Fish-Hawk.Net

With the quads in tow and ice fishing gear packed, we headed into the high elevation lakes of La Belle province to target some of the most beautiful fish on the planet(In my opinion)the brook trout. It's been a tradition now no matter the weather or fishing conditions, trout opening weekend is spent in the woods clearing trail and fishing for these stunners with the lads. This year was a bit different. Lucky for us the only obstacle we encountered last weekend was ice on the lakes, and snow on the trail. 2011 we had ice on the lakes but not this much. Once we started climbing into the mountains the ice and snow was apparent.

Upon arrival to the first location it was clear we were ice fishing that day, but the shoreline were shot and ringed with open water. Kind of a discouraging sight to see but on to the next. Lac numero deux were able to get on. Its a big fish lake, I've seen some big speckles from this place and was excited to get a line wet. Some fellas in a Argo showed up and drove right across the lake lol. After a few hours with no bites my buddies were not having it and suggested we move on. Its a patience lake, I would have liked to have stayed a bit longer after the trophy.



Made the trek into one of my favorite lakes, it's a good ways in. 10 minutes after the noise settled from us setting up, Tom was into the first one of the day.



It didn't take long, I put my rod down for a second and almost lost it This beauty came up the hole... First one of the year, so it was RELEASED!



A few more pictures from the day..






With rain in the forecast on the Sat it would have been hairy trying to get on the ice again though I'm sure it would have been possible. Anthony and I opted to fish some streams and small creeks instead. I love walking these places for trout. You feel further away from civilization with every step.



The trout are always a bonus here. Its a tricky creek to maneuver and get your presentation in the path of feeding trout. Most of the time if you spook 'em there's no chance at them. They dart upstream with so much panic and speed any fish in their way get spooked too. I got skunked on this day but did see a bunch of trout. My brother lucked into a few to get his first trout of the season. Real beauties for this spot.




Anyone else make it out last weekend?

Andrew

Way to go Andrew. Good post. Looks like you had a great time and some nice fish to boot, specially that last pic out of the creek.
So how was the ice on that lake you fished? From the pics it looked ok.

Cheers

Nice pics! Looks like some good times guys and some fine troot to boot.

We were on about a foot of ice Smitty. 2'' of black ice with 10'' of white ice on top. Though the ice looked good in the pictures it was deteriorating quick and would have been considered unsafe by most. My mid-afternoon half the surface ice turned to slush. Most lakes had honeycomb ice and could not be fished. We had to bushwack a bit to access on a shaded shoreline. If we felt the ice was ok by the end of the day we would have gone back the next day.

great report Andrew you shure got some nice trout.

Nice work Tippy. I came back online just for this report....lol. Well worth the wait for sure. I am heading out Tuesday and Wed into the Ompah area for a fish. Anyone been out that way and is all the ice gone yet? I am assuming yes concidering all the flooding out towards Miss Lake!!

Nice work tip-up, sounds like a blast. Can't wait for opening day next fri at the camp. Thanks for sharing.

Great fishing, still waiting for a winter recap...

Man that looks fun... officially saving up for some quads.

E

lapointeric wrote:Man that looks fun... officially saving up for some quads. E

Eric you'll never regret that one. Some years they can be used for all 12 months. I use mine around the house all the time too. Cats azz.

The first thing you'll have to figure out (besides budget and new/used), is what your main use for the machine will be. For sure you'll want 4wd, even better if it's not full time and has hi/lo range. Independent suspension makes for a much nicer ride ( kinda wish I had it sometimes), but a solid rear axle is much better for pulling. Next thing is size. IMO, don't be fooled into thinking you need a big machine. I bought an older 350 Honda Fourtrax and I"m happy as hell. It's light enough that it can be moved around by hand. A 500cc quad these days is well over 600lb. Plus my quad fits in the back of the truck with the tail gate up which is a bonus. And a smaller machine is more maneuverable in the bush.

So lots of things to consider, but one thing is guaranteed, you'll have lots of fun and freedom with your "new to you" toy. Don't be shy to buy a used machine, if it has lower mileage and doesn't look abused you can find some good deals. Just make sure to do your research first. I got lucky with mine. The most often used term on all the forums I checked was "bulletproof." It had newer tires and the price was great so it was an easy decision.

Good luck with it. Cheers

Great report and fishing!

Looks like an awesome trip right there!

Beauty fish from beauty places Andrew. Good to see you and your brother keeping traditions alive. A solid team out there for catching pretty well everything that swims.

Only a few can enjoy this kind of fishing as much as we do Bunk. The preparation and work in order to claim the prize is all part of the fun. Really looking forward to chasing more speckles in the upcoming weeks, only thing that may stop us are the bugs. Those little pricks are going to be wicked this year

Nice opener!
I'm heading out this coming weekend....
After seeing the opening weekend ice still fairly solid, I'm hoping ~2 weeks is enough to melt off the rest. Been enough rain and warm days... God, I hope... I'm bringing a boat!
Haven't seen it set solid this late ever I think....