"I haven't ice fished as little as I have so far this year … since I took up this crazy winter sport when I was still in high school". Knowing my love and addiction to walking on hard water and searching for those finned critters, people are always calling or emailing me and asking how my season is going, what I'm catching, what's working and so on.
That opening line has, unfortunately, become my mantra so far this season and in a strange kind of way the fact that I haven't ice fished more than a dozen times so far this winter has allowed me to live vicariously through others who have for a change. Luckily, my state of in-activity will soon be reversed as I prepare for the ice fishing trip of a lifetime. But first … here's a brief re-cap of my winter so far:
While I was in Alabama for the BASS Federation Nation Championships (see related Fish On Line Canada article here), during the third week in January, the ice formed rapidly on Lake Simcoe. Before that, a great many anglers and local businesses around the lake were wondering if the ice would form at all - but when it finally came, it came fast. So, my first trip to Simcoe was soon after I returned from the south. The result was on par for the vast majority of Simcoe's winter perch anglers - lots of small perch but not very many keepers and virtually no trophy 12 plus inchers to release.
More time away from the lake occurred in early February when I worked the Harrisburg Outdoor Show in Pennsylvania; on loan to the Tourism Ministry promoting fishing opportunities in Ontario. As soon as I returned though, my brother and I walked a couple of miles out to the whitefish and laker grounds but it was one of those "oh you should have been here yesterday when there were all kinds caught" type of days. The walk back to shore was memorable enough though - only in that it took place during a raging wind and snow storm with almost zero visibility at times. With much deeper snow and the wind now head on, it took literally twice as long as the walk out. Thanks to the Lowrance I Finder hand held GPS though; getting lost was never a concern.
Having to work the Spring Fishing Show as usual this year was a rather nice treat for a change because this time I was at least there because of ice fishing. Representing HT Enterprises, one of my long-time ice fishing sponsors, we shared the booth with the Real Fishing Show staff and the rep from SnoBear. www.snow-bear.com If you are an avid ice angler and saw this Cadillac on skis then I'm sure you were one of the hundreds who dropped by and drooled all over our nice carpet. Thanks for that by the way … Bob had one heck of a slimy mess to clean up afterwards!
SnoBear can travel across the lake at 24mph and drives as simply as a car complete with automatic transmission, power steering and disc brakes. When you reach your fishing spot, the flip of a switch lowers the unit 14 inches down to the ice. The RV type furnace and insulated cabin provide all the comforts of home while you fish and when you're ready to sleep just drop the bunks down and spend the night.
After working the Spring Fishing Show, I did get a bit of spare time to pre fish a little for the Canadian Ice Fishing Championships (CIFC). While fishing perch I sure was able to get into them even though they were very finicky and not of any great size. The HT chartreuse marmooska with a couple of fresh pink maggots were definitely the top choice that day.
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| Wil pulls a nice eating size perch from a Simcoe hole - not the huge jumbo's he craves … but these will have to do until that famed last ice period when those real big perch begin to show up |
Another pre fishing trip for lake trout and whitefish with Normark's Tom and Dave was definitely more productive then the first one of the year for big fish but wouldn't ya know it, I forgot the camera. Most importantly, those lake trout and whitefish gave us confidence as we headed into competition at the CIFC.
The tournament started off on day one with the ~65 odd teams all fishing to the east of Jackson's Point on Lake Simcoe in a sanctioned off area for perch. Greg Klatt and I set up on a nice little break from 32 to about 28 feet of water and shortly after the horn blew at 8am we were into fish. The only problem was that this year the tournament organizers would be weighing the heaviest 15 perch per two person team instead of a strictly point system per perch and allowing each individual to weigh in his or her legal limit of up to 50. So, we had our 15 fish limit by 8:15 and although we caught bigger ones throughout the day our total was just under 5 pounds for 15. Still, others had the same dilemma and by the end of day one we were in a comfortable 11th spot overall.
The next day Greg and I found what we thought was a good spot in about 70 feet of water. I noticed several good colored bars on the Lowrance Ice Machine and it seemed we were in the right area when a couple of competitors nearby caught the odd fish. Working a variety of baits until about noon, the big decision was whether to move or not. So many times in these CIFC's over the years, when you are limited to where you can walk within the boundaries, this decision becomes a real dilemma. Almost always we end up moving, searching for lakers or whities. This time though, despite the strong urge to move - we stayed put. Another whitie caught nearby re-enforced that decision for us. But, before we knew it the horn blew - it was time to real in and we had to face the realization that we made the wrong decision to stay put.
