This morning my daughter Shaelynn and I took her friend Morgan with us for Morgan's first ice fishing experience.
We arrived at the lake at daybreak. I couldn't drive out onto the ice as there were some logs that had washed up onto the shore where we normally drive onto the south side of the lake.
Our local trout lake has a long peninsula dividing it in half. The north side has the main boat launch that is used for vehicle access during winter.
I really didn't feel like driving all the way around the lake so we loaded our gear into the Otter sled and walked out about 300 yards and drilled our holes and set up for some rainbows.
As luck would have it Morgan caught the first fish. Well, actually she lost the first one. The fish dropped off her hook just as she got it to the surface.
No problem. I re-baited her hook and she'd no sooner got it back down than she was pulling up a nice 1 1/2 lb. trout. This one made it up onto the surface.
She shouted "now what do I do?"
Shaelynn ran over and helped her get the hook out and set her up for the next one.
Morgan concentrating on catching a big one.
Pretty soon Shaelynn had her first of the day.
Shaelynn with a particularly lively fish.
Morgan's two rainbows.
I was kept busy untangling lines and baiting jigs with maggots so I didn't get a lot of time to fish at first.
I pulled up a couple of small trout that I let go back to grow a little more and was starting to get a bit worried about the girls out-fishing me! :lookaround:
After an hour or so the girls started getting a bit cold so they decided to walk back to the truck and warm up. By this time Shaelynn had three and Morgan had two.
Now I could concentrate on getting some myself. The girls were no more than half way back to the truck when I started catching trout. Soon I had five (the daily limit) on the ice so I had to quit fishing and wait for the girls to get back.
The fish averaged 1 1/2 to 2 pounds. Great for pan frying.
Our closest neighbours. About a quarter mile away
Some of the gear.
The girls came back and fished for about a half hour but by then it was getting close to 11:00 and the fish had quit biting so we decided to call it a day.
I packed up most of the gear while the girls fished a little longer. Shaelynn was pulling up her line when a trout took her lure just a few feet from the surface, taking her by surprise. She landed it like a pro so we ended up with eleven total for the day.
Shaelynn trying for another one.
The girls ready to call it a day.
A few folks fishing the north side of the peninsula.
We got back home around noon and I got stuck (as usual) with the cleaning duties.
Morgan took home four of the fish and I bagged up four for the freezer and kept three in the fridge for supper tomorrow as we had some more leftover Christmas turkey to get rid of tonight.
All three of us had a great time and Morgan was very proud to be taking home some trout to feed her family.
We arrived at the lake at daybreak. I couldn't drive out onto the ice as there were some logs that had washed up onto the shore where we normally drive onto the south side of the lake.
Our local trout lake has a long peninsula dividing it in half. The north side has the main boat launch that is used for vehicle access during winter.
I really didn't feel like driving all the way around the lake so we loaded our gear into the Otter sled and walked out about 300 yards and drilled our holes and set up for some rainbows.
As luck would have it Morgan caught the first fish. Well, actually she lost the first one. The fish dropped off her hook just as she got it to the surface.
No problem. I re-baited her hook and she'd no sooner got it back down than she was pulling up a nice 1 1/2 lb. trout. This one made it up onto the surface.
She shouted "now what do I do?"
Shaelynn ran over and helped her get the hook out and set her up for the next one.
Morgan concentrating on catching a big one.
Pretty soon Shaelynn had her first of the day.
Shaelynn with a particularly lively fish.
Morgan's two rainbows.
I was kept busy untangling lines and baiting jigs with maggots so I didn't get a lot of time to fish at first.
I pulled up a couple of small trout that I let go back to grow a little more and was starting to get a bit worried about the girls out-fishing me! :lookaround:
After an hour or so the girls started getting a bit cold so they decided to walk back to the truck and warm up. By this time Shaelynn had three and Morgan had two.
Now I could concentrate on getting some myself. The girls were no more than half way back to the truck when I started catching trout. Soon I had five (the daily limit) on the ice so I had to quit fishing and wait for the girls to get back.
The fish averaged 1 1/2 to 2 pounds. Great for pan frying.
Our closest neighbours. About a quarter mile away
Some of the gear.
The girls came back and fished for about a half hour but by then it was getting close to 11:00 and the fish had quit biting so we decided to call it a day.
I packed up most of the gear while the girls fished a little longer. Shaelynn was pulling up her line when a trout took her lure just a few feet from the surface, taking her by surprise. She landed it like a pro so we ended up with eleven total for the day.
Shaelynn trying for another one.
The girls ready to call it a day.
A few folks fishing the north side of the peninsula.
We got back home around noon and I got stuck (as usual) with the cleaning duties.
Morgan took home four of the fish and I bagged up four for the freezer and kept three in the fridge for supper tomorrow as we had some more leftover Christmas turkey to get rid of tonight.
All three of us had a great time and Morgan was very proud to be taking home some trout to feed her family.
