Tis the Season.....To Walk on Water!

I woke up today and looked outside and couldn't see myself doing anything other than fishing.  It was a bluebird day.  Cold and crisp air with nothing but blue skies.  I drove south to Huntington / Mammoth reservoir where I knew the ice was thick and the Tiger's were biting.  My day didn't start early however, getting a late start got me to the lake by 11:30 am.  Stopped at the Junction Cafe in Fairview for a bite to eat along the way.  Took a few pictures at the summit also.  Like I say it was a beautiful day.

Got to the parking lot and readied myself for the haul.  Got the sled loaded and started down the ramp to the lake.  The last 30-40 feet was quite steep and made it fun keeping the sled from taking off on me, but someone before me did just that and their sled ended up on the flats about 200 feet out. Getting on the lake and seeing where the other camps were set up I chose to stop not too far off the bank.  I cut three holes real quick with the auger and set up the flasher.  Finding I was in 7 feet of water but I was inline with the others. I dropped an ice fly tipped with bait and immediately got hit. Hooked it up for a couple cranks and it got off.  Re-baiting the hook I went back down the hole.  But nothing happened, so I set up a second pole while talking with a DNR officer checking ice depth and safety.  I put on a green paddle bug they sniffed at it but didn't hit it.  I changed it to a craw fish plastic and baited it and got nothing on it either.  The ice fly had a hits in the meantime. I put on a white paddle bug with bait and hooked up a Tiger trout, got it out of the hole on the surface only to have release and jump back in the hole. The white paddle bug got a few more hits as well as the ice fly for a bit. By 2:30 the bite had stopped and I decided I better make my way back to the truck while there was still someone on the lake. Remember that steep section I came down yep had to go back up it and wanted to make sure someone was there to call life flight if I didn't make it up the hill. On the way out of the canyon came up on a flock of wild turkeys, cool to see them doing well.

Great first day on the ice!  The ice was 8 inches with a layer of slush about 4 inches down. Definitely thick enough for the wheeler to venture on.