The Nip Closer - always a good time.
So between work and some trailer issues i did not manage to get away until 930 pm (only 12 hours late LOL). Rolled up to the end of the cottage driveway at 1 am. Got the sled unloaded and loaded up the toboggan and headed down the 2 km driveway. Only 1 tree down to deal with on the way in which is better than average. Unloaded and got the wood stove roaring. Temperature inside the cottage was -7 on arrival. Took about an hour and a half to warm the place up enough to hit the sack. By that time it was 3:45 am. Slept in some and did not hit the ice until 1:00 pm. Got on the ice at Wade's Landing and headed for the Goose Islands. For those unfamiliar with the lake that is about a 35 km ride on the ice. Took it slow heading out as i wanted to recon for pressure cracks and pin them to the map so on the ride out in the dark i could minimize surprises. Ice was 26 inches at my pop up (22 black and 4 white).
About 8 km out from the landing i rolled up on a guy sitting in a lawn chair fishing next to his ATV. Stopped to make small chat and he got up to stretch his legs. About 30 seconds later he started to bob and weave like he was hammered except he was totally lucid and coherent. I asked him if he was okay and he said he would be fine he just gets these light headed spells every once in a while. He did not look good so i got off my sled and told him to grab the rack on machine to steady himself. He almost made it. He started to go down and i was close enough and fast enough to more less catch him and stop him whacking his head on the ice.
I asked him if he was conscious and he replied he was. I than asked him if he had a medical condition and did he want to call 911. He said no condition that he was fine and that it would pass. He gave me his wife's cell # and i called her. She was in their cottage about a 1 km away. I told her what was going on and she did not seem to fazed. I asked her if she wanted me to get him back to their cottage and she said that would be great. I unloaded the 82 inch Pelican and put my winter jacket in the bottom to make it a little more comfortable and managed to load the guy in. I than drove him slowly back to their cottage and helped his wife get him inside. The entire time he remained lucid and coherent just no muscle control. Makes me think their was a condition they knew about as they were not very concerned just thankful.
So anyways between that and starting late i didn't get a line in the water until 4 pm:
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Between 4 and 7 landed a dozen walleyes:
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Used a 1/3 oz red and gold Little Cleo tipped with 3 inch chub. Attached using a fastach that lets you put the shank of the treble through the gill like a stringer. Minnows almost never get stolen this way and if they do the heads get left behind:
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Had one double header where both me and the jaw jacker had a fish on at the same time. Day 2 was much the same with 11 walleyes and limited out by 1030 am and back at cottage by 1:30 pm (good thing as you see further down). Managed my 2 in the slot both days. Did not take too many pics on the ice as have been hearing too many stories about phones down the hole and my reflexes are not what they used to be and taking pics solo with fish flapping around is not my forte.
So i brought both sleds with me thinking i'd use a different one each day to try and use up the old gas in the tanks before the end of the winter. Well Monday after fishing i unloaded the Expedition in the dark after getting back and thought I'd piss around a bit in the bush in the dark to burn up a bit more gas. Well bad idea. I got it well and truly stuck. Went down a small steep hill that required 2 quick 90 degree turns at the bottom to get back out up a slightly larger steeper incline. Well at the base of the incline i had no speed left and promptly broke through the the crust into the soft stuff below trying to get up the incline. Very quickly the machine was buried up to the seat unable to go forward because of the steep incline and unable to backward because the rear was buried. At that point i said screw it and walked back to the cottage to deal with it in the daylight.
Almost dug out on Wednesday after i got back from fishing. Snow was about 2 feet deep in that spot. Dug out about 10 feet behind the sled to give myself enough of a run to get up the incline. Finished digging and was free after a 3 hour cardiac stress test. Apparently my 56 year old heart can still take it:
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Success:
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Back at the cottage at about 5 pm. Got the wood stove going and just poured a double of Forty Creek when there a massive rumbling and the building shook. All the snow pile on the roof about 18 to 24 inches deep had just slid off at once. The toboggan was over 20 feet from the roof edge and still got slightly hit. Pretty sure would have been a bad scene to be under that:
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Other than that an uneventful few days. 23 Walleye, 4 in the slot with 7 hours total with lines in the water.
