I think there are many times that we as anglers and guides overthink how simple fishing can be. Dan and I recently went out with a professional photographer Justin Smulski from Tide to Pine Creative www.tidetopine.com on an ice fishing trip. I knew exactly where we were going to go as it has always produced for me, but it only has yellow perch and pickerel in there. One would think that with a professional photographer we would have chosen salmon or the most photogenic brook trout. However, we wanted to capture the essence of going to a spot that takes effort and we would have fun catching fish.
The morning of our trip the air temperature was below zero with a slight wind that made the day a bit more challenging. There is one important thing to note here is that if you prepare and dress properly you can have fun in any weather condition. Exceptions would be a blizzard or hurricane, so this doesn’t always apply to every situation. We as guides make sure that we assist in any way we can through insulated pop-up shacks with heaters along with warm drinks and warm food for full day trips. Combine this with a day full of chasing flags and you will stay warm on those cold and bitter days.
On this day Dan and I had just finished setting our limit of traps and were surprised when we hadn’t caught a fish yet. Usually in this pond the action can be fast, and it only took a few more minutes before the fish responded. It doesn’t matter how big these fish are as they always put up a great fight and will even take dead bait. Always make sure that you bring plenty of shiners to last a day as you will use up most of them. On this day the bigger fish tended to be in the shallower weedier areas and the smaller pickerel were in the deeper water along with yellow perch.
The access into this pond requires a walk or snowmobile ride in and the addition of my Arctic Cat Panther snowmobile has been a complete gamechanger. I towed two magnum jet sleds completely filled along with one passenger and it handled it perfectly. In the past we have always walked and dragged our sleds in there. It was a great workout, but not one that every client will want to do. The added benefit of the snowmobile is that if I forgot something back in the trailer it is possible to go back, while on foot that wouldn’t have been a good option. Kids also like riding on the snowmobile so on slow days we can give them rides around the pond to keep them entertained.
There was also a bigger objective for Dan and I for taking Justin up to our pickerel pond. We felt that fishing for pickerel through the ice is looked down upon and wanted to feature how fun a day pursuing them really is. If you want to join us on this fun trip let us know so we can make pickerel fishing great again!
