Sunday ice fishing (Becker content)

BenchmadeBoy

BenchmadeBoy

Joined
Sep 4, 2005
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Hey. Another Sunday of ice fishing here in northwestern Ontario. Weather has warmed up from the -30C temps of last week. It was a calm and sunny -8C or so. Had a great day of fishing. This time we were after splake, which are a hybrid of lake trout and brook trout. These were hefty, healthy fish with the biggest at around 3lbs. They fought like mad and were really fun to catch.

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/LetsFish/2ColumnSubPage/200080.html

We made a fire as usual and roasted up some smokies. BK-12 did some work cutting sticks, cutting hot dog buns etc. The grey jays appeared as soon as the food came out and were quite fearless as you can see by the photos.

Took a fish home and cooked it up. The flesh was the color of salmon and very tasty broiled in the oven with dill and onion.

Fire!
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View of the lake with some of our gear.
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Rod set up. When the bell rings . . .run!
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A semi-frozen splake
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A fresh caught splake
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A grey jay snatching a snack
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Becker and Zebra billy pot
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Dinner!
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nice pics looks like a good day! I haven't gone ice fishing since I was kid every year I say I'm gonna go and don't find the time.
 
Most of the lakes we fish have between 10-14" of ice. It varies a bit depending on temperature and snow cover. One lake I was on recently had more than a foot of slush on top of the ice.
 
Hey Benchmade Boy....

Looks very pretty......Never been to Northern Ontario after the Ice sets in.......Early november is the latest I have been....Couple of times Around Blind River when there was a bunch of snow......Looks like you had a great and successfull day........It does look a bit chilly tho......LOL......thanks for sharing your day and the lovely pics........

Ethan
 
Wow! Those are some amazing pictures! Looks a little too cold for my blood though!
Thanks for sharing!
 
Your post is quite a treat BB. Beautiful scenery and sky. I learned of a new species of gorgeous fish and that Canadian Jays are fearless.

Are those fillets from the mornings catch? I could practically taste them! Great post! You have a way of drawing the reader in.
 
I really appreciate the comments. Thanks folks! I'm really lucky to have ready access to these activities.

@nozyk: Yes, those are fillets from the day's catch. Lake to table within 8 hours :p Frankly I was surprised at how red the flesh was. I've had lake trout that were very orange but this was closer to the deeper red of a salmon. Apparently this is a result of eating lots of small invertebrates. Splake are a hybrid fish stocked in certain lakes by the MNR.

@Mr. E. Becker: I wish I had my larger camera with me. All I had was my phone. Next time out I will try to get more general scenary shots but it can be hard to capture snow covered trees, rock and frozen lake. Thanks for the comments!
 
You have certainly mastered your phone camera! I can only imagine the shots with a full sized DSLR.
 
Looks awesome. Only been ice fishing once, and had a blast.
 
Great photos... makes me homesick for Ontario!

Ice fishing season opens here in Newfoundland on Friday, I'm on my way out the door now to scope out a spot or two!
 
great lookin fillets there and a really good lookin fish! thanks for sharing! Im sure yall froze your butts off but looks like it's a heck of a time.
 
Wow. One day I want to try ice fishing. I actually love the cold (if I'm prepared) and that is a nice looking BK12.

Those birds were probably so tame because they were hungry in the middle of winter. You prolly made their day...
 
GarnetandBlack said:
great lookin fillets there and a really good lookin fish! thanks for sharing! Im sure yall froze your butts off but looks like it's a heck of a time.
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On the contrary. It was really quite warm. It's a fair bit of work. We use a manual ice auger, we hiked into this lake and it was very sunny with no wind.
 
Eero said:
Wow. One day I want to try ice fishing. I actually love the cold (if I'm prepared) and that is a nice looking BK12.

Those birds were probably so tame because they were hungry in the middle of winter. You prolly made their day...
Click to expand...

Heck yes! Everyone should try it at least once.
 
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