ONE CAST .... ONE FISH !: Canada Ice Fishing ...

I have just returned from southern Ontario with little to brag about but a fine trip none the less. Accommodations were ready made at a good friends home and the 7 1/2 hour drive was uneventful but relaxing. Also, Rick had forewarned me that the fish have not been in a good mood for most of the winter. I was not going to cancel my visit based on that little tidbit of information. Since I already had the required Ontario Outdoors Card my first stop was to purchase a Non-Resident Fishing License.

There are a few options to consider when making your purchase. Here is a link for more information about the: Ontario Outdoors Card and Non-Resident Fishing License

Most of he larger lakes did not provide safe ice. Our initial plan was to fish Loughborough Lake for Lake Trout but without safe conditions we opted for some of the smaller lakes in the area. Our biggest obstacle turned out to be the weather.

Upon arrival at his house we hurriedly unpacked my crap and jumped in his truck and headed to Spring lake for the not to be missed "afternoon bite".

We also wanted to get on the ice before the predicted rains came in overnight. Well as we all know the famous "afternoon bite" sometimes never happens as was the case this time around.

At days end we counted just a few small Perch. That night the heavy rain came in along with temps in the 40's. The downpours stopped around 7 am and we decided to get out there again.

Now we would visit Grady Lake. We were please to find a steady but somewhat slow bite. The ice was 12" thick but had 2 inches of fresh rain water on top.

That made the walking conditions a bit treacherous for us. We ended up catching Largemouth Bass, Crappies and Perch. All were released for future anglers.

Rick is some kind of gourmet cook and that evening he put together a darn good meal. Starting with "Crappie Cakes" (Think like crab cakes), peas and carrots on the side and then surprised me with Fiddlehead Ferns ! (Those strange looking things in the picture) Never heard of them but when I googled the name I was pleased to find that they are very healthy for you.

Our evening entertainment was relaxing with a brew and watching the Fishing Channel on TV while talking about Whoppers!.

The next day brought colder temperatures. We made a 45 minute drive to Cronk Lake.

We heard from a friend that had a friend that said he had some luck there recently. Well we drilled a dozen holes in various depths but had only one 14 inch Largemouth to show for it. Around noon we decided to pack it in and go get a sandwich for lunch. Plans were made to visit a lake that was a bit closer to home base and again hoped for a whooper of an afternoon bite.

The Upper Rideau Lake is a fairly large body of water but the ice was safe in a few prime areas. The quarry here was to be jumbo Perch.

All we had to do was wait till late afternoon and they should turn on. Now the vastness of this lake also made for a bit of a wind tunnel and the wind chill quickly took a bite despite all the clothing that I had layered on.

Because of that I was unable to endure the full tour. So with just a couple of Perch to our score we packed up early and headed for the short ride to Rick's home.

Saturday morning started out with a hearty breakfast as usual and the thermometer gave a reading of -16 Celsius which, for you non-Canadians would convert to 2 degrees Fahrenheit. Today we would make a 45 minute run (Yes, as Rick would say.."Everything is 45 minutes away") to Crosby Lake. This lake is almost impossible to access unless you own property on it or know someone that does. Rick again made a few calls the night before and permission was received to park at a private residence.

Starting out at the western end we soon found out that there was a very prominent weed bed that extended far out from the shore line. Our Vexilars indicated that there was about 15 feet of water with the last 5 being solid weeds. This should be fantastic fish habitat but we could not get a blip of a fish after drilling about 15 holes. So around noon time the cold again got the best of us. We had a invite for dinner with a good friend and it was easy to pack up our gear and call it a day.

I was hoping to have tales of big Pike and beautiful Lake Trout but it was not to be this time around. For now, we can only recall the memory of fish like these from years gone by...

Side note: Rick has a nice ice fishing tent, heater and other things that would have allowed us to beat the cold but we didn't have anyone with us that could carry it out and set it up for us! LOL