Ice Fishing Eh?

Headed north for a long weekend. Less snow in Ontario than Pittsburgh!?!?!

Brought along some ice gear hoping to get some time on Sturgeon Lake

Drilled a thousand holes...And sat and waited. Even Andrea tried her luck.
Spent a few hours drilling holes and trying spots in front of the house. So we decided to warm up a little then head to the other side of the lake, where summer weeds, and other ice fishermen indicated our luck might change. After a 3KM walk and drilling a few holes it was time to get serious! After a few minutes, boom! well sorta.
Andrea hooked one, but it got stuck to the bottom of the ice hole... bad bounce. That about ended her day and she headed for the house.
Mr. Warlow was bound and determined to catch a fish on his homemade jigging stick. Eventually a curious Perch took his offerings! Made sure to stretch it out a little for the picture!

The girls said to be home before the sun goes down, and we sure stretched that...

Snowmageddon

So we got a few feet of snow last week. Dad and I went over to Piney Run to see if the water was open. Water was open and had great flow and color. Lots of timber was down in the water from the Snowmageddon! Had one hit on a big streamer, but it was cold and time to head home.

Tupper Lakee 2010

Headed out of work on Wednesday evening, met up with Mickey in Wexford, met up with Jason in Cicero around midnight and made our early morning arrival at Tupper Lake around 4am. Got our gear together and were ready to meet up with our guide who never showed up, so we did it on our own, with the help of Absynthe and a case of bud light. Didnt catch any fish.

The Cabin
Fished another day, didnt catch any fish. It was cold, very cold. Had some warm food to help comfort the skunked fishermen.
View from out my bedroom window.

Third day, Mickey and I headed to another lake, supposedly away from the beaten path, and where the wind doesn't blow as hard.

We walked and walked and walked, finally some old dudes gave up their spots and...

I landed this perch. My first fish landed through the ice. Landed a few more before my hand started to freeze to my reel and it was time to head back.

Dahlberg weekend 1/23-1/24

With the Dahlberg Cup Banquet at 5pm in the Highlands, I thought it best to fish as many places as possible before hand. With rain and a lot of meltoff, Meadow was supposed to be blown out, so I started at Dunbar Creek. I fished a small caddis dry to attempt to get something to take a dry, had one take a swipe, then nothing after that. Water was great color, but very very cold. Headed over the ridge to meet Eric at Allen Creek, saw a few fish, highlight was Eric's valiant attempt to reclaim his fly in the tree. We fished down Allen Creek, saw one trout. Fished into Laurel Hill Creek and down about a mile. I had one hit and hook up, but my skills let me down and the fish was off after a good fight.

At the Banquet I met some local guides and gained some awesome insight into fishing Western PA and the area. Came in 4th place this year behind Dale, Sean and Rob. But I did win the North of the Boarder award!

Headed to Eric's around midnight, got some sleep. Woke up to find these little boys crying and looking for attention.

Eric and I tried to fish his club's ponds, only to find out that it's closed for a few months. Hit a few native areas, Eric caught this Beauty of a Brookie in Linn Run.

Headed toward Latrobe, stopped on Loyalhanna under the Road Road on Route 30. Not long after Eric caught this Tiger Trout.

Rain started pouring and it was getting cold. Packed it up and headed to Sharkey's for lunch with Eric, Erica and the babies, and Annie then headed home.

Little Juniata and Spruce Creek 1/16/2010

Needing to fish, and most of our mountain streams locked up with ice we headed to central PA for a day trip to some spring fed streams that wouldn't be frozen. Left Dormont at 7, and Logan was kind enough to drive my car since i was still feeling the effects of Mexi Casa's after hour shot specials. Got into the water on the Little J right behind the fly shop, swung a big streamer for a while, wasn't feeling so great. Stopped and fished behing the yellow house a few miles up stream. Saw a few fish and some tiny midges coming off. No such luck there. Went over to the Penn State section of Spruce Creek, the mile or so section that Donnie Beaver doesn't have control of.

Water was beautiful

Pulled up this 17" rainbow Small green cadis pupaMr. Beaver lost a sign...More Stream pics

Logan rolled a steelhead of a trout in the deepest hole we found. So we fished for it fo the remaining hour or so we had.

Here's Andrea's first fly she's tied. Not too bad Eh?

2009 in Review/ Goals for 2010

2009 was a blast. Keeping up with a blog was fun, I might as well keep it going

Fished PA, MD, WV, Ontario, Quebec, Mexico.

Caught wild Rainbows, Brookies, and Browns.

Landed a pike on the Fly.

Broke a fly rod on a fish.

Fished The Letort, North Branch and The Savage

Fishing Goals for 2010:
Catch a trout on a dry fly all 12 months of the year.
Get Andrea "hooked".
Improve my caveman-like fly tying skills.
Use more dry/dropper rigs, or nymph/bugger droppers.
Improve my line to line knots.
Fish out West.
Catch something through the ice.
Musky and Walleye on the fly.
Improve on my Caveman-like tying skills.
Continue to have fun.

12/27 Piney/peters

Struggling to recover after a night at The Clarks show, I met up with Logan for a few hours before the Steelers game. Using the same big streamer, I managed one trout in the first 4 minutes, then zoned out the rest of the day and didnt land a fish. Nursing a hangover and a banged up toe, I stumbled and bumbled through the streams trying not to take a swim.

Logan landed 2 in the course of the day.Once i landed this sweet native on the swing, I knew our day was over.
Headed to my parents house to watch the Steeler game and snooooooze