Ice Wrap Up
That’s it for me on this year’s ice season. Pictures on my phone keep popping up Grand Traverse Bay trips this time of year. It reminds me that this season is a little shorter than I’d like to it be but since we are at that point let’s hope it melts fast.
I closed out this season this year doing a few different things than normal. With the perch bite just not being all that much fun it left some time for experimenting. A walleye trip led to me catching my very first smallmouth through the ice. It pushing 5 pounds which made it well worth the wait to finally catch one. I will say there have been very few instances where I’ve ever had the possibility of intersecting one ice fishing. That led to an experimental trip of bass fishing through the ice. Let’s just say it was so good I’m not going to go into any details.
Another highlight was actually a trip on the east side of the state. We hit one of my old private lakes for some easy fishing. We had a little crew out for this one and it was going to be Mabel’s last trip of the year and she was finally going fishing with Grandpa again. It was going to be fun to get out with a buddy who I used to fish almost every weekend with and his wife who has been wanting to go all year. I’m glad someone finally convinced him to go ice fishing again and get Jess on the ice!
We couldn’t have asked for much more with the fishing or the weather. Mabel caught 5 different species bringing her total to 8 for the year. Not bad for a 3.5 year old. She was exhausted from the fishing, walking from hole to hole, taking breaks to pick up all the fish, and demanding to drag a sled on the walk back in. She really did great on the 5 trips we took this year and the fish should really be afraid for next season. We kept our trips short, fun, action filled, and heavy on the snacks. She’s got a few things figured out already like if we aren’t catching any or seeing any on the Humminbird it is time to move holes. We’ve tried to fish out of the shanty a couple times but it has been apparent she would rather be outside and moving around. Of course we also haven’t been out in any brutal weather.
I also got out for a quick trip with the Dead Drift Social crew to end the year. Ice conditions were deteriorating so we just hit an easy access spot with a lot of small perch. The fishing ended up being exactly like I expected but we all caught a bunch and had a great time. On the way out I could make it through 8 inches of white is with 4 spud hits. That was enough for me this year and it is time to get all the Clam Outdoors gear cleaned up and put away until next season. I’m certainly sad to see it go but I’m also ready to get the boats out and switch gears.