On this glorious, sunny afternoon, there were about 20 other ice fisherman (some with young children). Most folks were fishing just north of the "First Narrows" at the north end of the lake through 4" of ice. Everyone walked in from the north boat launch area, but folks avoided the clear ice near the old ice fishing holes. The lake's water level must have risen a tad, since fresh water had oozed out of the old holes and spread out over the 2" of snow. The ice flexed a bit, and the water level in the holes bounced up and down about 1/4" when folks walked by.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky during my 2 hours of ice fishing at the First Narrows, and the wind was calm. Air temperature was about 30 degrees F. and the sun felt nice. I used an existing hole, and didn't need my ice auger. I caught-and-released my first 14" rainbow after only 5 minutes using an 1/8-oz. silver Acme Kastmaster slab jig, and caught-and-released a total of 4 in the first hour. I lost 4 more when the fish shook off the lure before I could get them through the hole with my ultralight spinning outfit (Ugly Stick and 6-lb. line).

The fish here seem to respond to JIGGING, and the bait fisherman weren't catching much. It didn't help that some families had young children that were making lots of noise on the ice. After the sun angle decreased at 3 PM, the action slowed down. I guess the rainbows couldn't see the "flash" of my silver-colored jig as well.

The Acme Kastmaster jig is "twitched" sharply upwards via wrist action about 1-1/2 feet, and then the rod tip is dropped immediately back down to the ice. The lure "flutters" downwards like a leaf, and the trout usually catch it on the "drop." The next upwards "twitch" is done 2 seconds later, and the fish hook themselves with the upwards movement. Standing up usually sets the treble hook better than wrist action alone.

"Catch-and-release" fishing is sure fun. Folks who are bait fishing can only hook two fish over 14" (which is pretty much the average size of the rainbows here). I caught a REALLY NICE 16" fish on my 6-lb. test line today.

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