toolman Posted November 26, 2007 Posted November 26, 2007 Looking at the weather forecast for the week, showing -15C etc. etc., marks the arrival of ice along the rivers. It got me thinking about my first season of winter fishing on the Bow River and reminded me of just how much I hated "Ice". That first winter, I fell through the ice, I fell onto sharp melting ice (30 something cuts on my arms/hands), I hit the hard ice, face first (minor concusion/black eye), I had the shelf ice break and dump me in the river (with a 22" Brown still on the line, landed of course), I had fish on the line that would run under the ice (and not want to come out), I had my leaders sheared off by the ice, I had fish wrap my line around floating ice, I had large sheets of drift ice almost hit/crush me when I was wading, I had my reel/line and rod ferrules freeze to solid ice after dropping it in the water when landing a fish, I had my net become frozen too the ice (don't lay wet nets on the ice in -15)...Ice even took away all my good fishing holes.... To say that I don't like ice, is an understatement....ice is my enemy...he should be yours too. Dam you Ice....Freeze in Hell. Quote
jonny5 Posted November 26, 2007 Posted November 26, 2007 Maybe you should hang up the fly rod some days and sharpen up the old auger... Sounds safer! Quote
Kyle Posted November 26, 2007 Posted November 26, 2007 ice is my enemy...he should be yours too. time to break out the auger and become friends with ice toolman shes frozen up nicely in the mountains Quote
toolman Posted November 26, 2007 Author Posted November 26, 2007 I'm sold guys...I've not ice fished for many years...time to look at alternatives. Quote
Brownstone Posted November 26, 2007 Posted November 26, 2007 Ice is the enemy..I lost a beauty deuce rainbow today because of ICE Quote
ladystrange Posted November 26, 2007 Posted November 26, 2007 hey greg, shouldnt that be damn you ice - melt in hell? just a thought hey when we doing the FFC ice fishing not so much derby more like ice fishing and drinking thing..? auger is sharp, gear is ready. Quote
Guest bigbadbrent Posted November 26, 2007 Posted November 26, 2007 ya i had a bad experience like that couple years ago, broke off a good size chunk of ice, that turned into a slide that launched me into the river and i ended up going for a swim, not so much fun when its -10 Quote
EdB Posted November 26, 2007 Posted November 26, 2007 time to break out the auger and become friends with ice toolman shes frozen up nicely in the mountains Kyle.you me and esleech should head out ice fishin some day. You fish at our lake ever? Need somebody from here to show me where to fish in there. Gonna buy an auger. wholesale sports has them for 75$ 6" hole. Quote
PlayDoh Posted November 26, 2007 Posted November 26, 2007 Its not Ice to an Angler, its Hard Water Quote
ladystrange Posted November 26, 2007 Posted November 26, 2007 it makes anglers feel better to say hard water, because it still makes it sound like water and not ice, but we really know that it is ice. sshhh, dont tell the anglers. we dont want to upset them Quote
EdB Posted November 26, 2007 Posted November 26, 2007 do you guys think that it is better to nymph in the winter or chuck streamers? or is there a diff. Quote
dryfly Posted November 26, 2007 Posted November 26, 2007 Nymph. Need to be in the zone and if they are snoozey they won't be chasing too much. I am speaking of the Crow. Hard to get a streamer right down in the troughs IMHO. Way more fun to nymph a smaller river anyway. Quote
esleech Posted November 26, 2007 Posted November 26, 2007 Kyle.you me and esleech should head out ice fishin some day. You fish at our lake ever? Need somebody from here to show me where to fish in there. Gonna buy an auger. wholesale sports has them for 75$ 6" hole. Sure dude! I've got a beauty pike spot close to town. PM me. Quote
EdB Posted November 26, 2007 Posted November 26, 2007 your aloud 2 lines when you ice fish now right. Was three the last time i went to upper Kanny. Quote
ggp Posted November 26, 2007 Posted November 26, 2007 I remember it like it was yesterday. In 1979 the winter was warm, as Januaries go, and the proprietor of the Fishin’ Hole on 9th Street told of a Bow River location down from the Western Co-op fertilizer plant that had big fish if you could throw a line 100'+. This was to induce me to buy a 9 weight shooting head which he couldn’t sell to anyone sane. It would go well with the 10 ½’ Lami broomstick I was carrying at the time, so I was told. Big boot foot Red Balls and all the clothes fit inside was the only way to stay warm. A girlie bicycle basket cut down and belted on to serve as the stripping basket, 30 pound mono would maximize distance. Following the directions to the location, I carefully waded in and began to chuck the line, count down and strip in. I was used to double haul casting from fishing on lakes in Jasper. The only fly necessary was a #4 black Marabou leech with a stinger. The absolute shock of a vicious first strike when using an utterly foreign technique cannot be conveyed. That first ever day on the Bow was significant, we had never landed so many big fish standing in one spot, refusing to move with our feet freezing numb. Word got around, some days where it was shoulder to shoulder, but you still had to throw it 100 feet to get past the seam. The rest of the winter I had a case of permanent claw hand and a burn mark on the index finger that never healed. After finishing school, I gave up fishing the Bow in winter. It took 20 years for me to return to winter Bow, and it was only fishing nymphs. Two weeks ago I got out my full sinking lake line and found a few of the flies from 25 years ago in the back of the tying drawer. Started chucking it at 22, Hullswood, Diamond. What a hoot, back to anticipating the brutal strikes of the rainbows, the reflex hook set and pressuring them to the jump. Summers I fish the lakes and small foothills streams. Winter is for the Bow. Oh!...now that brought back some fond memories...that big old bow river leech still has a place in my fly box and is used quite regularly in the winter along with various other streamer patterns which have all accounted for some very large trout...I don't use the full sinking lines anymore as I now prefer grain sink tips...a 200 grain sink tip casts quite well from a 6 or 7 wt. rod, and can be controlled better than a full sinker...met some very good fly fishers at the old Fishin Hole store on 9 St. S.W....In fact one of them became a very, very good friend and fishing partner...Thanks Badger for shareing. Quote
toolman Posted November 26, 2007 Author Posted November 26, 2007 Hey Badger, is that the two handed Forecast rod you finished last winter in your photo? I believe it was a 13' 8wt. you were building. Have you been fishing it with the 600grain Skagit head with tips? Quote
ladystrange Posted November 27, 2007 Posted November 27, 2007 your aloud 2 lines when you ice fish now right. Was three the last time i went to upper Kanny. 2 lines in hard water and you have to be within 30ft of them or something like that Quote
Hawgstoppah Posted November 27, 2007 Posted November 27, 2007 Bah... I've tried to TRY to enjoy ice fishing. But I can't. Long live the chinooks and new years day on the Crow! Quote
Kyle Posted November 28, 2007 Posted November 28, 2007 ahhh cmon brian, you cant say sightfishing for those trout wasnt fun... that day out on crawling did suck, cant let one bad day spoil it Quote
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