12-12-2012, 07:33 AM
As I headed up the top this morning I really didn't like the look of the low hanging clouds on the mountain. I knew today would be an epic day adventure! As I started up the canyon the roads weren't bad at all until about 8000 feet. They became snow packed at that point so I took my time getting to the lake. I was really glad I brought the quad when I arrived at the entrance to the lake. The snow plows have plowed a lot of snow up right at the beginning of the dirt road. I backed up to the snow bank and unloaded the quad. Hooked up the sled and began riding to the lake. The snow wasn't deep for the first bit. As I rode down the road it was extremely hard to see with all new snow and snow drifts. The road has around 5" base with 6-12" of new snow with all the snow drifts. I recommend taking a snowmobile or ATV with aggressive tires or chains to get to the lake. I wouldn't try taking a truck to get to the lake now. I arrived to the lake and was really surprised to see all the open water. There is about 200 yards of ice on the north end that is 1/2" to 3" thick. The first couple of holes I drilled the ice was only 1/2 thick. I moved over to the north east corner and fished 11 feet deep with 2.5" of ice. The fishing was good from 9 to noon. From about 12:30 to around 3 the fishing slowed down. I Only caught a couple about every half hour after that. Caught a lot of smaller tigers with and a few bigger ones as well. I only brought in 3 cuts all day. I sure was glad that I took the ice shelter today, it was a very cold windy day. The clouds finally lifted and burned off around 2. I fished for another hour and decided to call it a day. The fishing wasn't super fast but It sure was a good time for the first hard deck trip at E-lake. If the temperatures stay cold It will probably another couple weeks for the ice to cover the north end completely.
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