With warm weather enveloping the province this week it's safe to say ice fishing is over for the year. However winter trouting season is still open until April 15th. Today I changed up tackle, replaced ice fishing lines with rod & reel, loaded up Project Foreman and headed out over the highway for another day trouting!

I drove as far as Whitbourne to some gullies near the Sooley family cabin, an area we didn't get to fish this year due to poor ice conditions. I was banking that warm winter conditions had opened up a lot of water today so I could cast from shore. Even a skim of lingering ice would folly this adventure!  

I kept studded tires on the bike as trails are often very slick this time of year, however I was really surprised at the lack of snow left out here compared to in the city.

I was a couple days early for some of the ponds, including the pond by Sooley's cabin which was well frozen around the edges and still just barely caught over in the middle.

However, with a lot of running water in this area I knew where to search for open water so I could cast a line. I still had to wisely pick my spots working around remaining ice but overall it wasn't bad.

A lot of the ponds were still half frozen. I enjoyed listening to the ripples on the water relentlessly eroding the fragile skim of remaining ice while I cast my line.

Another sure sign of Spring is ducks in the air, today there were plenty!

Lunch today was unusually (for me) very simple and uncomplicated. I heated up a tin of stew on my GSI Pincacle stove using the pot from my GSI Dualist Kit, paired with a couple of sandwiches from Monty's store in Whitbourne. It made for a quick, easy, warm feed.

Although trout were not very plentiful today, I was not skunked and most important I enjoyed another awesome day in the woods.

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith