Well I was indeed fortunate enough to have some time off before the big Christmas rush and what better way to spend it, than to get out on the ice. In these parts it's not often that the ice is safe prior to Christmas so we decided to make the most of it. 
On Saturday I hooked up with Salmon north-east of Kitchener for a morning of fishing. I was going to bring the finesse gear and give it an early season shakedown. The ice was a solid 5"+ and the prey was the elusive Crappie... Not much Crappie on the radar screen, but there was a token OOS Smallie (4 this year
) and Salmon was picking on the Panfish.Yes ladies, his hands are that big.
and another, look at the bend in that rod...
The exercise was definetly needed... Thanks!
Today, we decided to hit a small lake near Cambridge. This time I decided to forgo the finesse gear and go Pike fishing. Armed with my patented heavy duty rod holder some of you have already seen (below) and a windlass tip up.
The good news is that both got fish.
In fact, I managed to ice three Pike today, only one of which was actually hooked. (Gotta love Pike
)It seems that finesse was not the order of the day. One rod had a pickerel rig with a wire leader to a single hook, the other, an egg sinker to a wire leader with a single hook, and 4-5" Minnows on each.
Thanks for the company and the fellowship Salmon, it was a great weekend to be on the ice.
Legend
