January 20, 2022 – Happy New Year!
Happy New Year Everyone!
Well it’s safe to say that winter is here! We have had a ton of snow so far this winter (which should help get the water levels back up in the spring) and the cold has been pretty steady over the last month. We have been having the odd warm day or two thrown into the mix but it hasn’t been uncommon to see temps down to -30 F. Despite the cold and the snow Lindsay and I have been able to get out ice fishing quite a bit.
Normally we put my Dad’s old ice shack out on Paguchi, a lake trout lake near town and spend a lot of time ice fishing there, or bouncing around to a few other lakes with our Otter fold over. After a couple of tough years of getting the hut stuck in slush and damaging it forcing us to repair it on the ice to get it off the lake in the spring, we decided it was time for a change. The shack is getting pretty old and the floor and skis are about done, so it seemed the best option would be to retire it and build a new one rather than trying to put a whole new floor under etc. Well we decided that we were getting done with dragging it on and off the ice every year and the headaches that go along with that. Keep in mind up here we don’t have plowed roads on the lakes where we can tow the shack out with the truck. We have to pack a trail with the snow machines and hope it freezes solid enough to tow the shack out with the machine a day or two after, and the last couple of years that hasn’t been the case and we have gotten stuck in slush forced to leave the hut where we were stuck. Anyway, our solution this winter was to pick up a new portable shack that we could bounce from lake to lake with, and even winter camp in.
We decided to go with an Eskimo FatFish, it is 8′ by 14′ and so far we have been absolutely loving it! Here is a pic of our first set up with it in my backyard:
Since ice fishing season has really gotten underway we have done one day trip with some friends. It’s awesome to be able to fit everyone in there so comfortably and all fish together.
We have also camped out in it twice. Once for one night:
and the second time for two:
We set up some of those foam puzzle piece floor mats for a floor and set up a couple cots and away we go. Lindsay, Cedar, and I have really been enjoying adventuring off to different lakes and setting up for a while. The first night out it got down to about -20 and the hut stayed close to 40 degrees overnight. Plenty warm enough all wrapped up in a sleeping bag.
On the docket for this weekend is a lake trout trip with us and 2 other couples. After that we will be looking to go somewhere new and set up for another couple night stay. Now that we are through the holidays we will be spending a lot more time on the ice and should have some content to write about for some more frequent posts on here, stay tuned!
In other news, Mom has made a full recovery from her back surgery back in September, and is feeling great and getting around even better. Truthfully the operation didn’t slow her down very much or for very long (probably not as long as it should have), but now her recovery has been long enough and the surgeon is happy with the results so she has been out doing lots of walking and snowshoeing with friends. It’s really nice to see her not in constant pain anymore.
I am receiving lots of emails regarding our current rules surrounding Covid and what crossing the border might look like this summer. Currently Ontario is back under another lockdown until January 26, thanks to the Omicron variant. So far it has only affected restaurants, gyms, public spaces, etc. and noting major like international travel or the land borders, and it doesn’t look like this lockdown will change any of that. Hopefully we will be out of this lockdown soon and back to our new “normal”. As far as crossing the border this summer is concerned, I don’t want to speculate too much as policies seem to change so frequently and we have a while to go before we are open. Currently you need to be vaccinated and have proof of that with you, answer all of the questions on the ArriveCan app and have a negative PCR test all performed within 72 hours of crossing. As spring approaches I will try to keep the most up to date info on our blog here for easy reference, but I encourage everyone to call the CBSA at 1 800 461 9999 well in advance of your trip to make sure all of your ducks are in a row. The crossings are really easy as long as you are prepared.
Well, I think that’s it for now. Take care everyone and wish us luck fishing this weekend!
Ryan