I was able to get back out to Hard Luck on yesterday for late season ice. The ice is solid and clear and over 25 inches in the locations I fished. I went with a long time friend I used to fish the lake with me about 10 years ago (he had never caught a fish from the lake). I thought conditions were going to be right for weather and pressure (barometric not angler) and was correct. Only ones on the lake...we fished areas of 115 feet for about 2 hours with very little action. We moved to a deeper area of about 145 and began marking fish after about 30 minutes. The day got epic. My buddy was able to not only finally catch a fish from the lake, he caught and released 3. The last of which was a huge arctic char I taped at 32 inches. I too was able to catch and release 3 of my own. Thats not counting all the bites we missed between us, which was 11. It turned out to be the best day ever fishing for me ever on the lake. All the fish were out of the water a short time before returning them for a strong release. What a banner day! and we had the lake to ourselves until about 330pm when we saw another person arriving.
Today I did not go out but a couple buddies went out and gave me this report:
lake conditions same, fishing time same, locations same, lures same....and 2 doughnuts...Hard Luck they had (Hero to Zero syndrome). This lake deflates the best of them, including me most days.
This lake is deep and tough with the fish in an ever changing pattern. Guess I made the right choice, so glad my buddy caught his first and personal best fish on the lake yesterday! From my friends personnal experience he said the lake has only got better from 10 years ago, same for me...what a great day!
Here are a few of the pictures:
