Canadian Redemption

We just arrived back at Crawford's Camp and and are sitting in the cabin reflecting back on another unbelievable day of ice fishing.  The day started early as we were greeted with a morning temperature of -3 degrees Fahrenheit with very little wind and a great "picture" sun.  What that means is today would be a great day to get some photos if the fish decided to cooperate.  The good news is they did!

Spot one saw Matt Carlander and I set up on a Rocky point that produced three nice lake trout yesterday.  I must say, I had renewed focus today knowing that I had a lot of catching up today if I wanted to compete for the "most" part of our bet.  After getting set up we both agreed for being zero degrees out the sun sure made things feel warm and we both thought the trout were really going to be aggressive with the clear skies.  As it turns out they were, and it didn't take but 5 minutes and I tied into the first trout of the day, a nice 10 pound fish.  Once again we started the day off with a real quality fish and it was a good indication of the bite that would follow.

We continued to see trout after trout on the Humminbird's but struggled to get them to bite.  After trying numerous baits we both ended up going back to the Berkley Power Tubes and the fish agreed that that was a good call.  After 15 minutes more of intense jigging action I tied into another trout. This fish put up a battle that still leaves my right shoulder aching.   After a short 30 minute fight we iced a dandy 18.7 pound fish.  This giant trout has now set the bar pretty high for the "biggest" of the trip and I have a really good feeling I will be taking home the money with only 1 day left to fish.

After many trout, a few misses and several hook-ups we decided we should make the run to a crappie spot to see if we could tie into some slab crappies.  I have to admit, it is hard to leave active lake trout to go chase crappies, but we are here to see several different bites so we decided to pack up and make a run to the crappie hole.  After a short 15 minute run by snow machine we set up for a trophy crappie bite and the crappies decided they would cooperate and show us some great action.

Immediately after drilling holes Matt and I were both on nice crappies.  As countless monster slabs found their way to the ice, we both couldn't help but think of the next bite.  Once again the small demon jigging spoons tipped with a couple Berkley Gulp was the ticket.  I have to admit, despite the trout not liking Matt's offering today, he did have his way with the giant slabs.  Today Matt was King Crappie and I am ok admitting that because after today he is now behind in the "most" trout category of our bet.

After a great crappie bite we decided we would end the day on a secluded walleye spot.  Just like last evening we tore through 30-40 nice walleye to end the day and it was fun.  Most of the walleye we caught were in the 14-20 inch size range but still a lot of fun.  Well, chef Matt is telling me our "shore lunch" is done so I am going to go eat ANOTHER meal of fresh fish. We will be back tomorrow with some more great Lake Trout action from Canada!