1st Report of the Season

[wood99]

Fished the East side of Lake Winnipeg Sat and Sun.  Heard all kinds of reports over the week so figured we would go check it out for ourselves.  Myself, specialized and jclutch08 hit the ice for 8am.  Walked out and found 11 - 15 inches everywhere we drilled.  Fished 8 - 230 both days, Sat landed 9, bigest 21 and Sun only managed 3 biggest being 27.  Both days we had tonnes of lookers pretty consistently throughout but for the most part not that many takers.  Sat all fish were caught on the jig and salty, but today all 3 on the LT's.  Threw all kinds of baits and sizes at them but not many commitments.  One group about 50yds from our last location did much better with 11 landed. Not as many people out as I thought.  Did see a truck parked out on the ice when we left......Still a little early for that I'd say!

[KFD-18]

 Thanks for the report man. 12 eyes aint to bad at all.

[firefighter]

Good report. how was the water clairity?

FF

[wood99]

The clarity was really good!  last year I remember the water being quite stained almost tea colored at this time.  Its nothing like that now.  May have the makings of great start to the season if the fish get more aggressive than they were this weekend!

[blue igloo]

Great report....how was the ice surface there......smooth or jagged?
Blue Igloo

[big-brother]

Great report....how was the ice surface there......smooth or jagged?
Blue Igloo

first 1/2km is the above pic with about 14" of ice

2nd half km is flat and 10"

2nd km is rough and 6" of ice Copied this from another site Ron       West Side

[wood99]

The ice surface was pretty smooth.  On the East side.  With no snow the pull sled just glided along effortlessly.  I could see some jagged ice and a ridge forming further out.  Where we were it was so smooth you almost needed picks to stand up, would have came in handy thats for sure. 

[Red Eskimo]

Blue Lund and I were out yesterday on the east side of lake Winnipeg very  jagged ice until about 50 yards out smooth as a baby's bottom.  When we drilled ice was about a foot thick.  Walking there and back was treacherous definitely would be nice to have ice picks.  We had the yak trax on our boots didn't make much of a difference.    Was a tad windy set up our new fatfish 4 and had some issues with the south wind blowing in the wall couldn't seem  to get it to pop out. Anyone have some tips on the Fatfish 4 tent?  Little buddy  Heater wasn't seeming to keep up only went  to about 0 in side.  Great day though 2 eyes and 5 burbot can't wait till the next trip.   

[blue igloo]

When I used my Eastman 4-man cube in high winds, I use to face one corner into the wind and that kept the side from buckling in.....hope this helps. Also, might be time to upgrade to a BIG buddy or something with more BTUs especially if you're having trouble in this balmy -11*C weather......just a suggestion 
Blue Igloo 

[HighlandGlen Guide]

you can also screw in an anchor on the outside of shack and tie off the wall on the side of the wind to keep it from getting blown in

[BlueLund]

We did anchor each corner & outside with a teether string/rope    
 I think it's KEY to have the center of the "X" wall into the wind, where as we had the door into the wind, and it doesn't have any support behind it which bellowed and flexed the bars on each side.   Bars are super flexible though so....n/p,  BUT......

   Next time we fine tune                  hahahah   now what if the tents set up and the wind changes.....hahahahah

[burbotman]

That fine tuning will pay off all winter. Windy days are especially important; always screw in an anchor to keep the tent there as
you put it up. Door into the wind not so good, plan for the wind to increase. I use a handful of cord bungees (various lengths) and
use the loops at the hub centres (I'll even tie them to the auger). The Mr. Heater Cooker is a good pick for Xmas 2011.

[quickstrike]

We did anchor each corner & outside with a teether string/rope    
 I think it's KEY to have the center of the "X" wall into the wind, where as we had the door into the wind, and it doesn't have any support behind it which bellowed and flexed the bars on each side.   Bars are super flexible though so....n/p,  BUT......

   Next time we fine tune                  hahahah   now what if the tents set up and the wind changes.....hahahahah

That's simple - just park a truck in front of it to block the wind

[lostman]

tie a string to the loop on the outside of the wall and anchor that in a couple feet from your tent