Each year I am reminded that there are many people that either live in Maine or visit that have never tried ice fishing in their lifetime. Hiring a guide makes the process easy as we have all of the necessary equipment and knowledge of where to go to be successful. It is also easier to take out more clients than when I am in my boat so more people can give it a try and people don’t have to be excluded. In my experience I always found that cooking a warm meal on the ice was part of the fun and having fresh pizza baked on the ice is a whole different level of what I can provide my clients.
This year should hopefully be different than last year in regards to weather conditions and we have already had a good stretch of cold ice-forming weather that should continue through to the end of the month and into January. Remember that we as guides strive to ensure your safety and we do a lot of work to check ice before we put our clients out there, so trust us when we say the ice is safe. However, if you are not comfortable going on an ice fishing trip there is no pressure and there are plenty of open water options we can discuss. I won’t force anyone out onto the ice that isn’t comfortable.
On my trips I like to fish for largemouth bass, pickerel, brook trout, pike, landlocked salmon and other trout species. I find that if you don’t have a specific species in mind it makes my job easier as I will be able to put you onto fish and to experience the thrill of seeing the flag go up on our “traps” or tip ups. I find pickerel to be the most fun for me as they are aggressive and are abundant in many of the waters I guide on. Largemouth bass are also very fun and contrary to popular opinion they can be very active during the winter if you know where to find them. I set my baits right over the old weed beds that have died and laid down on the bottom of the pond. The bass cruise along the top of the weed beds and are easy to target if you keep your bait out of the weeds.
This will be my third year offering fresh pizza on full day trips. My Ooni oven is fueled by wood pellets and works amazingly in the cold conditions on the ice. If you have a family outing nothing beats pizza baked fresh while running to each flag. I also offer other food options such as smash burgers, beef stew, chicken or beef soft tacos, etc. I find the process of cooking for my clients to be the best part of my day whether it is on the ice or on the shore during the summer in Grand Lake Stream. All of it is part of the overall experience that I strive to provide for my clients and I hope you join me this winter for your first ice fishing trip and see what it is all about!
