Trial Run

Today I decided it was time.  Time to take the boys ice fishing for the first time this season.  One of my coworkers informed me that a slough just south of Fergus Falls was producing some nice Walleyes.  I thought it would be fun to get on top of some.  I knew that I would not catch any myself, as I was bringing my two inexperienced, impatient, clumsy and mischievous fishing buddings along.  You got it, Brody and Weston.

Brody and Weston couldn't be more excited for this fishing trip.  Brody was dancing around the house, as Weston followed me around stating repeatedly: "Me daddy, me go fishing too?"  The weather couldn't be any nicer.  Approximately 34 degrees, partly cloudy day the wind was 5-10.  

We made the trek out to Fergus Falls.  My coworker instructed me to take "the sunken highway," County Highway 1, out of Fergus and look for the slough that has all of the fish houses on it.  She pointed to the approximate place on the map.  Not willing to shy away from adventure, off we went.  We came upon many sloughs on "the sunken highway," however none with fish houses on it.  We also came upon a lake just outside of Otter tail County.  Nobody was fishing.  The ice looked dark, just like it does during the Spring thaw.  The kids asked, "are we going fishing daddy?"

Not wanting to disappoint the boys, I came up with a backup plan.  After driving endlessly around in search for the Walleye producing slough, I made the trek back to Fergus Falls to Pebble Lake.  To my surprise, there were a couple of people out fishing.  Perhaps the boys will get their lines wet after all. 

We ventured out onto Pebble Lake at around 2:30.  The boys enjoyed a bumpy ride on the one man fish house that my brother gave me a few years back.  Armed with two ice fishing rods and a dozen grubs, we poked a couple of holes into the ice with my Jiffy Ice Auger (she purred like a kitten).  I taught the kids how to use the Vexlar, and set the depth with slip bobbers. 

The bite was tough, however we were able to catch one trophy shiner, chad, or sucker (I am not sure what it is).  Brody and Weston couldn't be more proud.  Both helped me real this pig in.  Not wanting to offset the ecology of the lake, we released this fine specimen so that it can produce more offspring for us to catch in the future. 

I will say that the first ever Resemius boy ice fishing trip was a smashing success.  There were very little tears, no fighting, and everybody had fun.  We didn't catch our limit of walleyes, however I am certain that my boys will be wanting some more angling action soon.

As for catching walleyes, my buddy Todd and I are planning a trip to Lake of the Woods during the second weekend of February.  The kids are staying home, so I expect that we will be doing some hard core fishing.  Hopefully I will have some limits to report then, that is, if my fingers don't freeze off.

I titled this post Trial Run because I had no expectations for this trip.  My desire is for the boys to have fun so that they will come to enjoy fishing, just as I do.