Darn Rain! The End.....
Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 10:56AM Well, it's officially time to wrap up the '09-'10 ice season. Yes, I could jump into the truck and drive six hours north to grab one more day of fishing, but this morning I walked out into the garage and looked around. I get the feeling it's time to leave ice behind and start thinking spring fishing.
The Sherck Garage All the wet tents, tarps and gear hanging from the rafters are leftovers from quite the ice adventure we pulled off Thursday. We had a forecast of rain movning in, so buddy Mitch Petrie and I packed the truck and trailer to try and squeeze in one last ice fishing adventure. We drove six hours north to a couple of remote trout lakes hidden in the Superior National Forest up in northern Minnesota. Up there, we hooked up with ice guru Chip Leer, quickly packed our Otter Sleds and started hiking, sleds in tow, along the Hogback Lake Trail. I had a remote trout haunt in mind.
Deep in the Superior National Forest
Scarp Lake has a reputation for having a bunch of nice trout in it. We were headed that direction through a maze of small lakes and portages when suddenly, I felt something. Uh oh..... It started as just a few big, cold drops. Slowly, it increased to a steady rain and eventually, borderline downpour. We scrambled to find the nearest camp and get set up. Wrestling rain in 35 degree weather can be downright dangerous, especially when you're deep in the woods. We teamed up and within an hour, we had the dining fly tied tightly between a few trees and three tents pitched to keep our gear dry. I got to work on a fire and Chip and Mitch got to the task of trout fishing.
Starting A Fire In Downpour
We drilled a bunch of holes just off shore in four to thirty feet of water. You'd see the trout periodically zip through on the electronics. Aggressive jigging with small Northland jigs tipped with plastics seemed to get their attention, although getting them to actually bite was a different story. Was it the foul weather and low pressure? Did we just pick an off day? Who knows, but twenty minutes into the fishing, Chip hollared as he hooked and wrestled a chunky rainbow up and onto the ice....
A Chunky Rainbow
That fish ended up on the dinner table...
Dinner...
I slept soundly through the sound of steady, cold rain pelting down on the tent. Next morning, I awoke to the sound of the popping percolator and the smell of fresh, dark coffee. 36 degrees as I crawled out of the tent. We shoveled down a healthy portion of hot oatmeal topped with blueberries and chocolate chips and swigged down quite a few cups of hot coffee. By 8 am, we had our lines down the holes, jigging for more trout. We missed one very big fish (we guessed it was a four or five pound splake) just below the hole and landing a handful of tiny splake. Photojournalist Aaron Achtenberg found a good spot to hide under the dining fly and shoot us as we fished in the rain (watch for the story in upcoming episodes of both Minnesota Bound and Due North Outdoors).
Aaron Shooting in the Rain...
Mitch's smallest splake
We cleaned up camp and hiked out about lunchtime, loaded up our wet gear and called the trip a rainy success. Quite the drive out to the pavement on 13 miles of gummy and muddy forest roads! 
Bill, Chip, Mitch and Aaron
Although the trip north was great, I decided to sneak in one last ice trip yesterday. I called up my fishing partner, Travis Frank and also Chris Witte from Otter Outdoors. Aaron grabbed a camera and the four of us snuck out to shoot a quick story on our last day of the ice season. We zipped to a lake just west of town, a favorite of mine called Pelican. We had to sneak through a little water to get onto the ice, but once up there, we drilled a couple of quick holes and realized we had more than sixteen inches of good ice.
Travis Checking The Ice
We hiked out about half a mile to a favorite spot of mine, drilled a couple dozen holes and started looking for fish. Travis popped a few in very shallow water and we all got to the business of late-ice panfish. Turns out, we could jig just below the hole and spot fish the bluegills.
See the Fish?
We watched as fish after fish came through and whacked out tiny jigs tipped with waxworms. Quite the adventure, considering the 65 degree weather on the ice. What a fun way to wrap up the ice season!
Not Quite 'Pounders...
At dark, we wrapped up our day and hiked off the ice. Once we got close to shore, we got our spring surprise. The small gap of water near shore had opened to a nearly 20 foot expanse. Nothing to do but jump in and make our way to shore.
Time to get Wet!
That's it for this ice season! Now l'm getting birdy (and impatient) waiting for turkey season....More to come shortly.
Reader Comments (3)
COACH GLASSES
Coach Sunglasses
COACH ACCESSORIES
Coach Bracelets
Coach Necklaces
Coach Earrings
Coach Settings
Coach Scarfs
Coach Spotlight Bags
Coach Hampton Bags
Coach Garnet Bags
Coach Top Handle Pouch
Coach Travel Bags
Coach Wallets
COACH SHOES
Ladies Coach Shoes
Ladies Coach Boots
Ladies Coach Sandals
Coach Tote Bags
Coach Baby Bags
Coach Hobo Bags
Coach Cambridge Hobo
Coach Claire Bags
Coach Carly Bags
Leather Handbags
Coach Ergo Bags
Coach Maggie Bags
Coach Sabrina Bags
Coach Tribeca Bags