Previous Next

We fished Fernan after trying Hayden (no ice on southern end) and Avondale (only dink perch). We had never been on this lake before, so set up shop about 100 yds east of the boat launch where there was a friendly game of broom hockey going on. Ice was a very healthy 9-10" thick. It was smooth and snow-free, so very easy to haul our sleds of gear. I had my ice cleats on my Sorels but my buddy struggled a little bit without them.

We didn't have any bites at our original location, but we talked to a very nice older gentleman who said they'd fished under the powerlines where they have good luck trolling. He had who I assume who was his grandson with him, and he'd been busy -- he'd drilled a series of holes (manual auger) from near shore toward the middle of the lake. We tried most of them, and just about the time we were about to pull up and head home, I caught a nice 12" (approx, didn't measure) rainbow. Sure was fun seeing that silver flash under the ice, i thought I'd caught another perch because the fight was so light. I slid him back into the hole to fatten up.

Great first day out on the ice this season! Beautiful weather, about 25-30, even some sunshine. Only a very light breeze, so it was glove-free most of the day.

P.S. I couldn't find Avondale in the lake list so I just wanted to report we tried that lake as well. Ice there was also a very good 9-10" thick. We only landed 2 dink perch about 4", but to be fair neither of us knew this lake at all and just dropped lines where we saw some old holes, assuming (hoping?) that somebody else knew what they were doing.

P.P.S. The south end of Hayden was nearly all ice-free. Somebody at Avondale told me you need to fish the north end, where it does freeze and people do ice fish. Will try that next weekend.