Spring Ice Fishing Trip

Ice Fishing in Sunset Country, Ontario

One of the perks of being Executive Director of the Travel Association, are the invites I get to experience what we have to offer here in Northwestern Ontario. A great winter experience is ice fishing. I was lucky enough to have Kenora area guide Jeff Gustafson ask me to go try an evening out on the ice.

Getting out there around 5:00 PM the fishing was good right from the start. There were 6 of us fishing - Jeff and I, Jeff's dad, two friends from Minnesota and another local like me. Just about as soon as I arrived one of three "pop-ups" set with a cisco and targeted

at big pike sprung up. I had the honour of pulling in the fish - a small northern this time - unlike the 15+ pound fish they had caught the day before. While this was going on, one of the Minnesota anglers pulled in about a 10 pound lake trout - in the same area. This was followed by some large walleye, one over 28 inches. This all paled in comparison to the 40 inch lake trout pulled in by the lone lady angler on the ice - what a fish!

Here I am with the 27 inch walleye I had the opportunity to pull out of the ice. I really thought the fish would have fought harder given its size. She was beautiful and after this picture, I returned her back down the hole and into the lake. Needless to say the pace of the action was crazy from the get go - and a tremendous amount of fun! Thanks to Jeff Gustafson for the great day on the ice.

Ice Fishing was a great way to end this year's winter. Now it time to start planning your 2010 summer vacation.

Ice-out trout fishing - a ritual of Spring in Northwestern Ontario

Get out and Spin Cast for Lakers

As the ice slowly melts away (and boy is it taking its time this year), the ritual known as ice-out trout fishing is set to commence. Arguably one of the seasons most enjoyable fishing pursuits, fishing for lake trout just after the ice goes out is a real treat. Normally, these fish are down deep below the first and often second thermocline any where from 50-100 feet below the surface. While you can still catch them fairly easily at these depths (with the right equipment and a little know-how), it is just not the same as spin casting for them in 10 feet of water.

The charm of this time of year is there is NO thermocline on the lake right after ice out - the temperature of the water is uniform throughout the water column and the lake trout can roam at any depth they choose. At this time of year you don't even need a boat to catch lakers, just cast your line from shore and you may have a 10-pounder bite your hook. While what lure to use is often a personal choice, we recommend you have lots of "flash" in your presentation - silver and gold are probably the best choices but bright yellow or black and silver combos also seem to work well. You may also want to rig up a spinner "train" and put a frozen cisco on the end of the line - the lake trout just can't seem to resist it!

Whatever rig you decide to use, the idea is to just get out on the lake for the first time after a long winter, enjoy the warmth of the sun and catch a big fish. These ice-out lakers have beautiful firm meat and they taste excellent when you have them for shore lunch. There are many great trout lakes in Ontario's Sunset Country so finding a place to go fishing will not be a problem. Many camp owners still have good cabin availability in the latter part of May so it is not too late to book your ice-out trip for 2008. If you want to access some great trout lakes then we recommend you check out this list of tourist outfitters who can set you up quickly so you can catch these critters.

Ice-out trout fishing is just one of the many reasons anglers from across North America and even Europe visit Sunset Country. We really are Canada's premier fishing destination when you consider the number of lakes we have (70,000+), the multiple species of fish you can catch here - trout, walleye, bass, muskie, pike, crappie, whitefish, sturgeon - and the natural beauty of the area. We are relatively close to home for all you fishermen from the U.S. Midwest so if yyou've got the time this spring we've got the fish - c'mon up!