Thursday after work my son and i headed to the cottage for another planned 3 day trip on Nip. Plan was to fish Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday morning dawned sunny and about -16 so at 7 am we headed out for bait and then to the Government dock and headed for the Manitous. Weather forecast was for snow in the afternoon but looking at the expected hourly fall rates i wasn't too concerned - mistake.
Anyways we got set up and had lines in about 930 am. By 3 pm we had about 25 fish caught including a huge burbot taken on the Jaw Jacker with a Kokemachine mini-clapper. That 25 fish included a smaller (24 inch) burbot, one slot eye and 17 jumbos between 10 to 12 inches. The rest were under size and went back
The 34 inch burb:
The tiny hook set rather precariously:
Landing that guy was a team effort - my son had the rod and i was adjusting the drag in real time and then used the gaff to get him out of the hole.
Slot eye:
Typical perch:
At 1 pm on Friday it still wasn't snowing yet. Then i went out to take a pee just before 3 pm and i was greated with howling wind, heavy snow fall, and 0 visibility. My neighbor's seasonal hut which was only 25 yards from us was no longer visible at all. This was the view in every direction:
I told my son we are leaving now before it gets dark and becomes even worse. I got out the GPS and guess what - no satellite reception. So fall back plan - my Suunto orienteering compass that replaced my old Silva Ranger that got destroyed last year when i flipped the sled.
Rode 11 km completely blind and driving the machine one handed so i could watch the compass in my other hand and navigate. Took 1 hour and 20 minutes to cover the 11 km including crossing 2 pressure cracks completely blind. I ended up putting us on shore 300 yards south of the parking lot where the truck was parked - called it a win.
Friday night my son came down with Norwalk and spent the night puking. It was making the rounds through the family and fortunately i got spared. Saturday morning he was some better but we decided to take the day off and rest as honestly we needed it after the ride from hell on Friday - i smashed my left foot when we rode off a 4 foot drop blind at one of the cracks/ridges.
Sunday morning my son was feeling better and the swelling in foot had gone down so we headed out at 7 am to get bait and return to the Government dock. It was sunny and clear and forecast looked good this time - just cold. Was -28 air plus whatever wind when we left the cottage:
Fishing was much the same with about 25 fish. No burbot on Sunday but my son caught a beauty 23 inch eye:
Some pike entered the mix as well:
Sunny cold beautiful day:
Last highlight of the trip was this guy on the road this morning driving home:
Another great trip
