The previous weeks, my oldest son and I met up with Kastmaster and hoped to find some perch in the Rainbow Bay area, and we did, but not in any numbers – and of those that were not suffering from lock jaw were not boasting about size... However, we had this graceful companion join us. Perhaps coming so close hoping for a handout, but we just weren’t willing to part with the single 19” rainbow available at the time. How unpatriotic of us. However, when we returned to a previous spot, a perch that couldn’t power down that was left accidentally on the ice had somehow vanished. Bon appétit feathered friend.
This time we tried by the island hoping to get into trout numbers like 3 weeks ago, but found no joy. The 5 or so groups also in the area didn’t do any better. It wasn’t surprising that their dead sticking and reading a paper tactic was less successful to our attentive fishing. Our Vexilars helped us know where to put our lures as lone fish would come thru mid depth from (22’ deep ) where we were fishing. Wow, it’s sure been fun the way these DC rainbows have been testing or line strength this year!
To my astonishment, my more impatient second son wanted to go out – so I pulled the double duty and went again on Sat with him. (Gotta love solo trips with one of my boys!
)
This time I was thinkin’ I had to get into some numbers to feed his
interest – so I thought Pineview. (The whole family pulled out large
numbers near Cemetery Point a couple times earlier in the year, but
hadn’t gone back due to the lack of worthy dinner guests.) We arrived about 9:30 AM on Sat. (No reason in my mind to punish kids with the sentiment that there’s a need to be there at crack of dawn…) Definitely a day for sunscreen, but the edges were solid as could be for the happy throngs that had the same area in mind. Boy the wafts of cookin’ in the air was a mighty inviting as we walked thru the very party atmosphere. But, I wondered if the fishies were joining the festivities – with a football game of teens going on over their heads. As we walked by and talked with those we passed, it appeared that the congregations may have been strictly above the ice.
We continued on to the West, wondering if we’d do better being more anti-social. Drilled a couple holes and if the ice was any deeper – my Strikemaster wouldn’t have been long enough… I pondered… what story I could tell my wife that would convince her that a power auger was a need and not a want? (Suggestions welcome.
) We saw fish, but we had a hard time hooking up these reeeeeeally light biters. Got on the walkie talkie and asked Icerman how he was doing near Browning Point, as we’d arranged the night before. One word came across the airwaves “HOT”. I sighed deeply as I considered the long walk across the lake – but I just couldn’t disappoint my young son, so we hightailed it over there. Huffing and puffing in transit, I asked Icerman to have some EKG paddles charged and ready upon my arrival, juuust in case.
Icerman was kind and generous enough to surrender his honey hole AND his pole and my 11 year old – who had the time of his life. Fortunately, it wasn’t too much of a sacrifice, as all of our holes produced pretty much until the sun went behind the mountain in the evening. We had many doubles in the day.
You might hear the “fish story” that “There were so many fish that we caught two on one hook.” But we have photographic proof!
And a close-up.
After the hours drew on, my son made an amusing comment “I’ve seen bugs bigger than these fish.”
My boy kept right at it to see if he could catch 50 fish, 37 had been the previous family record - and he dashed that. He’d caught 82 by then end of the day. I wasn’t far behind him, but lost track as I was trying to keep his hook baited with waxies, perch eyes and flesh. An orange and black tear drop ice fly worked well for him. And my hand made Hali types and ratfinkies worked just as well. OK, so only TWO of the day were “keepers,” but we weren’t complaining.
We wondered... “What if we could take all those fish and make one biggun’.” Perhaps it would be something like THIS!
WHEW!!! Honey, I’m DEFINITELY gonna need a big power auger!
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