Ice Out Update #2

“Who ate all the Easter eggs?“

Susanne, on finding the half empty bag….

It’s Easter, and of course our thoughts turn to the ice out contest and all things related to fishing! Here at the lodge we’ve had a go at trying to perfect our ice fishing skills. Conditions are superb…….sunny days, ice covered lakes that are nice and flat, plenty of snow on the trails, and my taxes are done!

Speaking of “ice covered lakes” here’s my analysis for those “ice geeks” in the crowd. We’ve fished three different lakes over the past week and things in common are: 6 – 8 inches of hard packed snow over a layer of slush / water and then 2 – 3 feet of solid ice. Days have been getting into the melting zone with overnight temps doing a good job of hardening things up. This morning was a brisk -12 C. Here’s what it looks like this Easter Monday morning…

As you can see not much has changed since the last report. Some of the metal roofs have shed their snow load and parts of the road into the lodge are down to bare gravel. It’s looking like a good year for plenty of spring run-off to fill the lake back up. If you’re coming early this year start thinking about those shallow “secret spots” that might be prime with high water levels. So while I have you thinking about fishing let’s see what we found ice fishing this past week…..

Our attempts to crack the “walleye code” resulted in some success but we need to hone in on this this coming week.

Susanne has been kicking my butt this week, and it wasn’t just about the Easter eggs……

I think she’s trying for the “multi-species award”…

A chunky slot northern……

An even chunkier slot northern…….

…….and an even chunkier slot walleye….

Some of you are probably wondering what I was up to during this fishing tutorial put on by S. ? Well apparently my job was rebaiting hooks, settting up lines, making lunch, drilling holes and general housekeeping issues. In my spare moments I did have time to catch a few fish myself….

The “Ol Master Angler” at work….

Giving away the secret bait…..

So there you have it folks. A week has flown by and things continue to progress to our opening later in May. Plenty of time for the ice to melt, the fish to spawn, and the anglers to test their skills. In the meantime consider making your ice out guess if you haven’t already done so…….email me, El Gordo, with your prediction. For those of you who haven’t yet made any plans for fishing this spring I do have a few openings left for the late May crowd. Shallow walleye and pike along with good chance to pick up some dandy lake trout.

Stay tuned for more fishing and ice updates!

Happy Easter!