any fuel spillage (yeah, I gotta get an O-ring for the gas cap).

[ice boy19]

nice sled

[archbishop]

nice sled why do they never look like that when you go home

[Thriller]

nice sled why do they never look like that when you go home

Actually, that was on the way home - I took the photo after packing up.

[archbishop]

man your lucky my sled is bigger and still doesnt seem to hold everything i brought out and when i do get it cramed back in its a mess

[ice fishNH]

One thing I did to my jet sled this year was installed some small "eye" bolts along the top of the sides (4 on each side - evenly spaced out) so I could stack a little higher with stuff and then use bungees to hold everything on.  It has worked great as we had alot of stuff on one of our trips out this year and nothing fell off when pulling it behind the snowmobile.  Nothing worse than having to backtrack and pick up stuff that might fall off. 

[ice fishNH]

Here's a pic of the sled with the eye bolts and how I spaced them out.  I just leave the bungees strapped on the sled all time until I need them also (so I don't lose them somewhere else.

[TroutFishingBear]

Nice pike thriller. Glad to see you got out on the ice again, and it was probably a good choice you didn't take that longer drive when they're grumpy. Wait 5 or 6 years, they will be dragging you out on the ice with them!

[Thriller]

One thing I did to my jet sled this year was installed some small "eye" bolts along the top of the sides (4 on each side - evenly spaced out) so I could stack a little higher with stuff and then use bungees to hold everything on.  It has worked great as we had alot of stuff on one of our trips out this year and nothing fell off when pulling it behind the snowmobile.  Nothing worse than having to backtrack and pick up stuff that might fall off. 

Looks good.  I want to do something similar...the photos were taken the day after I got the sled.  I'll probably make the necessary mods after the general ice season is done at the end of March.

[bonkfan14]

which one is the fish?

[Thriller]

which one is the fish?

The skinny one.