I was able to get my son to play hooky from school today so we headed up to Rat Lake with a good buddy. There were two or three feet of fresh un-tracked snow on the ground from the cattle guard to the lake so if you go, you'll definitely need your four wheel drive and maybe even the chains, otherwise I can pull you out next weekend when I get back up there. Today was beautiful high overcast at about 25 degrees. The water, well it’s frozen at about 18” thick which due to my son’s lack of patience at his first hole made for some great off track betting opportunities for me and my buddy. The bet was to see if my son could get through the ice with the auger without stopping. I lost; he had to stop three times to catch his breath so with him at 27 years old using a very sharp auger and being strong as a horse I would recommend using a power auger or bringing your very fit buddy or child to do your drilling. I actually had to cough up $5.00 for my second hole. I wasn’t able to teach him patience but he sure did learn how to make a buck. The Rainbow fishing was OK today with the three of us catching limits in about two hours using pink, orange and rainbow power bait. The trout are running about 12” to 14” and very healthy.