Well, we did it. My partner in crime and I finally went ice fishing on Simcoe. We stayed with Canadian Trophy Fishing Adventures run by Aaron Farbychuk. We spent four days in his ice bungalows. Not only is CTFA very reasonably priced but relative to other bungalows we saw this was like staying in the Taj Mahal. We had tons of room, a sink, a stove, pots, pans, utensils, a BBQ, comfortable beds and even a TV/DVD/Digital Antenna to watch hockey on. Roughing it we were not. Aaron was great. He stopped by a couple times a day to bring us minnows, propane for heat, gas for the generator and to shoot the breeze. We were fishing for perch our first three days and we didn’t catch too many but according to the MNR survey guy who dropped in, neither did anyone else. But we did catch (and release) a bunch of herring. It was warm and comfortable and we will definitely be going back next year. Since the perch fishing was slow we asked Aaron if we could spend our last afternoon fishing for lakers from one of his day huts. He was happy to oblige. His day huts are top notch as well, roomy, well insulated, well lit and warm with extremely comfortable van seats from the local wrecker. We only got a couple hours of laker fishing in before it got dark but we did alright, three follows and two fish. My pal Dave and I each landed our first lake trout. I got a nine pounder and Dave got a fifteen. What a blast on little ice fishing rods. Also, I have discovered using a Vex flasher is my new favourite video game. I could (and did) play that game for hours straight. Thanks Screwbs for the hookup. The underwater camera we brought was a hoot too. Some neat stuff happens under the ice at night. I had no idea there were so many gobies in Simcoe. Four days later my liver said uncle and we made the long trek back to London. I am really looking forward to getting out on BOQ with Aaron and CTFA this summer to chase big pickeral. What a riot, I can’t wait until next ice season. On second thought, after looking outside today, maybe I can.
