The very mild December we had in northern BC was less than ideal for the formation of ice on the lakes where we usually ice fish; what little ice did form was then battered by days of rain. Not exactly ideal conditions. Temperatures finally plummeted to -30 for a couple days at the start of the new year, the start of what should have been typical January weather – but Mother Nature evidently had something different in store, and all of a sudden we were back to zero degree bliss.
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Now, typically I hunker down in January. As much as I love an excuse to get outside (paired with my never-ending love-hate relationship with ice fishing) I have no interest in freezing my behind off, jigging for hours in the frigid cold. No thank you! However, when the forecast calls for sunshine and darn near t-shirt weather, you better bet that I’m loading up my fishing gear into my sleigh and headed out onto the ice.
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Paired with a few trusty lures and unbridled early season enthusiasm, I pulled out all the stops to get the first fish of the year. Burbot or lake trout, I didn’t really care; in our household, we enjoy eating them both equally. Now, my head wasn’t up in the clouds – I was not thinking that I would catch anything within the first hour (although, last winter I did catch a laker the moment I finished letting out my line!) but I was fairly confident that by the end of the week, I would have a fish on the ice.
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A couple hours in the morning. A couple hours in the evening. One spot, to a second, to a third. Tube jig to ruby eye, back to tube jig and back to ruby eye. Sprinkled in a little FST action. Guys, I even actively jigged the entire time I was out there (and anyone who has fished with me knows I tend to get a little distracted while jigging, be it on the ice or in a boat).
Alas, my early enthusiasm slowly crumbled away – when it comes to fishing, I am undeniably an instant gratification kind of gal – and as I dragged my sleigh back to the truck empty handed once again, I was reminded why I have such a tumultuous relationship with the activity. While there’s yet to be a fish laid out on the ice, I have a feeling the 2025 fishing season is going to be a great one!