Yesterday was a great day spent on the ice outside under the sun.
Most of the time, I’m fishing inside my ice fishing tent trying to stay warm and hidden from winter’s chilling temperatures. Yesterday, was the first day I decided to leave my ice tent sitting in my sled. Ice fishing for kokanee has given me a whole different outlook on ice fishing. I used to not enjoy ice fishing. These were the days when I did not own a tent or heater and spent hours travelling to and from a lake only to spend an hour max on the lake because of subzero temperatures and wind that would wick away much needed heat while sitting an an ice bucket with my regular length open water season fishing rod, 7 ft from my hole.
Yesterday was perfect for sitting outside. It’s the sunny days in the winter where I wish I could have one of those sled tents that open half way to enjoy my surroundings. These tents would bring ice fishing to another level. I would love to look around on nice days and close up the tent on snowy, wind blowing days.
I expected the snow to start melting and become slushy yesterday, but it didn’t warm up until later in the afternoon. The snow was getting soft as I was leaving. Thankfully, I made the right decision to wear my warmer winter boots. However, I’d imagine over the next couple weeks, rubber boots will earn their place in an ice fisherman’s fishing gear selection.
Getting to my fishing spot was a little challenging yesterday. My sled has not been modified enough to be able to pull it easily through deep snow (maybe this is a summer project I need to schedule for the last week of August). It had snowed on Ten Mile just recently and our trail was covered and unrecognizable. I was able to make out a hint of another trail headed in the wrong direction, but out to the general area I wanted to fish. Thankfully, I was able to stay on the trail and only had a difficult time pulling my sled for the first portion of the journey. Have you ever seen a stick or tree branch sticking out of the snow in the middle of your local lake? I was able to walk out to the same spot I fished a while ago, because one of the many kokanee holes was marked with a good sized stick.
Upon arrival at my fishing hole, I drilled my hole and cleared the area around the hole. One tool I plan on adding to my list is a snow shovel. I was able to compromise and used my plywood board for my feet to clear the area around my fishing hole. Setting up was quick and easy. I was fishing in no time.
I was the only person fishing in my location, so I started with a large dodger and big jigs to draw in the kokanee. It was amazing how quickly they arrived. I was marking active and curious fish everywhere at all depths, but getting them to bite was a different story. I ended up trying 6 different dodgers, a few different jigs and a few different bait combinations. My Gibbs gear produced kokanee again and the 2 kokanee I did catch hit 2 different bait combinations. The first one was caught on the usual corn and mealworm combination and the second kokanee hit synthetic pink maggots.
I had a hard time seeing my fish finder screen at times. I came to an understanding on what some guys were talking about when they talk about ice flashers and how much easier it is to see the screen. I’d love to see one of these fish finders in action and see for myself how much easier it actually is. My fish finder is easy to see when inside my ice tent, but I noticed a big difference when outside in the open. It was not impossible, but rather manageable. Maybe I can make some sort of cover to surround the screen?
The morning bite stopped around 11:00 just as it did last weekend on Tyee and picked up just before 13:00. It was the same experience as on Tyee. The kokanee had moved on, but circled back around to my location later in the afternoon. I think I might have even dozed off for a few minutes in my chair under the warm sun as I waited for them to return. I left with 2 kokanee and was happy to have the chance to experience switching gear to get them to bite.
I’m looking forward to our group get-together this coming Sunday. Days like yesterday re-enforced how much I love kokanee fishing. I do not need to catch a limit to have fun, because figuring out what the fish want is half the fun. Well, maybe a quarter the fun, because getting a bite is half the fun. Either way, my kokanee ice fishing season is slowly winding down due to time constraints. There’s still lots of fishable ice fishing season left, but please be safe out there as the temperatures start to warm up.