First Ice

I finally cracked and got out there. I haven't been fishing for ages so I headed out to Frontenac Pond to see how the panfish bite was going. I had a pretty bad throat infection, so rather than risk giving it to my co-workers around Christmas I elected to stay away from work to give them a break, but I was too bored to just sit around the house.

I got on the ice about lunch time and it was at least six inches thick. Snow-mobiles and four wheeler tracks were everywhere so I knew the snow was safe for me to walk on. Belle (my youngest dog) and I pulled my sled out to the first drop off and drilled a few holes. I slipped my waxworm covered jigs down the holes and began the search. After drilling several hole I finally struck a reasonable bluegill. I quickly rebaited, then waited.................and waited...................and waited. Turns out it wasn't the hot hole I'd been looking for. One of the other holes gave me some information though. There was plenty of green weed coming up.

Belle and my sled full of Goodies


I drilled plenty of holes through the afternoon but only struck five bluegill. Finally Belle and I gave it away just after 4pm. There had been nobody else on the ice all afternoon (a bad sign) and a couple of guys had just come out onto the ice to start. Still, it was a nice sunny afternoon and the dog had been in desperate need of some exercise. Not exactly a stellar afternoon of fishing but at least I'd gotten out.

A shot of the upper end of the Lake (looking North)