Moosehead Lake Trip North

[EmeraldShiner]

Rented a camp on Moose River in Rockwood, two day snowmobile rental was canceled by owner 1 1/2 weeks prior to our trip due to unsafe ice conditions.  Thanks to reliable Intel provided by a member on this site managed to fish two full days Tuesday 3/12 and Wednesday 3/13 by walking onto Moosehead at a location south of Rockwood.  Me and and a life long friend pulled two small jet sleds by hand with all of our gear to get out there.  Day one was Temps in low 30's with steady 15-20 mph winds gusting up to 40mph.  We elected to fish close to shore that day as we had somewhat of a wind break from lay of the land near shore.  New Eskimo 350XD pop up tent with small buddy heater saved the day in keeping us warm and out of the wind.  Set traps tight to shore with crawlers for brookies right under the ice and other traps 6' down with smelt in only 10'-12' of water.  8 hours day one and not one single flag.  We elected to leave the pop up on the ice overnight.  I pulled up a free trial navionics app before we left to go on this trip so on day two Wednesday 3/13 we walked way farther from the pop up out into 60'-80' of water, weather was fantastic on 2nd day with clear blue skies, bright sun, 45 degrees and winds under 5mph!  The new strikemaster lite 10" auger bit with clam plate and Dewalt DCD 999 drill worked flawlessly, no issues and ripped through the existing 12" of ice very fast.  Within 10 minutes of setting the first trap for Togue on day two we had our first Togue of the day on the ice, fish was 17 1/2".  That set the tone for the rest of the day chasing flags at the rate of one every 30 minutes.  Steady action all day was a blast, ended up with 7 Togue between the two of us ranging in size from 17 1/2" - 20".  Let me tell you this, for two old guys at 68 years old those two days of walk in fishing kicked our arses.  Day two was 4 mile round trip walk pulling two jet sleds, probably will never do that again without wheeler or snowmobile carting our arses out there!  Will never forget this trip with my closest and best friend, he is active duty Army Veteran, I am active duty Air Force Veteran.  We have stayed in good physical shape all these years and implicitly trust each others judgment on unsafe ice conditions.   We made it out and back home with Togue to cook on the Smoker!  Life is good.  As soon as I can figure out how to upload pics

[Jim_C.]

Great report!  A strong finish to the 2 days.  Look forward to the pics.

[nbourque]

Good report, Mark. Too bad you didn’t catch any brookies but sounds like the togue kept you busy. Def been a crazy winter.

[eiderz]

Glad it worked out for you guys Mark. If you want to post photos, the easiest way might be off your phone. Log into IceShanty, click on your post to modify (or add your photos in a followup reply). The little blue button below the text box allows you to attach photos directly from your phone photo gallery.

I'm going this weekend for a few days. Hoping the ice holds well enough so I can walk on in front of the house. If nothing else, I have a brush pile on the ice from a December storm downed tree, I'd like to have an end of season bonfire. If I can't get rid of it, the shoreline is going to be a mess with floating brush come May.

[MarkNFish]

Nice.  You made the best of the situation!

I really like togue in that size range for eating. 

[Jack978]

From what I can see you caught the last good opportunity to get out and get it done.  The soft water season is almost upon us, so we have that to look forward to. Having a trusted buddy doesn't hurt and pulling your stuff isn't as bad as it sounds.  After the last several seasons my decision to stick to foot travel doesn't seem as stupid as some people though.

[Bosshog]

Sounds like you two made it into the trip of a lifetime! Glad you didn't call it quits, and thank you both for your story and service!

[EmeraldShiner]

Glad it worked out for you guys Mark. If you want to post photos, the easiest way might be off your phone. Log into IceShanty, click on your post to modify (or add your photos in a followup reply). The little blue button below the text box allows you to attach photos directly from your phone photo gallery.

I'm going this weekend for a few days. Hoping the ice holds well enough so I can walk on in front of the house. If nothing else, I have a brush pile on the ice from a December storm downed tree, I'd like to have an end of season bonfire. If I can't get rid of it, the shoreline is going to be a messwith floating brush come May

Thank you Eiderz you made this whole trip possible with your advice regarding walk on access!

[EmeraldShiner]

From what I can see you caught the last good opportunity to get out and get it done.  The soft water season is almost upon us, so we have that to look forward to. Having a trusted buddy doesn't hurt and pulling your stuff isn't as bad as it sounds.  After the last several seasons my decision to stick to foot travel doesn't seem as stupid as some people though.

Wow, your not kidding, would not want to be standing on last ice of the season even 1 week later!

[Moosekill]

Probably you knew this, and it matters very little to me, but only 1 togue 18" or longer per person is allowed on Moosehead.  Not saying you did anything wrong, just making sure you didn't get in trouble.

[EmeraldShiner]

Probably you knew this, and it matters very little to me, but only 1 togue 18" or longer per person is allowed on Moosehead.  Not saying you did anything wrong, just making sure you didn't get in trouble.

Of course I know it, 5 fish 17"-17 3/4" and 2 fish over 18", one at 18 1/2" and one at 19". We each caught one fish a piece over 18". 

[EmeraldShiner]

Good report, Mark. Too bad you didn’t catch any brookies but sounds like the togue kept you busy. Def been a crazy winter.

You know we were looking for that big brook trout money fish, just wasn't in the hand of cards we were dealt.

Good to hear from you nbourqe!

[Fish Wayniac]

Sounds like a good Moosehead trip other than the first day. It was good that you went when you did. It was a short season . Thank you for your service and I know what you mean by being on foot lugging gear. I’m 58 and prefer my ATV or Skidoo if conditions are safe . I have been to Moosehead 4 times and have caught Togue, Salmon and Cusk. The Native Brook trout I have not been able to find. Maybe next year I can get my 5 buddies up there for a 3 day weekend . 🥶