I often get asked if I golf, bike, hunt or ice fish. My response is always the same: “No, I fly fish.” Consequently, our winters are typically spent doing shows, tying flies and dreaming of fly fishing in warmer locales.
So when Zach, one of our new guides, called to suggest an ice fishing trip last winter, my initial reaction was reluctance.
Zach primarily offers trips in Down East Maine on Grand Lake Stream for smallmouth fishing on a secret river, but he’s recently started offering ice fishing trips as well, which was the subject of his call.
Zach has a passion for jigging for lake trout through the ice and was eager to get us on the fish.
Reluctantly, we agreed. We met Zach early in the morning, piled our gear into his truck, and headed to the pond.
With no snow on the ground, we had to walk to the other side of the pond, so we strapped on our cleats and began dragging Zach’s sled filled with gear across the ice. He had set up a shack in case we got cold.
While Zach drilled a hole, I cooked breakfast.
After drilling the hole, Zach placed his fish finder in the water. He explained to Stac how to jig: let the jig drop and reel back up and down until all the bubbles disappear.
Once the bubbles were gone, he instructed her to set the jig five feet off the bottom and start jigging. As we jigged, we watched the jig go up and down on the screen like a video game. If a fish followed, we’d see a red line move up from the bottom toward the jig, prompting us to reel.
We repeated this process for hours, but with limited success. Zach started drilling more holes, and we began moving across the lake, which I jokingly termed “trolling.”
Zach grew nervous as we weren’t catching many fish, aside from one. Nevertheless, we had a great day, enjoyed a good meal, shared a few beers and appreciated getting out of the house on a beautiful winter day in Maine.
I couldn’t resist teasing Zach about our lack of success throughout the year.
As soon as I put away the fly rods, Zach was already talking about another ice fishing trip, this time to a new pond he had discovered last winter. He wasted no time in taking advantage of it, venturing out the day after our trip and catching lake trout. He was determined to put us on the fish.
But this winter proved challenging for snowmobiling and ice fishing due to minimal snowfall and warm temperatures.
Zach discovered this firsthand while scouting a small pond. He fell through the ice in 10 feet of water, but reacted quickly, pulling himself up with his ice picks. Nearby onlookers urged him to warm up in his truck while they retrieved his equipment.
When we received the call for an ice fishing trip in February, we were understandably apprehensive about walking across the pond. I jokingly grabbed life jackets, but it eased Stac’s nerves as we made our way to the other side of the pond.
The weather was predicted to be beautiful, with highs in the 50s.
As I cooked breakfast again, Zach prepared Stac and refreshed her memory on ice fishing techniques. He was determined to get us on the fish this time, likely tired of my teasing from the previous year.
After letting Stac jig the first hole for a short time, he switched her to a jig rod with a spoon and instructed her to keep it off the bottom without jigging while he drilled a new hole for her to try.
To our surprise, Stac’s rod soon bent, and she reeled in a 16-inch laker. We quickly snapped a picture and released it, celebrating our first catch of the day.
The day only got better from there. Stac and I both landed two more fish each, and I couldn’t resist texting a friend who was also ice fishing on the lake. Unable to resist our success, he soon joined us.
As we chatted, I continued to jig and hooked another lake trout, slightly larger than the previous ones. After a few photos, we released it back into the water.
We ended the day with full hearts, having enjoyed breakfast, grilled cheese for lunch, shared a few beers and spent time with friends. We learned a lot from Zach, who proved to be an excellent guide, explaining everything and making the experience enjoyable.
I’m even considering purchasing a jig rod, sled and fish finder of my own, though time will tell. If interested in booking a trip with Zach: mainefishingadventures.com/down-east-trip/
