Bassan was the first to arrive riding his 1997 Foreman 400, while French took his 2017 Argo Huntmaster and of course I piloted Project 6x6 both machines laden with fishing and boil-up supplies.  Bassan already had his lines set so French and I pressed on getting ours in the water and fishing as well.

I've caught quite a few trout on my Automatic Hook Setting ice fishing rigs this year, outnumbering trout caught on traditional lines by a wide margin. These things miss little other than very small trout, French and I are extremely pleased with how well they've worked out.

We struck a few pan size mud trout almost right away, this started our day on a great vibe!

The automatic hook setting rig sets the hook neatly in the mouth before the fish can swallow the hook. This makes releasing juvenile trout like this one quick, easy and most importantly harmless.

Mid morning French landed a dandy mud trout on the automatic hook setter alongside his Argo.

My hook setters also continued to work well landing a few keepers and lots of smaller trout which I released.

Just before lunch I heard quite a commotion over by French's Argo so I ran over to see what all the fuss was about. As I approached I could hear the drag getting peeled off his rod and reel!

Thankfully Bassan was close by and ran over to film the action capturing the truly priceless moment!

Sometimes the embedded video doesn't play well so here is a YouTube link to the video: https://youtu.be/6dvY6Xp0y5E

In our area there are scheduled Rainbow waters which are closed to winter angling, additionally there are non scheduled Rainbow waters the latter of which applied to our location.

It was a proud moment for the entire crew, this football was by far the largest trout caught through the ice by our crew and will be put to good use by French and his family.

Lunchtime I put my CS 2500 mini chainsaw to work and chunked up a dead fall to make a table for Bassan to cook on.

Today I brought my Coleman Hyperflame stove with me as it's easier to cook a larger quantity of food than my small backpack stoves.

On the menu today was Bassan's homemade moose/tomato pasta sauce and some penne pasta.

Once the pasta was cooked it was strained and mixed in with the heated sauce in my oversize frying pan. The Sea to Summit collapsible X-pots are not only convenient as they fold down for storage, they also include a strainer built right into the lid!

Bassan did an awesome job on lunch, he even remembered to bring parmesan cheese!

As forecast the skies cleared lunchtime and it turned into a beautiful bright sunny day. It didn't get any warmer and the cold winds remained unrelenting.

The power of our March sun was evident in that it heated objects (such as my rod holder) enough to melt into the ice even while we experienced freezing temps and subzero wind-chill.

After lunch Bassan and I relocated our lines further down the pond, the area we wanted to try was blocked by open water spanning the full width of the neck so we placed our lines just back from the open water working our way back towards the centre of the pond.

Fishing wasn't crazy good but I did manage another few pan size keeper trout throughout the afternoon.

My Buffalo Airways leather hat sure was nice and warm in these unrelenting winds!

My Mud Trout, not as exciting as French's catch but awesome all the same.

Sometimes the embedded video doesn't play well so here is a YouTube link to the video: https://youtu.be/EBbxXif23K8

Bassan packed up and headed home around 6pm while French and I stayed until dark. I relocated my lines from down the pond back to where we started out that morning.

For an evening snack I parked Project 6x6 in the lee side of an island and set up my Coleman stove. This evening we fried up a pack of fresh fish white puddings and boiled my Dr.Si collapsible kettle for a couple cups of freshly brewed coffee.

Just as it got dark we had a visitor, a beautiful silver fox who surely smelled our days catch sitting in bags inside the Argos.

After logging a dandy twelve hour shift on the pond French and I packed up to head back to the trucks around 9pm having no further luck on the lines. All and all it was an epic day on the pond, certainly one we will never forget!

Proof is right there on the scale!

As I've mentioned before, we don't go trouting for sport, we release a lot of trout of all sizes to comply with the rules and to maintain conservation for future outings. This big rainbow was no exception as French and his family thoroughly enjoyed a meal provided by this bounty catch.

Its important to keep your equipment (which can quickly add up to a lot of dollars) in tip top shape with a thorough cleaning after each use. That way it's always clean, sterile and ready for the next adventure!

My Gearline organizer has been absolutely fantastic for hanging cooking gear to dry both out in the field camping and at home.

Although my catch was smaller than French's, it was enjoyed just as much by myself and my littel buddy Boomer!

Can't wait for the next adventure, what that will entail will be largely dependent on mother nature!

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith