Last Ice Trip of '18 with Lou

I couldn't help but take a hookie day for one last chance at icing a good pike. Yes, it was a Thursday, but the weather was absolutely spectacular, and Kyle had finally found his 40 and pointed me to the spot. I got there with reasonable time in the late morning, and decided this trip would be a great opportunity to blow off some steam for the Lou-pup. I dragged my sled out while Lou ran in circles watching the immense amount of geese on the lake. There were groups of Canadas everywhere, but there were THOUSANDS of snow geese and more piling in by the minute.

I busted open some of Kyle's holes and augered out some extras in different spots for myself. I set up my rods and waited for something to happen. This is where I would normally stew in my own thoughts, or come up with a grand scheme to rule the world. Instead, I was able to hang out with my pup. She was a kid in a candy store. There were geese to watch, lake water to drink, and an occasion minnow to sneak behind my back. I brought this pink kong ball we have that is super heavy out with me and heaved it as far as I could out into the middle of the lake. It would hit the ice, and bounce and roll for an easy additional 50 yards. I figured if this didn't wear her out, it would kill her. This spot was slower than I expected and I managed only one medium pike before noon. I did some rearranging and drilled some new holes and played the waiting game again. It was about two in the afternoon when the flags really starting picking up. I would throw, and run to the tipper. Lou got smart to the game and when she was finally starting to wear down, I would see a flag go up and start running. Lou would run around looking for the up flag and she would run as fast as she could out ahead of me to the tipper, where she would sit down next to it and wait for me to catch up. I would play the fish out and Lou of course would grab the tail when I pulled it out of the hole. She is so quick to pick stuff up it amazes me. Rachel thought it was going to be nightmare with hooks and line, but Lou listened well, and quick frankly made my day.

As the afternoon wore on, Lou and I were doing quite well for ourselves. We managed a number of decent pike, nothing huge, but all over 30". My arms was getting sore from all of the throwing, and I could see Lou was slowing down significantly. We were in a bit of a lull and I figured she was getting cold so I pulled out my stool and sat and watched flags and geese. Lou walked right up to me and asked to sit in my lap. For any dog owner you know what I mean when I say asked. She sat in my lap on and off for the final two hours between flags.

Though I did not manage another 40 incher, this was a wonderful day on the lake. I have always enjoyed ice fishing, but this late, season-transition ice fishing is by far my favorite. It's warm and sunny, there are geese and ducks everywhere, and I still get to ice fish. This was a great cap to a weird ice season. We caught some dandy fish, and we went home skunked far more than anticipated.

I am sure I could get on the ice now if I wanted, but baby Livermore continues his reign of terror in utero. Rachel and I spent the latter part of Friday the 23rd and the better part of Saturday the 24th in the hospital monitoring her blood pressure. It has been a bit of an issue thus far, and we are teetering on the tipping point with it. We were released and are hoping this little boy will cook just one more week....


Stay Tuned: shit's about to get real....

The Lake of Many Moods

After a slow, but productive afternoon on the ice, we still had the weekend ahead of us. With the storm fizzling out, Paul and Adam we going to join us back out on the lake. The night before, Kyle texted and asked if he could join us. The more the merrier!

We started Saturday on a different spot as I had a better vibe and knew the spot a little better. Boy was I wrong...

We spent the better part of two hours there with little to show for it. Kyle was running late, but the second he showed up we had two flag go. Being Dad's birthday, I decided I would be nice and let him take it. When he set the hook, it took off an a good run and we knew we had a better fish. As we got it into the hole we looked over to see another flag up. As soon as she was flopping on the ice, Kyle and I hauled over to it....Swing and a miss.... Dad got his unhooked and measured at a respectable 32".

I ended up missing two more flags on this spot before we decided this was just not working out. Kyle caught a few on his tippers but nothing to write home about. The decision was made to go back to where we were fishing yesterday before Paul and Adam got here. We made the quick transition and started busting up holes and Kyle drilled a bunch more for himself. I tried redrilling one of the holes and in one quick touch of the throttle, I snapped the bolt holding auger onto the powerhead....

Damn.

I had Kyle tap me a few extra holes and we rigged back up. Shortly after getting set up, Paul and Adam came around the corner on their snowmobile. In true Paul fashion, two holes were drilled right where they stopped. We managed a few more pike this time in this spot, but again, there was nothing really over the top. Despite the lack of quantity, the company was exemplary.

Things were starting to look dim for our chance at a waldo when one of Kyle's tippers went off. He had only deadbait for pike on all of his tippers so it came as a great surprise to all of us when he pulled up a STOUT walleye on one of his dead smelt.

Things were starting to pick up a bit and there were mini flurries on our tippers. Kyle found what we thought was going to be a giant pike, ended up being a super fat 33".

We fished until almost 7pm before we decided to finally pull the plug. I was a little perplexed as to why we did not find more fish. As Adam has indicated, this lake is probably the most frustrating lake ever. Hot one day, dead the next.

We proved that theory by fishing again Sunday morning and didn't so much as get a bite. It was the dead sea...


As spring approaches, so does the unpredictable weather, and the waning chances to get on ice. We also have baby Livermore getting sick of the lack of leg room.


Stay Tuned