Canadien Shield 'Eyes

Today found me on a lake just miles from the Canadian Border.  Three inches of fresh snow fell overnight and snow continued thru the day at a rate prohibiting views across the lake.  Winds were blowing 25-35mph and the ravens loved every bit of it--riding the winds like stuntmen, swooping thru openings in the forest, and providing all the arial acrobatics one would expect from a flight show (with the addition of joyful raven vocabulary).  The morning temperature was 20 degrees F. and falling rapidly throughout the day.  By the time I was drilling holes in the ice it was hovering just above 5 degrees F with a biting windchill well below zero... a windchill advisory was issued by the National Weather Service for expected windchills -25 and -40 degrees F.

Once arriving at the fishing hole in near white-out conditions the tasks became:  drill shallow hole and set the tip-up, drill holes out from that to find the drop-off, locate magic depth, and erect the portable ice house.  The latter became the most challenging as once erected the ice house became one big sail and the +30mph winds tried their hardest to turn it into a north country tumble weed.  But, with some jockeying, everything finally got set up with nothing (or no one) blowing away.  

Near white-out conditions during set-up that continued to degrade into night.

The deadstick rod...

Old Man on the jigging spoon... 

They're not biting yet...

The first of a whole bunch of 1-2 pound walleyes.

The action hit fast and gave no warning.  The swedish pimple sporting a freshly decapitated minnow head got the first hit.  Swing and a miss.  A slight raise and a few more jiggles and wham-o... the first fish on the ice.  From that point on we couldn't bait fast enough!  The deadstick rod would get hit as soon as it was dropped down and the bobber met its stop.  Next to that, the jigging spoon was good for a few jigs before either getting hit or getting a fish.  The wind pounding the portable shelter was soon forgotten.  Cold hands, feet, and faces didn't exist anymore.  The sound of gale force winds scouring the pines on shore weren't heard.  For the next half an hour it was nothing but a pure walleye orgy.  And then as soon as it started the fish moved on and the action was over.

A few walleyes kept for dinner.  

  

  

2013 Winter Trout Season Starts

The opener started off this morning with a temperature of -11 degrees F.  Brrrrrr..... this meant lots of coffee, a late start, and lots of ice on the fishing guides.

For whatever reason, I decided to start the season by visiting the metaphorical headwaters of my fly-fishing youth.  A river I first learned to cast on as a teenager; and, a river I first started to experience significant catches of trout on (all during the winter season).  But, the river has changed since. The old haunts are filled in with silt from agricultural run-off and soft watershed management.  No longer can you look in familiar pools and see the dark shapes of trout finning and nymphing along the bottom.  Instead, these places look like deserts--ripples of clean sand with a foot or two of water running over it.  The hoards of cars at the access points no longer exist (only one on the opener today and they didn't last long).  In addition, the river experienced a 500 year flood (or something akin) in 2007 which blew out year classes and changed the river significantly--filling in most of the old reliable spots but ever so slowly starting to carve new runs and pools.   

Nonetheless, there are still fish in it.  I've caught them.  And, today had me going to a couple of new spots where I know they reside...  only to find, upon arrival, roughly 30 mallards swimming on them!  As you can imagine, when I approached the pool they burst off the water in a panicked state of splashing, beating wings, and alarm-full quacking.  It was as if a new riffle had formed in the middle of the once tranquil pool!  I can't imagine where that sent the trout (next county?!).  The pool was pretty much toast before I even got started. 

With the cold temps and lack of precipitation lately, I was surprised to see the river running cloudy with lots of weeds, sticks, and organic debris in the water column.  Nearly every drift became fouled and the fly had to be cleaned of debris.  No bugs were observed along the stream which was another surprise.  No rises were observed.  Usually, there are midges coming off and they can be seen slowly crawling along the snow near the stream bank.  Today, nothing.  But, the casting was as good as ever and nostalgia is out of my system.  So, the next outing will find me on a stream which is healthier and with more fish.    

A once deep bend pool where I caught my PB brown trout as a youth.  Now you can wade across it in hip waders.