Nip delivers great first weekend
Nip opened on the 1st of January for ice fishing but due to the weather was only suitable for walk-on. I like to fish the south shore and there is no way to walk as the areas i hit are 10 to 20 km from the nearest access at Wade's Landing on Fish Bay at the bottom of South Bay. So decided to give it a try this weekend. I knew there were still some dicey spots on South Bay due to the all the islands and channels with current but was hoping the forecast cold would address some of that. So the plan was to head up Thursday at lunch and go over gear on Thursday and than fish Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Well work took longer than expected and than the jack on the trailer was pooched so had to run buy a new one and install it and than the lights on the trailer didn't work. Was positive the lights were a ground issue so did a down and dirty quick fix by bonding some #12 twist cooper to the trailer frame and than bonding it directly to the bumper - had no plans to unhitch the trailer for the weekend anyways. Ready to go - new jack and extra ground wire:
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One minor issue on the mile long ride in to the cottage:
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Did not get to the cottage until midnight so did not finish going through the gear until noon on Friday. At noon i headed over to Callander Bay as i knew the ice there was good enough for the sled. Never fished it before but parking is easy and free and looks to be very popular as can you walk on and be over fishable water in less than 1/2 mile. Staked out my 100 square feet in the seasonal shanty town and was fishing by 2 pm. Later than planned but got sidetracked helping an older gentleman pull out his seasonal hut. His trail sled wanted no part of pulling it. Skandy pulled him out no problem. Friday's view:
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Fishing Friday was slow with just 2 walleye in the last 30 minutes. Both were +/- 14 inches. Saturday morning it was cold and clear. Decided to head back to Callander as I was hearing reports of 3 to 9 inches of ice on South Bay. 9 inches is fine but 3 inches was not something i was happy to hear. Temperature Saturday morning in the parking lot at Callander:
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A few pike and lots of perch were hitting steady all day. About mid late afternoon walleye joined the party and managed 6 eyes. Most were again right around the 14 inch mark but one was 16 inches and in the slot so he came home.
Sampling of Saturday's fish:
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Saturday night as i was packing up a young lad approached me and explained his tracked Honda ATV had broken down and he and his girlfriend were stranded on the ice and was wondering if I could help. I said sure just let me finish packing up and we will head over and take a look. Got over there and the uber reliable Honda was not happy. I hooked up the Honda to the back of the Skandy with a tow strap, hooked my toboggan to the back of his ATV and than hooked his two Smitty sleds to the back of my toboggan. Than told him to get on the ATV and said his girlfriend was riding with me (she was not happy with him and frozen solid). Towed the whole conga train all the way back to his truck. Tried to take a pic in the dark but didn't really turn out:
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Sunday morning dawned sunny and -24 so i decided to head to Fish Bay and talk to some of the operators. I saw a post on Facebook indicating they were hauling bungalows out so that made me optimistic. Operators indicated that they had 9+ inches on their haul route and as long i followed it out past the islands and channels i would be fine. So that's what i did. Headed 14 km down the south shore (actually 16 km as staying on the haul route added 2 km). The last 7 km i never cut another track or saw any other huts or fisherman. Peace and quiet like that is priceless - different world than the Callander shanty town. View along the shore:
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Fishing was very slow to start with just one lonely perch and one walleye by 4 pm. Between 4 and 430 2 more walleye. Than nothing until 510 pm when all hell broke loose with 7 walleye in 20 minutes. Included 2 double headers, a 17.5 inch slot keeper and lastly a 24 inch tank that tangled my jigging rod line with my dead stick line. Got him back in the water looked at the tangled mess and called it a day. Sampling of Sunday's Fish - the 17.5 inch slot eye and an 11 inch perch that both came home:
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So weekend totals:
18 walleye - two slot keepers and a 24 inch, balance were +/- 14 inches
4 pike - all 15 to 18 inches
8 perch - one 11 inch kept
1 tracked Honda ATV
1 seasonal hut
Ice thickness:
- Friday 9.5 inches, 8 black, 1.5 white
- Saturday didn't measure
- Sunday 13 inches, 10 black, 3 white
