Oceola Fish and Game Club - Youth Ice Fishing Day - Saturday Jan 25

[coach]

As the thread title says - Oceola Fish and Game Club will be holding our second annual Youth Ice Fishing Day on Saturday, Jan 25 at Idabel Lake. The event runs from 10am to 2pm and includes a hot dog lunch (and rumor has it, some of Coach's moose chilly :-D). You don't need to be a member of our club to join in the fun - just let me know ahead of time if you're planning to join us.

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg633/coach1000/YouthEventIdabelLake1_zps88ccba6a.jpg (http://s1247.photobucket.com/user/coach1000/media/YouthEventIdabelLake1_zps88ccba6a.jpg.html)

[knockturnal]

I can't make it but I do have 3-4 ice fishing rods if you need a few more to use.

[coach]

Thanks, Knock. That's a very generous offer. I've purchased 20 rods and reels for our club. We should have enough as other people are bringing extra and most people have their own. Too bad you can't make it - should be a fun day. The organization has been easy. Now we just need the fish to cooperate. :-D

[coach]

About 50 people signed up so far. I'm expecting between 75 and 100 to show up. Should be a fun and a good chance to meet some fellow HBC members.

[knockturnal]

How'd it go?

[coach]

Thanks for asking, Knock..:-D

The day was extremely successful. The weather was perfect and over 100 people showed up. Arlyn and Laurel, caretakers of Idabel Lake Resort were exceptional hosts. My team of volunteers made sure everything ran smoothly and even the brookies managed to cooperate. :-D

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg633/coach1000/DSC_0124_zps15bb1d76.jpg (http://s1247.photobucket.com/user/coach1000/media/DSC_0124_zps15bb1d76.jpg.html)

Thanks to some generous sponsorship, we were able to give prizes to all of the kids that attended.

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg633/coach1000/DSC_0120_zpsd1b1345c.jpg (http://s1247.photobucket.com/user/coach1000/media/DSC_0120_zpsd1b1345c.jpg.html)

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg633/coach1000/DSC_0102_zpsc0d04ef4.jpg (http://s1247.photobucket.com/user/coach1000/media/DSC_0102_zpsc0d04ef4.jpg.html)

[coach]

The fish weren't huge - but I don't think any of the kids really cared. There was a lot of excitement in whenever someone pulled one through the ice.

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg633/coach1000/DSC_0087_zps096b36f2.jpg (http://s1247.photobucket.com/user/coach1000/media/DSC_0087_zps096b36f2.jpg.html)

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg633/coach1000/DSC_0095_zps1d836aad.jpg (http://s1247.photobucket.com/user/coach1000/media/DSC_0095_zps1d836aad.jpg.html)

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg633/coach1000/DSC_0075_zpsae6112c1.jpg (http://s1247.photobucket.com/user/coach1000/media/DSC_0075_zpsae6112c1.jpg.html)

[coach]

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg633/coach1000/DSC_0072_zps22f309c8.jpg (http://s1247.photobucket.com/user/coach1000/media/DSC_0072_zps22f309c8.jpg.html)

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg633/coach1000/DSC_0073_zps620d50fe.jpg (http://s1247.photobucket.com/user/coach1000/media/DSC_0073_zps620d50fe.jpg.html)

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg633/coach1000/DSC_0088_zps9bd7aa3a.jpg (http://s1247.photobucket.com/user/coach1000/media/DSC_0088_zps9bd7aa3a.jpg.html)

[coach]

Most unusual catch of the day:

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg633/coach1000/DSC_0094_zpsd0336744.jpg (http://s1247.photobucket.com/user/coach1000/media/DSC_0094_zpsd0336744.jpg.html)

Apparently many of our Okanagan lakes are full of these tasty little morsels. I may have to take my own kids up to catch some next summer.

[knockturnal]

I've got a few spots up there that I go catch crayfish at. Tasty morsels if you have the time to devot to peeling them apart. Trick is to leave them in very salty water for 15-20 minuets so they puke up what's in their bellys so they don't do it while you are boiling them. Good to see a lot of people turned up. Glad to see you were above the sea of clouds and enjoying the sunshine.

[coach]

Funniest moment of the day was all the kids running around telling everyone else, "Hey! He just caught a water scorpion!"

Second funniest was minutes after I gave my own kids crap for kicking snow into the fishing holes, which made them impossible to see, my six year old stepson stepped in one and sunk one leg right down to his crotch. :-D Of course, it wouldn't have been quite as funny if he hadn't done the same thing a couple years ago - the only other time I've taken him ice fishing.

[Ourea]

Great effort on your behalf Coach.
A nod to all those that helped out in the organizing and participation in the event.

It's all about the kids!

[Jagermeister]

Nicely done Coach.

[coach]

Thanks to Cory from Bone Beer for sponsoring our friday night "organizational meeting":-D, supplying the chili for the event and producing this great video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYkrfOsANt4&authuser=0

[Wrayzer]

Looks like a blast, nice to see the kids having fun. Good on you, OSW and the rest of the volunteers.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Awesome stuff, Coach!!!
Your club is always leading the way in the youth department (and many in other areas as well)
Congrats to all those involved!!

SSS

[MOUNTAIN MAN - TOYOTA/ATV]

Nice to see all the kids out ice fishing. Good work Coach and all Oceola club members.

How thick was the ice on Idabel Lake?

[coach]

Nice to see all the kids out ice fishing. Good work Coach and all Oceola club members.

How thick was the ice on Idabel Lake?

Thanks, everyone! Danny Coyne from www.bcfishn.com is the man who makes everything run smoothly. He and his wife have gone above and beyond with everything from sponsorship to organization to teaching the kids how to fish.

Ice at Idabel is pretty close to 20 inches thick.

[Ryan]

Thanks for the great day! Had a blast. Looking forward to next year.

[MOUNTAIN MAN - TOYOTA/ATV]

Thanks, everyone! Danny Coyne from www.bcfishn.com (http://www.bcfishn.com) is the man who makes everything run smoothly. He and his wife have gone above and beyond with everything from sponsorship to organization to teaching the kids how to fish.

Ice at Idabel is pretty close to 20 inches thick.

In the video there is a picture of jars of bait. It looks like dyed shrimp or something else. Did you buy it and where? or make it up yourself. Thanks for the help. We are probably heading up to Idabel in a week or so to do some ice fishing with a friend and his young kids. Thanks for your help.

[coach]

In the video there is a picture of jars of bait. It looks like dyed shrimp or something else. Did you buy it and where? or make it up yourself. Thanks for the help. We are probably heading up to Idabel in a week or so to do some ice fishing with a friend and his young kids. Thanks for your help.

The dyed "shrimp" is actually krill. A couple of jars were "pro-cured". Our club has purchased 20 rods and reels from Berry's Bait and Tackle over the last two years so that we have enough gear on hand to loan out to families interested in taking their kids out to try ice fishing. Berry's owner (OldnGrey) is a close friend of mine and he donated 6 jars of krill for the event. Although we had luck on several different baits (shrimp, krill, mealworms and earth worms) the best luck was on worms. I've heard krill can be dynamite, at times, for kokanee. I'm not sure if Trout Waters in Kelowna carries it or not.

[MOUNTAIN MAN - TOYOTA/ATV]

Thanks for the info on the krill. We have never used krill, but already have worms and shrimp. When we fished Yellow Lake for Brook Trout I found lots of small snails in their stomachs. Thanks again.