Today we went to Ten Mile Lake and were faced with a few challenges and reminders on our second ice fishing trip of the year.
When we arrived at the lake, we saw the parking lot was full and we were hoping the bite was still on like last week (even though we heard it was not).
We loaded up our gear in our sleds and started walking out to the “main trail” on the lake. The first 50ft was hard packed ice until we arrived at a spot on the trail where we had to re-arrange my sled so Austin could sit on the back of my sled while holding onto his.
I proceeded forward into at least 6 inches of water on the main trail. Thankfully, I had planned to wear my Muck boots today and the water was kept outside of my boots. Unfortunately, I ended up flailing around like a new born foal on the slippery ice below the water. I had left my ice cleats at home and took my time pulling us out to tent city. It was a little uncomfortable every other step when my foot also broke thru a 4 inch layer of slush during our journey. My sled started taking on water as I pulled it thru the water. My sled had old holes from my old skis and water was getting in making it harder to pull with each stride. Austin and I decided it would be a good idea to step to the side of the trail and drill a test hole to measure the thickness of the ice to ease our anxiety. The ice was at least 6 inches think so we continued on.
After a few hundred feet of wading in water, we arrived at another frozen section of trail. Austin hoped off my sled and we continued to our spot. When we arrived we were greeted by 2 veteran kokanee fishermen who we see every year. They had warned us of a spring that was open off to the other side of the trail where we drilled a hole. I couldn’t believe I missed it. I was looking everywhere on our walk out and had not noticed anything unusual. The guys said this spring was big enough that Austin could have fell thru and been gone under the ice. I couldn’t believe it, but I had to listen to their experience and be reminded that we are vulnerable and must be cautious even when it looks safe.
The temperature was perfect this morning. It was not too cold, but cold enough where Austin was asking to set up our tent right away. I quickly remembered that I had not brought the tent spikes. I had forgotten them on my last trip along with my ice scoop. We tied one side of the tent to our sled before opening it and continued to set up camp for the next couple hours.
After talking with the veterans, we came to the conclusion that we must have missed the bite. Last week, these kokanee were biting like crazy and today was a slow day. We chose to hunker down, turn on our big buddy heater and have a snack. Time seemed to stand still for the first half hour and there were no kokanee showing up on the finder. Eventually, I found the right bait and flasher combination and hooked a nice pan sized kokanee that I would later eat for lunch. As quick as the fish came, they were gone. We marked a few fish at different depths of the water column but could not determine any patterns of active fish.
My new Scotty ice fishing plank (version 1) worked extremely well. I am working on my first ice fishing Scotty setup and have mounted enough bases to mount rod holders, camera mounts and cup holders. The plank also serves as an insulator against the cold ice and kept my feet warm.
The time to leave had almost come and a group of new anglers showed up and started fishing 30ft away from us. It wasn’t long before they were getting into fish. The bite was on! Like all great kokanee communities, it didn’t take long for someone to shout out “they’re at 10ft.” So, like a kid in a candy store, I quickly stood up and started peering down my hole in hopes of a kokanee coming into my presentation. And…nothing. In one last attempt, I switched my flasher in anticipation of a smaller presentation doing the trick. Right away I had a kokanee come swimming in to inspect my offering. I thought I had it, but as quick as it came it was gone and so we decided to call it a day.