Moving locations when fishing with kids is always a gamble.
Austin and I started our day early and were (at least what we believe) the first people on the ice this morning. It’s always fun wearing a headlight out onto the lake. The excitement was measurable when Austin asked if we could use our headlights as we pulled up into the empty, dark parking lot at the Provincial boat launch.
My newly waxed sled skis were noticeably different when pulling my sled onto the ice for the first time. After being told that they were “dry” by the ski shop last weekend, I dropped them off to get waxed. The $22 was well worth the money and I will now be telling everyone, over and over again, about this valuable lesson that I should have learned during my first ice fishing season. The only reason I even thought about waxing my skis this year was because of my family’s newly acquired outside activity, skiing. We started skiing as a family last year and this year bought the whole family skis to spend time together. It’s not fishing, but it’s definitely on the top of my list of fun family winter activities.
Picking our first spot was no easy task. I’ve been hearing from multiple people (and following some great posts in our group) that the kokanee seem to be in shallower water this year. I’ve even seen video (in our group) and talked to another angler who witnessed kokanee feeding off the bottom in shallow on their underwater camera. This was intriguing to me and so I spent the greater portion of last night and this morning trying to decide where to go fishing. I struggled with taking the “easy” route and fishing the typical kokanee “spot,” because the last time I tried in shallow we had no luck.
This time, we followed the path from the parking lot out to where I thought I could get us into at least 20ft of water. Turns out, after the holes were drilled, we were only in 15ft of water. We were fishing by 730am and were marking fish right away. Could this be it? Would we finally be on the ice in time for a good morning “bite?” An hour had past and our hopes and dreams of limiting out were fading. Sarah and I entered the Angler’s Atlas ice fishing online tournament and today was my first day trying to get on a leaderboard. If you haven’t signed up yet, it’s not too late!
The tent was finally starting to warm up slightly and Austin’s toes were getting cold. The morning’s brisk -18 degree weather was taking a toll on Austin and he was loosing interest in fishing. The next move I made was a gamble, but I rolled the dice.
After a calculated decision and discussion, we decided to move our fishing location. We spent some extra time in the truck before venturing out onto the ice and what a great experience that was. Spending some father son time talking in the truck was amazing. Austin got to experience the therapy of warming toes and gloves under the truck’s front heater vents. While doing so, we talked about one day going steelhead fishing together and warming our toes between fishing holes.
My newly waxed skis proved their worth once again on the way to our second location. The road down to the lake used to be a struggle (pulling downhill), but it wasn’t this time. We actually had to jog beside the sled as it starting taking off like a run away train. I was able to steer the sled and slow it down before we got to the lake shore. We decided to let it go and see how far onto the ice it would go. Amazingly, it would have went further if it didn’t hit a bump in the trail and topple over.
We arrived at our second location. On the way out to our spot, we picked up a red kids glove on the trail. I hope it was lost at the end of the fishing trip. If you’re missing a red glove, send me a message and we can get it back to you. Finally, we were fishing once again by 1030am. Although there were fish to be had, they were not in abundance or willing to bite as we had hoped. We marked the odd fish on our finder at different depths and I managed to hook a few fish during the first couple hours. Again, Austin was getting restless and normally we would go home, but Sarah and Ethan were on their way with hot drinks and some warm lunch.
Just before Sarah and Ethan arrived, I hooked a nice kokanee and landed it. My flasher of choice was my new Williams spoon in blue/silver combined with an ice jig I bought from Ryan last year. To complete my presentation, I carefully and methodically threaded a mealworm onto the hook (legs and head facing backwards) followed by a piece of anise corn. As the rest of the family arrived, we would discover that Sarah forgot to bring the extra chairs (that I asked her to bring 
). We carefully ate our Subway lunch and drank our hot chocolate, coffee and tea while standing. The lack of chairs got me thinking. I’ve been procrastinating about trying to build a smitty sled, which will help pulling a heavy sled in deeper snow. My imagination was running wild. I’m now contemplating building a smitty sled that can double as a bench seat. Nick , Reg I have a challenge for you. Is it possible to build a smitty sled that can transform to place on top of your sled? I’m also thinking about a sled with hinges to access the contents inside my sled. It can also have bait holding capability, rod holder options and so much more. (And hopefully it doesn’t add too much weight)
After lunch, we welcomed an avid angler and icon, Dave, to fish from a safe distance of us. He arrived as if on cue. I was interested to hear what he had to say. There was another group of people that had left before Sarah and Ethan arrived, but that’s it. I couldn’t help but think that most of the kokanee anglers in our area were either fishing the Provincial launch area (there were 3 tents there when we left in the morning) or fishing Tyee Lake, which is becoming a popular fishery and will have lots of kokanee to go around for everyone in the future. I was also thinking that angler pressure was spreading to other lakes, as it seasonally does. Either way, the historical second bite on Ten Mile usually picks up around 1pm and time was closing in quickly.
As soon as Dave arrived and was ready to fish, we marked the time. It didn’t take long for the first kokanee to be landed. Then, from across the lake, we heard a snowmobile echoing against the trees behind us. We would later get to meet the fish technician (biologist in training) and have a great conversation about the fishery on Ten Mile and surrounding lakes within driving distance. It was great to meet you!
As we talked, Dave started to gain speed and was catching kokanee. Then, Austin finally caught a kokanee, then another and another. He was on fire. The spark had made him shine and he was excited to finally catch a few kokanee. Sarah and Ethan also caught a couple kokanee. Unfortunately, they caught theirs before Austin. I thought he was going to loose it and want to leave. Those two phrases that everyone of us has said a time or two had been said, “why is everyone catching fish but me” and “they just got here! I’ve been fishing all day!”
In summary, as Austin said once we had packed up the truck and were ready to leave the parking lot, “today was fun!” His 30 minutes of excitement catching kokanee thru the ice, and sight fishing for them to boot, had made all the waiting and frustration worth it. I am always amazed at what I learn when fishing with my family. We must keep everyone’s interests in mind and fish in small doses when required. Austin pushed thru the day and did not demand to go home, so we stayed and waited for the rest of the family to arrive. They wanted to sleep in and have their own time at home. Thankfully, we live close to one of many great kokanee lakes that are on our back doorstep in British Columbia. We are happy that we made the decision to move locations. It not only helped us catch some kokanee thru the ice, but left me with a father son moment that I will cherish forever.