After a fresh snowfall earlier this week, Mark French and I were anxious to get back out on the pond for another ice fishing adventure. We loaded up the machines and headed towards Bauline for a quick jaunt in over the trail to the pond. I as usual took Project 6x6 while French piloted his 2017 Argo Huntmaster equipped with tracks but for a change no convertible top.

A snowstorm earlier this week turned to freezing rain, and then to rain as temperatures rose so there was a lot of water & slush on the ice. Bikes and even tracked Argos normally don't like this as water logged snow wont hold up the machine and is difficult to push through. Fortunately both machines powered through the worst parts and we made it to our destination across the pond where there was much less water.

Weather today was overcast with no precipitation and fairly strong unrelenting winds.

First item on our to do list was to set out the Automatic Hook Setting ice fishing rigs and get them fishing.

With lines set, we started setting up Mark's Eskimo 650XD insulated ice fishing shelter - turned hot tent. This unit is more than big enough for two of us so I left my own shelter home today.

These Woods drill adaptors for the ice pegs are definitely worth the money. They work surprisingly well spinning in the pegs smooth and quick, I figured they may be wobbly but in fact they are not.

Woodstove, a table and a couple chairs and we were soon all set-up in ultimate portable shelter ice fishing comfort!

With the shelter and woodstove set up, I went onshore down the pond with the Argo and my Chinese CS 2500 mini chainsaw to cut down some dead standing firewood to fuel the woodstove. The wood was wet from snow & drizzle but was not green so it dried out and burned quite well. I also chose smaller sticks that wouldn't have to be split.

Project 6x6 punched its way back through the slush with ease, in no time we had the sticks junked and stowed under the woodstove to dry. This inexpensive little saw continues to work fantastically, it's still running the OEM chain which I keep filed razor sharp. I run the saw only with husky pre-mix fuel as it doesn't not go bad for a long time even sitting in the saw. 

As a bonus to an already fantastic day, we started catching a few trout. We threw back small ones but kept just a few pan size for breakfast tomorrow.

The welding blanket hung behind the stove is a safety measure to protect the wall of the shelter from the intense heat. It works quite well, the fire resistant blanket gets warm but the wall behind it stays perfectly cool. The stove pipe exits the shelter though a custom made fire & heatproof stove jack which Velcro's in place of any of the windows.

Before too long I had a snack frying up in the pan, some of my recently made apple wood smoked Canadian Bacon which Mark hadn't had before.

Around suppertime we started getting our main feed on the go, Fresh Fish Stew.

Onions were chopped and fried along with some bacon trimmings from my recent run of homemade applewood smoked bacon last week. A little salt and pepper were added at this time too.

This was fried in the pot to render out the bacon and brown up the onions.

While that cooked up we peeled and chunked up 10ish potatoes.

With onions cooked we poured in about 1.5L water, brought that to a boil, then added the potato.

Cooking on the woodstove worked well, heat was adjusted as needed varying the amount of fuel wood and operating the damper.

While I tended to the pot, Mark took a run down the pond in his Argo, in the process he sunk the machine in very deep slop near the edge. A quick solo tug with the winch and he was on his way again.

When the potatoes were tender, we laid a few fillets of fresh fish right on top which didn't take very long to cook.

When the fish was cooked we broke up the large pieces, mixed it through and let it rest off to the side while we made toast.

We seen the paper towel toasting technique online and decided to give it a try. The paper towel serves two purposes: keep the bread clean, and keep it from sticking to the stove (which it did when we initially tried).

The trick worked great, the bread toasted beautifully and the towel didn't catch fire or scorch!

I loaded up my Sea to Summit X-bowl and it was another backwoods meal fit for a king! The flavours were perfect, we each added a little more pepper and just a dash of salt to taste.

As the evening wore on the wind dropped right out so we were in no hurry to leave.

Finally around 10pm after an absolutely fantastic day on the ice we broke camp and headed for home. It would have been a perfect opportunity to stay overnight if it wasn't forecasted to rain on Sunday, that would have made breaking camp wet and miserable. Can't wait to get out again!

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith