An Adventure
We’ve returned home from our up north trip and some uncharted waters. I now know why there is no information on ice fishing Elk Lake…no one was fishing it. It was a little lonely out there and I didn’t mind one bit.
My main goal was to try and find a burbot and Friday night was going to be my big chance. I picked a road end access point and got started before dark so I could safely navigate the ice. I had no idea what conditions would be like so I would be spudding my way out. I headed south trying to get to this big point but some different ice down that way looked like it might prevent me from getting there. Sure enough I found stuff that was 1 spud hit so I elected to responsibly turn around and go fish on the 5-8 inch ice closer to the road end.
The contours weren’t ideal here but maybe I’d get lucky. I got a couple tip ups out and drilled a ton of holes getting ready for hole hopping. It sure started to seem like a lot of work at the time especially since there might not be a burbot anywhere near here. To make a long story short I marked 0 fish and got 0 bites on the tip ups. At least I got my exercise in moving stuff around in the darkness.
Saturday morning was going to be a quick fishing trip so we got the crew all ready and the million things we needed to have a fun trip on the ice. These trips have different goals than a usual search and destroy fishing mission. Instead the focus is on snacks and making the entire experience a fun one. It ended that way but it certainly didn’t start out that way. We decided to go set up on Skegmog and catch dink perch because it would at least be some action. However while getting both girls out of the car we realized that June’s boots were back at the house in Elk Rapids. It’s always best to realize things are not going to work before they get out of their car seats. That wouldn’t be the case here and meltdowns ensued as we packed back into the truck. After a couple tense minutes we all took a deep breath, calmed it down, and came up with a plan B.
We definitely weren’t driving back to Skeg and time was getting short because of naptimes and lunch. Quickly grabbing June’s boots and heading back out on Elk would be the plan. It certainly seemed like the dead sea but at least if we caught something it would be unique and we knew the ice was safe. With renewed excitement we once again got out of the truck and this time headed out onto the ice. First order of business was setting the Clam hub up and getting things set up for Amanda and June. I also dropped a couple rods set up for burbot in while Mabel and I went and set up a couple tip ups.
Upon returning to the shanty I was shocked to be marking a fish right on bottom. After playing cat and mouse with this fish for 5 minutes I could never make it bite. Amanda said one of the rods bounced while she was setting things up for June. That fish acted like a burbot so we were certainly off to a good start. Mabel wanted to stay out of the shanty so we popped some more holes and started fishing. We marked another fish that also seemed like a burb and never bit. We checked another hole and after a short time jigging a P-Line Laser Minnow marked another fish. This fish was moving a little faster and certainly seemed like a laker to me. I kept the spoon moving quickly further up and it would charge the jig then not bite. There was no doubt it was a trout, I just had to get it wound up enough to actually bite. The pressure was on and after a few tense moments we were hooked up. It was pretty exciting to flop that fish out onto the ice. Mabel had never seen a fish that big before ice fishing or a lake trout. We went any showed it to the girls in the shanty and then went back to see if there were more.
We took turns jigging for a couple minutes and then boom 2 fish were in the hole. One mark was noticeably bigger than the other and that one was after it. That one bit instantly and had some weight to it. Mabel was a little intimidated by that one and it came off before she got the rod. I had only had it on about 10 seconds so luckily the second fish was still there and willing to bite. Mabel had the rod and the chore of bringing this trout up from 100 feet. She’s 3.5 years old so this was going to be no easy task. It was tiring for sure and we got some bad slack in the line several times. She’s not really old enough or experienced enough to really coach on what to do. Just keep reeling and we will see what happens. The fish went nuts once it got close to the ice and she did a great job of hanging onto the rod and not getting pulled in. There was a little panic and I took over while we got control of the fish again. We could see the fish under the ice and she wanted the rod back to finish the job.
It was even more exciting to flop this one out onto the ice. Amanda and June had come out of the shanty to see watch it all too. 2 fish was a major success and we fished for a couple more minutes then headed home so June could nap.
One thing that was really interesting about these trout was the color of their meat. It was more like walleye meat than trout meat. Very translucent white and not like some of the Lake Michigan ones that can get white. Although many of the Lake Michigan ones I’ve recently cleaned have been a nice orange. It for sure has to do with their diet and these fish were eating deepwater sculpin and sticklebacks. I’d love to come back here and find out more about this fishery. It is definitely on the radar for an actual fishing trip next year. I think it would take a lot of work to crack the code but I also think it could be really worth it!