Well, making the right decisions at the right times is almost always what separates the winners from the losers in competitive fishing events - and unlike the last tournament Greg and I fished together (2006 Canadian Ice Trap see article here) this time we were the losers! Unfortunately, this year's Canadian Trap Attack was cancelled.) Greg and I paid for not catching one of only 27 fish caught on day two and fell 11 spots down to 22nd overall. The team of Andrew Graham and Chris Little however did make all the right choices and ended up winning the 2007 CIFC and earning $6,700.
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Winners Andrew Graham and Chris Little |
Top 10 at 2007 CIFC
1st PLACE
Andrew Graham and Chris Little
Team #57 Whiskyfish
(747) Points
Received $6,700
2nd PLACE
Justin Kouba and Richard Harris
Team # 56 Team RJ
(744) Points
Received $3,350
3rd PLACE
Jeff Bell and Mike Joyce
Team #62 Simcoe Ice
(730) Points
Received $2,345
4th PLACE
John Delicata and Vlado Crljen
Team #32 Love to Fish Simcoe
(582)Points
Received $1,340
5th PLACE
Aubrey Gould and John Best
Team #19 Team A.J.
(551) Points
Received $670
6th PLACE
Bruce Fowlds and Fiore Fattore
Team #12 Ice Predators
(429Points
Received $603
7th PLACE
Len Burden and Gilles Vienneau
Team #42 All "B" Fishing
(420) Points
Received $536
8th PLACE
Minh Hguyen and Peter Hoang
Team # 1 First Light Ice Team
(410) Points
Received $469
9th PLACE
David Hamilton and Mike Levesque
Team #46 Kelson #1
(407) Points
Received $402
10th PLACE
Michael MacNab and Stephan McCullough
Team #22 McCullough/MacNab
(396) Points
Received $335
Meanwhile, while Greg and I were struggling on day two of the CIFC in the lake trout and whitefish area some fellow members of the Aurora Bassmasters (pictured below) got together somewhere else on the lake and did really well for these big fish.
Another trip saw me visit one of my favorite perch areas of the lake that typically doesn't produce well until much later in the ice fishing season. Although slushy, cold and extremely windy conditions made fishing uncomfortable, the action was surprisingly good and I finally managed to get into some decent sized Simcoe jumbo's. Productive baits included the HT chartreuse and orange marmooska with pink maggots and the HT Nugget jig with the Berkley Micro Power Craw.
The 2nd Half of the 2007 Winter
Although the first half of this winter has not been my most memorable to date, I do have a feeling that the last bit of the season will more than make up for it. We will begin by likely spending more time on the ice after work - thanks to the geniuses who thought of changing our clocks to day light saving time a full three weeks earlier then normal. I'm sure whoever thought of that was an avid ice angler who just wanted to have extra daylight after work to ice fish more!
Ice Huts on Lake Simcoe will come off March 15th - the same date that lake trout, whitefish and walleye season closes there. Although I will miss the chance at chasing these bigger fish, it really is the start of the true winter trophy season for Simcoe's renowned 1-2 ½ pound yellow perch and I look forward to nailing some of these hawgs during the dieing days of the 2007 winter.
The Ice Fishing Trip of a Lifetime?
However … what I am really looking forward to even more than last ice period is a big ice fishing trip I will be making during the third week of March. Together with Tom Gruenwald and Eric Poster from HT Enterprises, I will be hooking up with Big Jim McLaughlin, Bob and Wayne Izumi, Gord Pyzer and Jimmy Lindner (formerly from In Fisherman) for some great hard water action in northwestern Ontario and Minnesota. We will be meeting up in Kenora for a week of traveling on Lake of the Woods in the SnoBears mentioned earlier and fishing long and hard each day for everything from whities to monster northerns. I can hardly wait!
Of course … stay tuned Fish On Line Canada readers for a complete article on that ice fishing adventure when I return. Until then, tight lines, stay safe and hope to see you on the ice before the end of the season.
Wil Wegman
