February 9, 2020 Whitbourne Argo Ice Fishing Trip (22 Photos) |
Since our last Argo outing we had snow mixed with rain on Friday, then horrendous high winds on Saturday so French and I both decided to hunker down in town. However Sunday brought much better weather conditions and clear sunny skies so we headed back to Whitbourne to continue exploring new trouting ponds throughout Highwaters.
Again huge thanks to Monty Petipas for again giving us a safe place to park and offload i near his restaurant. As usual French would be running his 2017 Argo Huntmaster while I of course piloted Project 6x6, both machines are equipped with tracks, windshield and convertible tops.
Today we decided to give the machines a really good workout going well off the beaten path exploring untraveled old side trails throughout the area. We took turns breaking trail, riding over 4+ feet of snow and just having an awesome time!
Both machines worked very well with neither of us getting stuck despite crossing a lot of tangly sections of trail. I should have brought my GoPro camera for this adventure.
French's 2017 Argo Avenger works really really well in deep snow. It's bigger, sits on wider tracks, has more power and most importantly it has the newer Admiral transmission. This trans when used in high range sends power to all 8 wheels 100% of the time even while steering. My older machine with a classic transmission skid steers and therefore has an open differential inside the trans. That being said both machines went everywhere together today taking turns leading the way, but the new machines certainly do it with greater ease.
Turning around a tracked Argo in deep snow is not hard if you take your time. Turning around in a small area applying turning input while making short runs forward and reverse will pack down the snow so you don't get stuck and also allows the rear of the tracks to easily swing around without getting hung up in deep snow, especially important in crusty snow.
After trail riding we eventually found a new spot to plant a few ice fishing lines.
Much the same as last time, French gathered firewood while I set out our ice fishing lines.
It was quite cold today so French brought his Yeti Thermos full of hot water so we could make a quick coffee before lunch. His Sea to Summit X-Brew reusable coffee filter worked great to make an amazing fresh cup of coffee with ease.
With a renewed sense of vigour from our fresh cup of coffee we collected up our firewood and got our fire going. We stacked it high then let it burn down to create a great bed of coals to cook on.
French supplied lunch today frying up a pack of his homemade Honey Garlic moose sausages complete with buns. It was a delicious , quick, hassle free lunch in the woods.
With the sun setting and no luck trouting in this location we packed up to head back to the truck.
Since my machine was low on fuel we decided to gas up both right from the pumps at Monty's Place, this way we wouldn't have to fool around with gas cans on our next adventure.
French's enclosed trailer is by far the best way to transport Argo's especially in winter and even more so with the convertible tops installed. No salt or crap can get on the machines and the convertible top does not have to be lowered to fit a trailering cover as you would on an open deck trailer. (the tops are not highway rated) We had another great day in the woods, making best use of our time booked off work to get out and enjoy the great outdoors. We really gave the machines a good workout, where we had two machines we tried more tangly trails and obstacles than we ever would attempt solo. Although we didn't catch any trout today sometimes knowing where the fish aren't is as important as learning where they are!
Cheers, MIKE
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