Amidst a winter of unbearably warm weather hampering outdoor winter activities, Dad and I took advantage of a narrow weather window this morning to get in a quick trouting trip. We headed West to Whitbourne to an area of country near the old Sooley family cabin which was recently sold.

Weather today was unseasonably warm (as well described in my 2022 Brutal Winter article) and skies clear, although the forecast called for rain after lunch.

I took Project Foreman and Dad was piloting his recently purchased 2016 Can Am Commander side by side as we rode in the transmission line trail in search of open water to cast a line.

We didn't have to travel far as there was lots of open water at Highwaters. We cast from shore using bait and spinner but didn't have much success.

We've had a lot of rain this winter and although flood conditions have subsided, all bodies of water are top high making most water crossings deeper than they usually are.

Dad loves his battery powered Stihl chainsaw and always keeps it in whatever vehicle he's operating. It's great for cutting firewood for a boil-up or clearing a trail obstacle such as this downed tree.

On our way back towards the trucks we decided to check out one last pond. The ice near the access point for bikes looked sketchy so we walked though the woods and through our old fire pit clearing. I measured the ice and found a consistent 4-5" of good ice across one of our favourite fishing spots.

Since the forecasted wet weather was holding off we decided to take advantage of this rare opportunity to ice fish this season and set a few lines. The ice was plenty safe to walk on, but we left the machines and even our boil-up gear back on solid land. It was by a wide margin the least amount of ice I've ever ice fished through!

With lines set I began to cook up a feed starting first with boiling my Kelly Kettle.

The beauty of my Automatic Hook Setting ice fishing rigs is that they are easily and safely monitored from sore, a welcome feature this trip! I now have a full set of three of these rigs made, I keep a couple traditional fishing lines in my kit now for spares in case something breaks. The auto hook setters have certainly proven their worth.

Throughout our stay we managed to catch three keepers and a bunch of small trout which we put back.

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Meanwhile lunch preparations continued, Dad supplied the grub and I cooked. On the menu today were some of his Italian moose sausages we made last fall, and a tin of beans cooked on my MSR Superfly gas stove.

My mid afternoon the forecasted rain arrived so we packed up our gear and headed back to the trucks.

We were pleasantly surprised and very grateful to not only get a rare opportunity to ice fish this season due to poor weather conditions, but to be healthy and able to spend such quality time together.

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith