Report: In search of rainbows
Report: In search of rainbows
I've hit the ice more this year than i ever have before ... It's certainly a lot more work but can be equally as rewarding. I've been in Ottawa for just over three years so i dont exactly have a honey hole yet (for any species) but have managed a lot of exploring.
In terms of weather this past Sunday (the 29th) was the kind of day on the ice that I dream about. It was sunny, warm, no real wind and hard packed snow - hell, it barely even mattered if the fish were biting! I've spent the winter targeting eyes and lakers ... but such a gorgeous day warranted something new - Rainbows!!
Two friends and I packed our gear and were on the water by 9am to embrace some sweater weather. Now i'm not experienced in targeting trout other than lakers and splake (which i target the same way) so we weren't sure about depth, or the required structure (ie on the weed beds or in the rocks ??). We started by drilling one hole each, three holes, (manually) which varied from roughly 8-18 ft of water. No luck for the first hour and half. Drilled two more holes at what we figured would be the 10-12ft range - managed to find some vegetation on the bottom which seemed promising so set up camp there and throw some tip ups in the original holes. Hour and half later still nothing. I drill two more holes and my arms are getting sore at this point. I've tried jigs of varying colour and weight with varying plastics, small spoons of varying colour, tossed down a bead head nymph over the weeds and am starting to get a little discouraged. Through all of this one of my friends hasn't moved or re-tied since he first sat down; of course he yells "FISH ON". You can tell this is a nice fish, and just as the head comes through the hole one guy gets his hands in, tries his best, but the line breaks. Well buddy who was holding the rode throws it aside and, moving faster than he's moved in hours, two hand bear scoops a 26" rainbow out of the hole.
This certainly gets all three of us excited. We all switch back to jigs with plastics that have been soaked in gulp and get to jigging. The one above was the best we saw all day but we ended up landing a few more and they all had some beautiful colours. Even managed a brookie.
Thanks for reading,
Ben
In terms of weather this past Sunday (the 29th) was the kind of day on the ice that I dream about. It was sunny, warm, no real wind and hard packed snow - hell, it barely even mattered if the fish were biting! I've spent the winter targeting eyes and lakers ... but such a gorgeous day warranted something new - Rainbows!!
Two friends and I packed our gear and were on the water by 9am to embrace some sweater weather. Now i'm not experienced in targeting trout other than lakers and splake (which i target the same way) so we weren't sure about depth, or the required structure (ie on the weed beds or in the rocks ??). We started by drilling one hole each, three holes, (manually) which varied from roughly 8-18 ft of water. No luck for the first hour and half. Drilled two more holes at what we figured would be the 10-12ft range - managed to find some vegetation on the bottom which seemed promising so set up camp there and throw some tip ups in the original holes. Hour and half later still nothing. I drill two more holes and my arms are getting sore at this point. I've tried jigs of varying colour and weight with varying plastics, small spoons of varying colour, tossed down a bead head nymph over the weeds and am starting to get a little discouraged. Through all of this one of my friends hasn't moved or re-tied since he first sat down; of course he yells "FISH ON". You can tell this is a nice fish, and just as the head comes through the hole one guy gets his hands in, tries his best, but the line breaks. Well buddy who was holding the rode throws it aside and, moving faster than he's moved in hours, two hand bear scoops a 26" rainbow out of the hole.
This certainly gets all three of us excited. We all switch back to jigs with plastics that have been soaked in gulp and get to jigging. The one above was the best we saw all day but we ended up landing a few more and they all had some beautiful colours. Even managed a brookie.
Thanks for reading,
Ben
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Re: Report: In search of rainbows
Beauty bows boys! Nice surprise spec too, gotta love it. My first trout ever way back was a bow through the ice thanks to Gord at bits and baits recommending gulp tiny minnows.
- Troutskiii
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Re: Report: In search of rainbows
Beauty late season Bows.... A bonus speck is always a treat, Sunday was a perfect day to be on the ice nice report!
Will be heading out this long weekend myself to chase some browns and specks before the ice is gone.
Cheers
Will be heading out this long weekend myself to chase some browns and specks before the ice is gone.
Cheers
Re: Report: In search of rainbows
Way to go Ben. Some nice fish there and one beauty. Got to love it when it all comes together. A great day on the ice for you guys.
Cheers
Cheers
Smitty
Straight shooter
Straight shooter
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Re: Report: In search of rainbows
Nice job fellas, nice 'bows and bonus speck!
E
E
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Re: Report: In search of rainbows
Awesome!!
There will be an influx of Great Grey Owls in the winter of 2017
Re: Report: In search of rainbows
Great report - some nice bows!!
- Walleye'm Fishing
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Re: Report: In search of rainbows
Beauty fish, congrats for icing those great looking fish!
Walleye'm fishing, you're sleeping.
Re: Report: In search of rainbows
Great looking rainbows!! It's VERY rare to see specks and bows stocked in the same lake in Ontario, but if that were the case than you got the needle in a haystack!
Re: Report: In search of rainbows
Gorgeous fish! What a great day on the water for you
Re: Report: In search of rainbows
Nice trout man .
Re: Report: In search of rainbows
Looks like one jumped the holding tank at the hatchery...
Nice fishin boys!
RJ
Nice fishin boys!
RJ
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Re: Report: In search of rainbows
Sounds like a blast man!
Fishing the St.Lawrence 12 months a year!
Re: Report: In search of rainbows
I had no clue that it was extremely rare to find both brookies and bows in the same water. I wish i had a photo that included the tail - would a splake make more sense? I was sure it was brook at the time but am second guessing myself now.
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Re: Report: In search of rainbows
Sometimes when stocking a lake a few fish might get mixed in with other species. Like RJ said a spec may have jumped holding tanks at the farm before stocking.
The tail is one good way to check between splake and specs but a lot of the time people will call a spec a splake just because it looks like there is a slight fork in the tail but when you spread it out it is a square tail. Usualy more with the bigger specs but I have a ton of pictures of smaller specs and their tails look kinda forked but the are naturally reproducing specs. Specs will usually have blue halos around their spots too, not sure about splake.
The tail is one good way to check between splake and specs but a lot of the time people will call a spec a splake just because it looks like there is a slight fork in the tail but when you spread it out it is a square tail. Usualy more with the bigger specs but I have a ton of pictures of smaller specs and their tails look kinda forked but the are naturally reproducing specs. Specs will usually have blue halos around their spots too, not sure about splake.