02-06-2010, 09:04 PM
Deer Creek 1 - me 0. Time for a rematch as I picked my son up from school and headed up Parleys again. I hoped the weather would be more favorable than the week before... Decided to try near the island again, (why not?) and noticed a half dozen groups fishing in the location when I spied a pull off area and thought I could save a few bucks by not going to the boat ramp. Cool.
I walked to the edge of the road and put my hands on my hips and took a deep breath. Nice to not be working. Hmmm... wind again, at least it wasn’t wailing like a banshee with gusts of snow burying my sled as before. But in trying to get down that steep hill to the ice it was all I could do to keep my sled from tipping over and rolling down the hill… One misstep and I’d be joining it… Maybe I’d be lucky and wouldn’t hit my noggin’ on one of the large boulders exposed out of the snow. (Note to self, maybe paying for the ramp access was worth it…)
The couple inches of water on the edges provided no challenges. Wondered where I’d try as I surveyed the area searching deep inside myself to summon a hunter's instinct to bless the day when OOOOH! a hole that’s already there, I’ll try it! 10’ deep. Left a few minute later and gave a silent two finger salute to another solo fisherman camped at that same depth.
Darn, someone was right near where my son bagged his foot long perch last time, so I remembered a path my brother drew on a map where he said he’d done well last Fall trolling. Found a spot where the ice was pretty clear of snow. Drilled into a couple inches of ice and broke thru to water and then another 6” of ice under that. I wonder if the soul “lost 10 pounds and all of it brown” when I saw the nearby snowmobile tracks that hit this area and broke thru the first layer of ice…
Almost 20’ deep, and nothing on the finder after about 20 minutes. “Man, I just want to catch a few good ones for dinner” I exclaimed to my son. I told him he needed to think more positively after his response. “Let’s try another spot” and as I stood up something came thru on the finder. I eyed down my pole and felt a hit! I set the hook, but not swift enough perhaps… And before my jigs settled back down my son did the same, icing a pretty nice bow at about 14”. First blood was ours.
[inline DC2-1.jpg]
We decided this wasn’t such a bad spot as fish kept coming thru fairly regularly, not fast, but we had near our limits and played catch and release.
[inline DC2-2.jpg]
What a thrill it was to have all these trout really put up a fight. I wondered if my next home-made poles should have another inch or so added to the handles given how this 16 incher and I crossed horns… err… fins.
[inline DC2-4.JPG]
Almost all of the congregation that joined us above the ice were about 2’ off the bottom on my homemade white with red eyes “ratfinkie” type jigs with what I call “nuclear glow powder”.
The other groups in the area left one at a time – guess they weren’t having the luck we were. I dunno who was in this hut, but the heavens must have considered to be pretty special.
[inline DC2-cloud.jpg]
I false hooked one right in the eyeball. “That musta hurt” I thought to myself as I marveled my luck at how I even got it out of the hole with all the trashing around in battle. Lots of blood on the ice to mark our spot after that.
I don't fish for trout often and and I'm not up to speed on the different types and wonder if anyone can help me, please. Obviously the fish on the bottom is a bow, but what of the others? They are darker than this photo shows, I've heard one call this a "male rainbow" - or are these something else with the different fins and head shape? The middle one kinda looks like I morphed the other two! [
]
[inline DC2-3.jpg]
We were grateful for the dinner guests. Didn’t want to be greedy, and I thought it would be nice to swing by my folks and give a couple to my dad who’s health won’t allow him to fish anymore.
[inline DC2-Dinner.jpg]
Deer Creek 1 - me 1. The score is now even.
[signature]
I walked to the edge of the road and put my hands on my hips and took a deep breath. Nice to not be working. Hmmm... wind again, at least it wasn’t wailing like a banshee with gusts of snow burying my sled as before. But in trying to get down that steep hill to the ice it was all I could do to keep my sled from tipping over and rolling down the hill… One misstep and I’d be joining it… Maybe I’d be lucky and wouldn’t hit my noggin’ on one of the large boulders exposed out of the snow. (Note to self, maybe paying for the ramp access was worth it…)
The couple inches of water on the edges provided no challenges. Wondered where I’d try as I surveyed the area searching deep inside myself to summon a hunter's instinct to bless the day when OOOOH! a hole that’s already there, I’ll try it! 10’ deep. Left a few minute later and gave a silent two finger salute to another solo fisherman camped at that same depth.
Darn, someone was right near where my son bagged his foot long perch last time, so I remembered a path my brother drew on a map where he said he’d done well last Fall trolling. Found a spot where the ice was pretty clear of snow. Drilled into a couple inches of ice and broke thru to water and then another 6” of ice under that. I wonder if the soul “lost 10 pounds and all of it brown” when I saw the nearby snowmobile tracks that hit this area and broke thru the first layer of ice…
Almost 20’ deep, and nothing on the finder after about 20 minutes. “Man, I just want to catch a few good ones for dinner” I exclaimed to my son. I told him he needed to think more positively after his response. “Let’s try another spot” and as I stood up something came thru on the finder. I eyed down my pole and felt a hit! I set the hook, but not swift enough perhaps… And before my jigs settled back down my son did the same, icing a pretty nice bow at about 14”. First blood was ours.
[inline DC2-1.jpg]
We decided this wasn’t such a bad spot as fish kept coming thru fairly regularly, not fast, but we had near our limits and played catch and release.
[inline DC2-2.jpg]
What a thrill it was to have all these trout really put up a fight. I wondered if my next home-made poles should have another inch or so added to the handles given how this 16 incher and I crossed horns… err… fins.
[inline DC2-4.JPG]
Almost all of the congregation that joined us above the ice were about 2’ off the bottom on my homemade white with red eyes “ratfinkie” type jigs with what I call “nuclear glow powder”.
The other groups in the area left one at a time – guess they weren’t having the luck we were. I dunno who was in this hut, but the heavens must have considered to be pretty special.
[inline DC2-cloud.jpg]
I false hooked one right in the eyeball. “That musta hurt” I thought to myself as I marveled my luck at how I even got it out of the hole with all the trashing around in battle. Lots of blood on the ice to mark our spot after that.
I don't fish for trout often and and I'm not up to speed on the different types and wonder if anyone can help me, please. Obviously the fish on the bottom is a bow, but what of the others? They are darker than this photo shows, I've heard one call this a "male rainbow" - or are these something else with the different fins and head shape? The middle one kinda looks like I morphed the other two! [
][inline DC2-3.jpg]
We were grateful for the dinner guests. Didn’t want to be greedy, and I thought it would be nice to swing by my folks and give a couple to my dad who’s health won’t allow him to fish anymore.
[inline DC2-Dinner.jpg]
Deer Creek 1 - me 1. The score is now even.
[signature]