This winter has definitely been a challenge with changing conditions and unsafe ice in many locations. Our commitment stays the same no matter what the ice conditions are and that is to ensure that you have a safe trip. Last year we had safe early ice. This year we have to keep checking ice conditions as we progress through the season so have patience with us and other guides as we navigate through a tougher than normal ice fishing season.
We did find early safe ice on the western side of Sebago and toward the White Mountains and all indications were that it was going to be a great season. We had early trips planned, but Mother Nature had other plans. Many of the smaller ponds had safe ice early on, but with the warmup some of the edges began to pull away and presented a problem. It’s never a good idea to have to wade into the water to get onto the ice. Every time we had a good stretch of cold weather, we had an equal amount of warmer weather that has complicated things. As of right now Sebago Lake has not started to freeze yet, so if you have a trip on the big lake scheduled, we will have to move to a plan B. We currently have safe ice on many of the smaller ponds, but we are keeping our eyes on conditions. We have been running successful trips so far on them so not all hope is lost. As always food is a central focus for full day trips, and we have added a wood pellet fired pizza oven from Ooni to the lineup so look for that this season! If you are looking for a fun experience on the ice with great food, give us a call to set up your trip today!
The silver lining to having a subpar ice fishing season is that our open water fishing should be better early. Lakes and ponds that would normally see heavy ice fishing pressure won’t be fished too heavily. Those fish will be ready to eat when you book your open water trip with us this spring. Reminder that I will be leaving for Grand Lake Stream around May 7th so if you want an early trip send an email to guides@petersonguideme.com to set up your early season trip.
