Fairy Lake Ice Fishing – January 5, 2013

It has been far too long since I have fished any water even remotely close to home. My last several outings have taken me anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 hours to get to, and the trips did not net many fish. So today, in an attempt to save some time, Darrell and I went to check out Guelph Lake and Fairy Lake, hoping that the ice had improved enough to be fishable.

Guelph Lake has definitely improved – from our access point on Wellington Road 29 Darrell was consistently drilling holes with 6″ of ice, about 4″ of that was good black ice. However, when he got to an area covered with snow, the ice started getting thinner, and he could see several open water spots. We decided to stay off the lake today, but we did see some other anglers head out on it. If you decide a trip to Guelph Lake is in your future, test the ice constantly as you go, and don’t trust snow.

The ice was good until Darrell approached that snow you see him near. I’m standing at the canoe launch.

Having passed on Guelph Lake I didn’t have much hope for Fairy Lake in Acton. We arrived at the lake, parked by the Legion, and found several anglers out on the ice, but I wasn’t ready to commit to walking on it myself. Several holes (drilled by Darrell, not me) around the part of the lake we were planning to fish  revealed the ice was 3.5″ to 4″ of consistent black ice.

I had a dilemma. Last weekend I ventured out onto 4.5-5″ of ice and that was the thinnest ice I had ever fished on. Was I prepared to fish this ice?

I gave it a lot of thought. I was fishing with two guys who have more ice experience than I do, both were very cautious about the ice, Darrell knows how paranoid I am about ice and was going to test the whole way out, and I had my safety gear. Out I went.

First ice, especially good, black ice, is incredibly eerie. I could see weeds under the ice as I walked out. I would have preferred some snow to hide the sights underneath, but the black ice is the safest, so I kept walking.

The view on the lake today. The wet spots are holes we drilled.

Going light (for us). Just the sled, some buckets, a few rods, and the fish finders (sitting at holes when I took this pic).

While I’ll admit that I was nervous, I did feel safe, so I took out a rod and dropped a line down a hole. The fish finder wasn’t marking anything but I figured I would give it a go anyway. Nothing. To be honest, there was a whole lot of nothing today. Talk about slow, especially for Fairy Lake. However, this is far earlier than we have been on the lake in past winters, and it seems that the crappie have not set up quite yet.

Out on the ice – it’s a good thing 🙂

Darrell was checking a hole and thought he saw something on the fish finder, so he dropped down our Aqua-Vu AV Micro camera and found himself staring down a pike. How cool is that? I wish we had the DVR version of this camera. Since Darrell didn’t have a rod with him, Adam went over, dropped his line down, started to reel up, and had the fish. Unfortunately, he lost the pike at the hole, but it was a riot to see that fish caught after it was viewed on the camera. The camera’s batting 100% so far. Any fish we’ve seen on it we’ve managed to catch!

Darrell and Adam checking out some holes. Doesn’t that ice look eerie?

At one point I got tired of marking no fish and I decided to drop my jig down a hole anyway. I had checked out the hole with the camera and found it was on a drop-off so I figured it was worth a shot. I jigged my lure a couple of times, then let it sit. Then I felt a weight and set the hook – fish on! The arch in my rod told me I had a pike, and a couple of head shakes confirmed it. That could be trouble on light gear. It wasn’t a big fish and I had it to the hole in decent time, only to have it veer off at the last second, peel some line, and lose the hook. Crap! *sigh* Oh well, it felt nice to have it on while I did. Wasn’t a bad little pike.

We did have one very scary moment when someone showed up on an ATV towing a hut. Every single one of us on the ice stopped what we were doing and stared. I may have uttered a swear word or two. The ATV came just onto the ice, then turned around and went back off and parked. The angler dragged his hut out himself and we all breathed a sigh of relief. The ice is not safe for any ATV or snowmobile!

As always on Fairy Lake, it was a fun day. No matter where I live and what I fish for, I will always consider Fairy Lake to be my home water. I love all that this little body of water has to offer. I will ask, for any of you thinking of fishing this lake, that you practice selective harvest, and consider releasing what you do catch. This lake gets a lot of fishing pressure and I’d like to see the fishery stay strong.

As for the ice, I am not saying that it is safe. Personal preference is the name of the game. It is as good quality as I could have hoped for, but I would love to get another inch or two before I can relax. At this thickness you have to be very careful. I would suggest leaving the hut at home for now, although there were two out there today, and go as light as possible. If you venture out, test often and pay attention to where you are walking. Take safety gear!

If you’re not one for heading out on thin ice, then there’s always the possibility of heading north for thicker ice, or spending the day at home and relaxing. There will always be another day to hit the ice.

As for me, I’ll probably be back at it again tomorrow.

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argosgirl

Sporadic blogger and sometimes podcaster who loves fishing, the outdoors, hanging with her animals, gardening, and reading manga.

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