By Tom Gruenwald: When my buddy Gerry Heels and I began our ice fishing trip over New Years 2014 up to his camp in a remote section of Northern Ontario, we realized it wouldn’t be a cakewalk. At a very remote location 1 ½ hours north of Sudbury and accessible only by train during winter months, we knew beforehand this was no four star spa resort. There would be running water- but just a small antique hand pump in the kitchen. There would be no cell phone service or email for seven days. Morning trips to the outhouse were not something we looked forward to with gusto, however the ice fishing not long afterwards would more than make-up for any chilly discomforts.
Proper preparation and planning are essential to a successful and enjoyable winter fishing vacation. Long-term forecasts predicted highs of -20 C for the week, with lows set to reach near -30. In actual fact, those would have been rather enjoyable temperatures compared to what we actually faced! It was pretty cool to see the even par of -40 Celsius and -40 Fahrenheit on our thermometer some mornings and that was without any wind chill factor! We heard official low temps reached -42.8 and again we didn’t know what the wind-chill was … probably a good thing! Here are several first-hand tips on how we handled the cold and thoroughly enjoyed our ice fishing vacation:
Tip #1) Pre-Rigging Rods:
Whether I’m preparing for a day of open water fishing or some hardwater action, I am a firm believer it pays to have multiple rods rigged and ready to go! Usually the overriding reason for this is having at your finger tips the ability to use the proper rod and reel combo for the lure type you are presenting. Hence convenience can equal increased success. However this added convenience took on a whole new dimension during our week-long New Years Fishing ice fishing trip to the wilds of northern Ontario. When temps plummeted to – 42 some mornings with day time high’s reaching between -25 to -30 C (not accounting for wind chill) the last thing we wanted to do was tie on different lures. Bare hands would be susceptible to frost bite in mere moments. A variety of HT rods were pre rigged the night before and stored in their protected HT rod case ready to go for the next day! That case by the way helped save our HT rods and reels from blowing snow and icing up to- so we didn’t have any issues with malfunctioning rods/reels. Read on at this link for the rest of this very nice story….