Value is an important thing for sportsmen and women. We want to enjoy every penny of our hard-earned money. We want to enjoy every meaty morsel, filet, and moment outdoors.
Montana hunting and fishing licenses end on the last day of February. Unless it’s a leap year, the last day for last year’s legal licenses isebruary 28th. Like it or not, tomorrow will require a new license.
Other state licenses start and stop at different times. Somes states use their fiscal year dates to begin and end. In Maryland, your renewal date is whenever you bought the license. If you bought a license on May 5th, that is your license renewal day.
Handy Randy and I decided to use up our final day of last year’s license. We decided to travel to Canyon Ferry for some ice fishing. The latest reports have been up and down. The roads were supposed to be muddy and access to the lake is a challenge.
The Silos was packed with rigs and icemen. Straight out from the ramp was a good place to be. The beaches are high and dry, and the lake level has dropped. The ice is 17-20 inches thick and has pockets of melted water on top. Walking requires cleats.
We set up on cloudy islands of ice. Our holes were drilled on the edge, and we faced into the sun to avoid shadows and movement. The trout are in shallow water and can see you move if you are not on cloudy ice.
Fishing was fast and furious. Plenty of action. The fish were biting a foot under the ice, not on the bottom. Jigging did not work but a dead stick did. We used worm nibs, Fire Corn, and a maggot sandwich, with a little trot scent as a condiment.
Canyon Ferry rainbows are beasts! Every trout was 18-23 inches today. The biggest females have eggs in them and the male bows tend to have white meat filets, but are huge, strong fighters. We threw back males and the biggest bows. The 18–21-inch rainbows have bright orange meat, no eggs, and are delicious.
My brother in Maryland, who is an excellent angler, might catch 5 18-20 plus inchers a year. At Canyon Ferry, that’s a normal day. I did try my new gaff idea and can’t say that it was a success. I practiced on iced trout and still had trouble hooking the fish. Going to one knee and grabbing the jig worked well. Once I had the fish in the hole, head up, I could grab the jig and drag the fish out of the hole. Put the released trout back into the hole headfirst.
Both Handy and I were supposed to be doing our post-surgery Physical therapy today. Instead of going to Bridger Orthopedic, we hit the ice. Lots of walking, bending, reeling, and lifting! A perfect workout!
Pulling huge fish through an ice hole never gets old. There is something magical about ice fishing. With sturdy ice the fishing should last a few more weeks. Fishing with good friends makes it better.
Pluck a few pigs from your ice hole now!
Montana Grant
