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My ice fishing reports for 2020 / 2021

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Water Wolf:
Hi Guys,
Winter is here, and, with that, a new socially distancing ice fishing season begins.
:icefish:

Here are my ice fishing reports for the month of December 2020.


Dec. 7th.
This was my first ice fishing attempt this winter.
I started out for a species I don't often fish for, trout.

I went to a privately stocked trout pond and ice fished from 2:15 pm - 5:00 pm.

Since the pond is aerated, I made sure to stay close to shore as the ice was only 8" thick.
Not wanting to test my luck with any thinner ice, I set up there.
I was in 7  feet of water over a thick coontail weed bed.

It was a nice afternoon with the temps at + 1 deg C / 34 deg F, a lite breeze from the W, to slightly stronger winds by the time I left, with mainly cloudy skies.

The trout let me know right away that they were around.
My first drop down with the camera, a rainbow charged in and banged it's nose off the lens. Humm, more aggressive than I would have though. :o 
The trout then swam over to the set rod and gave the bait a few lite taps, but, that was it.
When I went to set the hook it was already gone.

An hour into the trip and I hook into my first trout, and fish, of this new ice fishing season. ;D
I watched as the rainbow came up from the bottom left of the screen close to the camera, hitting my lure as I move it up and away.
After a few runs, the trout was iced. :)


While waiting for the next bite, I soak in the quite peacefulness around me.
For most of the time there is nothing but silence. The only sounds I hear are that from nature, be it a raven croaking as it flies by or a few magpies calling from the trees beside me.

I also noticed that there were quite a few deer and even a few moose tracks on the ice.

While fishing, I heard something walking in the bush beside me. I kept alert, but, whatever it was it didn't show itself while I was there.

An hour and half before I quit, another trout came in and give the lure a bit of a nip. It then circled back and come straight up at the lure. I again slowly raise and jiggle the lure and it lightly grabs it.
The strike was not hard but it's enough get hooked and the fight was on again.
This one was a bit larger and gave a better tussle before coming in. @)


In the end I see 4 rainbow trout on camera and ice 2 of them.

The 2 trout were kept for a future meal.


After filleting, I saw that both rainbows had their stomachs stretched as tight as they could be.
Both fish were stuffed full of sticklebacks, small fathead minnows and shrimp. 1 trout even had a live water beetle in it's stomach.
The fish were not hungry at all, but, still had to go for that one last mouthful and I am glad they did. :laugh:

Both rainbows were caught on small Rapala Rippin' Raps, in a UV finish.

In the end I was happy with my start to the new ice fishing season. :woot:



Dec. 9th.
This would be my next trip out.  My destination - Fishing Lake.

It was another nice afternoon with mainly cloudy skies, but, the sun did peak out by the end of the day.
The temp was good at + 1 deg C / 34 deg F and there was some wind from the W.

I got to the lake and found that the spot I picked had blown in with deeper snow near the shore.
No matter, I was walking out anyway and tested the ice as I went.
Right at shore it looked like waves had frozen, and, it was quite uneven.
Further out, the ice looked like it had broken into chunks and refroze sometime earlier during freeze up.
I made sure to test often, and found a consistent 12" of ice. Good deal.

I ice fished from 12:30 pm - 5:00 pm and in that time made several moves in the 5 - 7 foot depth range.

There were a few other anglers out too.
One person was in a pop up shelter a fair ways N of me and 2 other walked out for a while near sunset.
I didn't see anyone ice a fish or get a bite. :blink:

Halfway through the trip I has 2 pike show up on camera at the same time.
One of the 2 fish came over grabbed my camera and gave it a shake while the other pike watched from the background. It seemed that both fish were a bit on edge with each other. They both eyed each other and circled the lures cautiously for 20 min, before 1 of them finally hit the smelt and loop rig I offered them. When I saw the pike grab the smelt, I just opened my bail and let the fish swim off with the bait. When the fish stopped moving away, I set the hook, and the fight was on, spooking the other pike in the process.
This pike gave a decent fight before it was iced. :)

I kept it for the next day's meal.

The ice fishing season is generally the time I do keep a few fish to eat.
That's when I feel they are the best table fair.

I did get another hit, and brought the pike right up the hole, only to have it come off just as I reached down to pull it out, sheesh. :blink:

Right at the end of the day I had 1 more pike and 1 walleye came in to see what I was offering, but, after a quick check, neither one saw anything that they wanted, and, moved on.

Before I left, I had to get a photo of the colorful sunset that evening.
I call it "Fire & Ice".


All in all, I am happy to have had the good weather I did, and not to be skunked in the process.

On the way home from the lake I stopped in at the town of Elfros SK. to see one of the homes there that has really put on good light shows during the holiday seasons for the last few year. This year was no exception. The house, yard and surrounding area was lite up in many fancy lights, blow up figurines and other whimsical decorations. If you tune in your radio to a certain channel you can hear Christmas music while all the light in one area of the yard move in time with the music. It's really quite something to see, and I was quite impressed. :) It is well worth the look if you are in the area. They are up a while after Christmas as well.

In the end that would be my 2 trips for the month.
I am looking forward to fishing in the new year.

I would also like to wish everyone a safe and happy new year!
Good Fishing All! :tipup:


P.S. Couple of other pictures to share.
On Dec. 18th this male snowy owl was sighted not too far from home.


It's the earliest I have seen them in this area.


WW

Raquettedacker:
Nice report and pictures WW..

sebago2jigtima:
great report and pics !
 :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Water Wolf:
Thanks Raquettedacker & sebago2jigtima.  :)

WW

Missileman:
Enjoyable read. Hope you keep it up

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