Ice Fishing Adventures so far

[RBooth]

Managed to get out a few times this week on my set of 4 days off. Been up to Red Lake for the second time after hearing stories for the last year and managed to land some nice brookies. After breaking off some nice rainbows I managed to land a really nice one just by hand bombing off a spool of line. That was a total blast!

3lb 3oz Brooky
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j20/Kelloggs101/3lb3ozbrooky.jpg

A morning catch with my room mate
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j20/Kelloggs101/harvest.jpg

First batch heading to the smoker!
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j20/Kelloggs101/smoker.jpg

5lb 0oz Blackwater Rainbow
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j20/Kelloggs101/5lb.jpg

More to come as the winter progresses!

[stitch]

That's a lunker!

[hillclimber]

Beauty fish!! How do you like your ice cube shelter? Are they any good? Was thinking of picking one of those up or might just make my own. And if you don't mind me asking how much did you pay for it.

Cheers
Stefan

[RBooth]

Thanks stitch! He battled like a champ!

Hillclimber,
The 2person Ice Cube is excellent! It's ideal for 1 or 2 average sized persons. Very easy set up, takes 1 person just a minute or two to set it up. Comes with a very nice carrying case. You can not stand up in the 2 man without being hunched over.

I have used 3 and 4 mans and they are very nice for the extra room but not without sacrafices. They take longer to set up and you need to clear more snow off the ice. Some of the bigger ones (Eskimo 3man in particular) come with poor cases that are hard to get the tent back into when it's cold, iced up and snowed on. They're great if you have some big buddies (like 250lb guys that take up more room than some of us!) that come along with you or if you fish with more than 1 partner a lot.

I think the 2man ice cube is around $190.

I'm very happy with it. They're quite durable and should last many years if taken care of. I've had mine since since january and it had a ton of use.

[hillclimber]

Thanks for the review. I usually fish with 3 people so I guess I'll have to get the bigger one.

[d6dan]

Nice fish RBooth!. Doesn't look like your fishing too far from shore?..Looks good man, keep it up!..cheers..

[RBooth]

I've done all my fishing this year in less than 15 feet of water. Mainly 6-10feet. Deep water can sometimes produce some monster rainbows from my experience in january last year. In that picture I was in 7' of water fishing the bottom 2 feet.

[Chuck]

Wow! those are nice looking fish and a three pound brookie yet.
I've never seen one quite that big, but I have to ask how do they taste?
Are they at all muddy flavored?

[RBooth]

Wow! those are nice looking fish and a three pound brookie yet.
I've never seen one quite that big, but I have to ask how do they taste?
Are they at all muddy flavored?

Are you asking how the big brookies taste Chuck? They're just as delecious as the little guys. I've never had a complaint cooking them for anyone. The size shouldn't make a fish "muddy." That normally comes from fish that are in a eutrophic lake (that which is nutrient rich, generally shallow, and high hydraulic residence time) in the late summer months. From now untill June you shouldn't be finding any "muddy" fish, regardless of size. If you hook into a good sized brooky, definately keep him if you're looking for a meal (very good smoked as well as fried/baked/BBQ's!).

In short, Not at all muddy flavored!

[Chuck]

Just curious RB, as I was of the opinion that many of the shallow lakes located from a point near Princeton and somewhat straight northward (including the Kamloops area) up to approximately Quesnel; and that produced nice sized fish may well be muddy tasting. Nobody could eat them - hence the nice size.
I've never been able to understand the reason why they were muddy, and nobody I've ever spoken to could give me a logical reason; though I've heard everything from snails to alkali water being responsible.
When I lived at Dragon Lake near Quesnel, the beautiful rainbows in that water were so bad tasting, even when caught ice fishing, I actually gave up on them, as I wasn't interested in wounding or killing a fish I wouldn't eat. I do recall that the lake was absolutely alive in summer with every sort of creature and quite warm, which may well have accounted for the fish's good size.
We do have some warm lakes around here and cool streams with brookies, but you'll never see a three pounder - very rare indeed.

[fester]

Awesome!!!!!

[fester]

I meant to ask if you are into divulging secrets. I have spent time fishing in the loops. My inlaws live there and he fishes red lake. He uses a specific fly and looks down the hole and has moderate success. Any suggestions??
Or hints??

[sawmill]

Sight fishing RULES!That`s why I have a popup shack,you can see the fish down the hole.If you can see them lots of times you can B.S. the finniky ones to bite.

[BigfishCanada]

Red lake can be awesome one day,then slow the next. I suggest having a ton of options, I have fished for hours, trying different things, then found what worked that day and man, couldnt keep them off my line!!

The only secret I have is, you ready..........its staying at my cabins and enjoying red lake to the max!!!

Ad me to your facebook likes:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22146476864#!/pages/British-Columbia-Canada-lakefront-Cabins-near-Kamloops/145712506522

and check me out on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/CanadianCade

And the ice is hard!!!

[fester]

Red lake can be awesome one day,then slow the next. I suggest having a ton of options, I have fished for hours, trying different things, then found what worked that day and man, couldnt keep them off my line!!

The only secret I have is, you ready..........its staying at my cabins and enjoying red lake to the max!!!

Ad me to your facebook likes:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22146476864#!/pages/British-Columbia-Canada-lakefront-Cabins-near-Kamloops/145712506522

and check me out on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/CanadianCade

And the ice is hard!!!


Awesome I like your style, shameless self promotion.

[RBooth]

Here's a couple more from this year!

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j20/Kelloggs101/Winter2010IceFishing-TomJan7th023.jpg
5lber

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j20/Kelloggs101/Winter2010IceFishing-TomJan7th016.jpg
A Spawner in winter... Odd!

[Caribou_lou]

Sundbourg says he uses fish that size for bait!!

Nice fish. I will be posting some pics in a month or so after I start going for lake Trout.

I might be wrong but I think when you catch spawners in the winter it most likely means they dont have a creek to spawn in on the lake. Catch any egg bound females?