Ice fishing with Henry & Adam…”The Polish Connection”

The Polish Connection ice fishing team…

Henry & Adam are both summertime guests of Vermilion Bay Lodge here on Eagle Lake who decided to team up for an ice fishing excursion.  Henry had the experience from last winter, where he ice fished for the first time ever!  Adam had no experience, and had never even caught a lake trout before.  Nevertheless they both came prepared with all the proper tackle, gear and clothing…..along with several cases of Polish beer (Zagloba, Lezajsk, Zywiec & Tskie), Polish sausage and Pierogi.   Also, the “jet fuel”……..

don't drink this!
"Danger"

Before ice fishing……the Polish snowshoe team…

snowshoeing at Vermilion Bay Lodge
Strapping on the boards to snowshoe the "back forty"
On the snowshoe trail
Henry "pre-heart-attack" holding trees for support!

Let the ice fishing begin……will Adam catch a lake trout?

Adam's first laker
Adam's first laker.......Success!
Adam's second lake trout
Number 2...now he's starting to show off...
Ice fishing on Eagle Lake Ontario
Adam & Henry with a brace of trout....day one.

Things you don’t often see while ice fishing….

Burton Penner's dog sled team
Burton Penner and his dog sled teams
dog team on Clearwater Lake
The dog's don't seem to mind the deep snow...

 More highlights of the Polish ice fishing adventure…

Deep water lake trout
Adam looking frozen....with a nice lake trout
Lake trout on a jig
Using tube jigs for lake trout.
laker
Is this fish depressed?

Catching pike & walleye ice fishing…

Some other species were caught ice fishing along with the trout…….including this really fat 36 inch pike:

ice fishing for pike
Nice pike caught on a tip-up
Pike rig for ice fishing
This is the rig used to catch the pike...it's hard to see the small white spinner above the hook
releasing a northern pike on Eagle Lake
Releasing the fish for another day!
Dusk on Vermilion Bay
Some of the best walleye action was at dusk.
Winter walleye
Nice color on this winter walleye.

The ice fishing conclusion…

While we did have fun and catch fish, to be honest the ice fishing bite seemed to drop off and there were some slow days.  That’s ice fishing I guess……..there’s always the great scenery!

ice fishing serenity
Ice fishing serenity
very small lake trout
Adam proves that trout come in all sizes!
laker on the ice
Lake trout on the ice

How many days of ice fishing are left?

The weather forecast seems to be showing a warming trend about to hit us.  It could be the days of venturing off to far lakes to catch trout are numbered.  It may be time to concentrate on the walleye, pike, perch and whitefish fishing right here in Vermilion Bay.  Today I will head into Clearwater Lake and pull one of my portage boats back to the lodge for some repairs (while there is still plenty of snow to do so!).  Spring is on the way and with it open water fishing.  Hopefully you  all have your dates picked to be up here at the lodge when the fishing action is at it’s prime…till then we will all have to wonder what the final days of ice fishing will bring!

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Testimonials

If you like GREAT fishing, hospitality and affordability, Vermilion Bay Lodge is highly recommended. I have been making the trip to Vermilion Bay Lodge for the past 10 years and have never once been disappointed. If you like great walleye, northern, musky and trout fishing, this place should not be overlooked. The fishing has been excellent… no matter what time we went. Gordy and Susanne are wonderful hosts that will make you feel right at home. Check it out – I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Arnie