Frozen toes report 2022/03/10

Starman77

Starman77

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Hiked into one of the small seep lakes on Thursday and fortunately it was ice-free. The water was murky, but fishable. Most of the 13 fish I landed were 14 to 15 inchers, but they were chunky, silvery, decent fighters and good jumpers. Here is a photo of one of these typical fish:

IMGP5688.JPG

You can see from the small head size relative to the body that these fish have been eating well. No fish were retained or throat pumped, so I don't know what they were eating. All the fish I hooked were taken using dark leech patterns, casting & stripping, which is my norm.

The water temperature was actually warmer than I expected so soon after ice-off at 44 to 45 degrees F. But, after two or three hours sitting in that cold water in a float tube, one's toes sure do get frozen and start feeling like blocks of ice. Had to get out several times to walk around and get circulation back in those toes. No one else was out there, probably smarter and wiser than me. But, it was worth it after I hooked this fish:

L1000938.jpg

All the fish I hooked were released, so they are still in there to be caught again.

Rex
 
Rex, buy a box of toe warmers, they will help a lot. Also great for those of you that plow snow with a tractor or ATV.
 
Starman77 said:
Hiked into one of the small seep lakes on Thursday and fortunately it was ice-free. The water was murky, but fishable. Most of the 13 fish I landed were 14 to 15 inchers, but they were chunky, silvery, decent fighters and good jumpers. Here is a photo of one of these typical fish:

View attachment 8516

You can see from the small head size relative to the body that these fish have been eating well. No fish were retained or throat pumped, so I don't know what they were eating. All the fish I hooked were taken using dark leech patterns, casting & stripping, which is my norm.

The water temperature was actually warmer than I expected so soon after ice-off at 44 to 45 degrees F. But, after two or three hours sitting in that cold water in a float tube, one's toes sure do get frozen and start feeling like blocks of ice. Had to get out several times to walk around and get circulation back in those toes. No one else was out there, probably smarter and wiser than me. But, it was worth it after I hooked this fish:

View attachment 8517

All the fish I hooked were released, so they are still in there to be caught again.

Rex
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Nice!!!
 
Billy said:
Nice report Rex. Still liking the fish finder holder?
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Overall, I like the new fish finder holder better than the old Cabela's Fishin' Buddy holder, but it has some quirks that I'm still getting used to. It is definitely bulkier and more likely to snag sagebrush limbs as I'm hiking through the brush. The strap adjustment is more difficult to adjust and on my most recent outing it loosened itself while I was launching and I almost lost the Fishin' Buddy into the water. When pulling the Fishin' Buddy out of the holder, it seems to snag the bottom of the holder so that I spend extra time fiddling with it to come out. On the positive side, it holds the Fishin' Buddy more steady and upright. Once I get the strap adjusted right, it seems to hold in position better than the Cabela's holder.
 
Starman77 said:
Yes, I forgot to mention that the photo was taken by Ben Lim. I'm not as talented as Billy MacDonald who somehow manages to take self-portraits of himself on the lake holding a fish.
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You need a long arm.
 
Old Man said:
You need a long arm.
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That Billy does have long arms. I'm always worried that I'm going to drop my camera or phone into the drink trying to do what Billy does. Even the talented Billy has donated a GoPro to the lake gods; I think it is still sitting on the bottom of a seep lake, waiting to be discovered by a yet-to-be-born future fly fisherperson in 2074.
 
nice job getting out and catching fish. that last one is a nice fish.
 
Starman77 said:
Hiked into one of the small seep lakes on Thursday and fortunately it was ice-free. The water was murky, but fishable. Most of the 13 fish I landed were 14 to 15 inchers, but they were chunky, silvery, decent fighters and good jumpers. Here is a photo of one of these typical fish:

View attachment 8516

You can see from the small head size relative to the body that these fish have been eating well. No fish were retained or throat pumped, so I don't know what they were eating. All the fish I hooked were taken using dark leech patterns, casting & stripping, which is my norm.

The water temperature was actually warmer than I expected so soon after ice-off at 44 to 45 degrees F. But, after two or three hours sitting in that cold water in a float tube, one's toes sure do get frozen and start feeling like blocks of ice. Had to get out several times to walk around and get circulation back in those toes. No one else was out there, probably smarter and wiser than me. But, it was worth it after I hooked this fish:

View attachment 8517

All the fish I hooked were released, so they are still in there to be caught again.

Rex
Click to expand...
Nice fish Rex.
If no one else was out there, how did you get that photo of you in your float tube?
 
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