Hit the Mile early on Thursday. Had to break trail from Hwy 24 to the North Shore in 8-10 inches of the white stuff. I decided to abandon my plan to fish the south shore when I saw the roads and the 20-30mph wind (did I mention it was blizzard conditions)? Decided to fish since I was there anyway and wait for the roads to be plowed.
Set up in 9 FOW and hung a sucker 2' below the lid on one rod with a trout rig on the other rod. A big trout hit my sucker while I was messing witht he other rod so I missed it. About ten minutes later another nice trout came by and took my sucker - a 20" bow. Those were about the biggest bows of the day and saw a ton of slimers which I didn't bother with (I had big baits on and they weren't interested).
About 2:30 the pike came through and I saw six before I left at 5:30. Three of the bigger ones took my sucker but spat it immediately.
I usually let them take the sucker for a minute or so before setting the hook - and this has gotten me quite a few beautiful pike in the past. On the drive home I agonized over the rejected love.
All that I can conclude is that my treble hooks were too large and that they 'felt' the hook. I used size 8's (may have been 6's) when I usually use a size 10 in the front and a size 12 as a stinger. I'm going back to the smaller trebles next time.
Anyway, I had the lake to myself until the afternoon when a mom, dad and daughter showed up. Sure was getting cold when I left. I heard it was -30 up there this morning. Oh, 8-10" of snow on the lake and the ice was a good 14".
Merry Christmas to everyone!
