Ice Fishing Otter Creek Reservoir

Monday we ventured south two and half hours to Otter Creek Reservoir.  The reports were saying it was red hot. They also reported the ice was solid and thick.  We got a late start to our trip since Parker worked all night he wanted to get a little sleep before hitting the road at 8 am. We made our way south and stopped in Sigurd at Dave's Country Trading Post, great little spot in the road. The folks that own it open at sunrise and close at sundown regardless of the time. They make great food and this morning did not disappoint we had there breakfast sandwich and it was the best we had, had in a while.  Problem is they are retiring and selling the place, too bad because it will never be the same.

We got back on the road to finish our trip to Otter Creek and made it to the lake by 11:00 am even stopping for breakfast.  We loaded up and felt confident the about the ice since there were plenty of camps already on the ice.  We made our way down the ramp and onto the ice and still felt good, until we were about 200 feet onto the ice it cracked and settled 4 inches under our feet.  The camp we were walking by came out of their tents in a hurry!

We stopped and waited for things to calm down and then went to the bank and walked the rest of the way along shore.  We ventured out once again this time not side by side and about 30 feet between us.  I made a cut and the ice was 4 inches thick, feeling okay about that we cut our holes and began fishing staying about 10 - 20 feet apart.  No need for a tent today it was a bluebird day.  We set our lines and in about 10 minutes I landed the first nice rainbow.  Other camps came over to see what we were doing because they hadn't got anything all morning. We showed them and talked for a bit and went back to fishing.  Another camp came over and took pictures of my smitty sled.  We talked and laughed about the ice settling under their tent.

We fished for a good hour before another hit came along. Parker caught a nice rainbow with that hit and we got pics and kept fishing.  1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm came and left and Parker finally got another hit it was a small tiger trout. We fished and moved around a lot until the sun was setting and we were in the shadows of the hills.  Getting cold enough to call it a day.

Remember the ice settling? The result of it was a nice inch and a half wide crack that ran all the way across the lake.  When you got close to it it would buckle and bow spilling water through the top of the crack. We thought oh great we are going to have to carry everything through the rocks on shore. I gave the sled a good hard shove to if it make it across the crack, it did, now to get us across it. We made quick movements and got across it fast.

The fish were nice and healthy and made a good dinner for our cousins who had asked to bring them some. The fishing was not red hot for anyone on the lake and we were one of two camps left on the ice when we left. The ice talked to us all day cracking and settling a little freaky at times but we survived.