Friday, March 09, 2012 High temp 27F, Low temp 0F
Crawled out of the sleeping bag just long enough to get a fire going in the stove. Threw a small mug of water on the stove to start warming for coffee. After the tent had warmed up a bit it was time to get up for good. After leisurely breakfast I packed for a day of fishing.
Made my way west along the southern shore a quarter mile to a steep break. Punched a few holes with my trusty Nils hand auger. Dropped a tip up with a portion of cisco but didn’t get a single flag all trip-disappointing. Fortunately I had better luck jigging. Setup in 40-50 FOW and marked some fish near the bottom right away on my Marcum LX5 (love it!). I caught three lakers back-to-back-to-back to start the day off in pretty spectacular fashion. But these were little guys. This lake is known to me for numbers and small fish but even I was surprised how small they were-we’re talking 6-9”! But aggressive little boogers! The same pattern eventually yielded a couple keepers (15 and 18” respectively) and I lost a couple more that tugged pretty good before I lost them. Between Friday and Saturday I must have landed between 10 and 12 lakers-only the two keepers but if these small fish are an indication of natural reproduction (and they are-lake was last stocked in 2008 and none of the fish I saw had clipped fins) the future for this little lake looks good. Tried a battery of lures but a Lindy Rattlin’ Flyer Spoon 1/4oz tricked the most fish.
I was joined on the lake Friday by a nice group of fisherman who were staying at a nearby lodge and snowmobiled in. A dad, his two elementary school-age sons and another adult friend. My first keeper was the first fish they saw iced and they rewarded me with a nice venison stick-courtesy of a “big doe” the older boy shot! They offered me minnows. They also offered me shelter and supplemental heat. And they invited me to fish with them the following day. All very much appreciated even though I declined all but a minnow. Alas I had to head home early the following day so this would be our only day fishing together. Very much enjoyed their company-the young ones especially were a hoot. The third grader had the whole fisherman storytelling thing down! His dad told me not to believe a thing he said, but I’m giving the kid the benefit of the doubt.
Retired to the tent about sunset after gathering a little more firewood. Forgot to mention that the boys cut me some firewood too! Tent was nice and cozy, enjoyed some vittles and libations. Unfortunately blue skies throughout much of the day gave way to clouds in the evening-and overnight. No glimpse of the Northern lights tonight-shucks.
Woke up at 3am to a smoke filled tent. Wind had shifted direction 180 degrees and was now blowing directly down the chimney pipe feeding the fire which was now exhausting into my tent. The smoke smell from that ordeal might linger awhile. Tried to close the damper and intake vents completely but neither provided a great seal so smoke was still backdrafting into my tent. I hadn’t brought any extra piping (won’t happen again to this guy) but a tee or 90 degree elbow would have come in real handy about now. I repurposed my stoves sheet metal false floor and bent it into a u shape. Then I used some wire to suspend it over the end of the stove pipe without blocking the exhaust too much. Worked perfectly and restored order and heat to the tent. One hell of an improvise if I do say so myself-although with proper preparation (or a tight sealing stove-see my classified “want to buy” listing) this wouldn’t have been necessary. Still a rookie at this winter camping deal.