It felt so good to be back on frozen Lake Superior yesterday with my long time college pal Howie, that we went again today. I hadn’t been on Superior in 35 years but here I was for a second day in a row. And we didn’t need the ice shelter, today was a glorious calm sunny day. So nice that Granny came with.
We fished near the old Ore Dock in Ashland. In fact we were right at the end. Its part of the massive Chequamegon Bay. At this location we are less likely to catch lake whitefish however there’s a chance at about everything else from pike to brown trout to smallmouth bass.
The sun indeed was out and the temperature rose to a splendid 50°. A few more days of this and the April ice fishing season will end fast. It was so warm that I jigged with my shirt off for at least a full hour. If you ask me, spring ice fishing is far cooler than spring skiing!
Fishing was slow however. That’s typical when its so nice out. We graphed a few fish on Howie’s fish finders but they hardly showed interest. It was slow enough that we had time to set out a few tip-ups with live minnows attached. Granny was stoked as this is her favorite. When a fish eats the minnow the flag pops up and you fight them in.
Well, as usual persistence paid off. One of the tip-ups caught us a 25” pike. Minutes later Howie managed to jig up this second pike. It should be noted that not only did Howie entice one of today’s finicky fish, but Howie landed this toothy critter on 10lb test without any wire!
Its been a short and sweet Wisconsin visit. Our goal when we got here was to find a house. It turns out the offer we made on a house has been accepted and now we need to wait on an inspection. Then if that goes well we close on May 14th and we will have a home again!
So instead of hanging out here, which we’ll have plenty of time for soon, we’ll leave in the Ruby Van for NH tomorrow. Then on April 15 I’ll head back to the Seychelles until early May. Stay tuned. Our adventures will never end!
Ha ha that was 6 pound test! just very lucky. Brad managed to catch a very fat 28″ pike on a panfish rod with 4 # test and a 1/2″ jig. Still hard to believe he landed that. He did fight it with some incredible back reeling. Looking forward to many more days on the ice with you guys.
Ahh 6lb – much more impressive, one head shake and that fish was gone! Don’t get too confident though, when you get the “fish you want” like a 40 inch plus, that light line aint gonna hold!
I went to college at northland back in the 70’s
March is great!
Sunshine and not so bitterly cold.
May is the best month
Starts with smelt
Then the northerns are up at the bridge at fish creek.
May is troublesome as the fishing is so great.
Walleyes in the white river
Trout too!
I caught a 9 lb brown perch fishing off the ore dock.
Go back in may brother!
HI Peter,
Thanks for the note! If we went to school the same years we’d have been best friends for sure. I followed the same path by calendar. I barely graduated due to the magnificent fishing. Its going to be cool to get back. I graduated in 87.
Loved reading your blog today. Looked like a perfect, cold day to fish!