Western Lac la Croix report

[Steve Foss]

First of all, big thanks to Dock Boy, who helped us out with trail directions this morning at sunup at Crane Lake. It was our first jaunt via sled from Crane into la Croix.

Fishing was slow. We saw three fish, and caught one, a 6.5 lber that came on a Slender spoon. I had another really hot fish come in and charge my 5-inch smoke rattle tube several times before breaking off the chase, and buddy Ken had one fish hit. This all came between roughly 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

We fished a saddle, where deep water on both sides came up to about 50 feet between an island and the shore. Had whitefish and/or tulibee on the electroncs (at least that was our assumption) all day. Weather was goofy and fish were not active. Had snow and flurries, followed by clearing, then alternating between clearing and flurries the rest of the day.

We took it slow because it was our first time, scouting as we went. Got in between 5 and 6 hours of fishing, and had a great time. It was a beautiful day on the ice, with mild temps and little to no wind. We'll definitely be back.

Soon.

Snow/slush conditions on the lake stunk, as did the portages. An 18 mile ride took over an hour each way. Portages were so rough it was about 10 mph, and with a foot of snow over 4-6 inches of slush on Crane, Sandpoint and la Croix, it was slow going on the lakes as well. Lots of slush roiled up by previous sleds and frozen, too.

If you're going in there, make sure you leave extra time, and be patient. If you're towing a portable I don't recommend leaving established sled tracks unless you've got the right sled setup for that kind of stuff.

We'll have a few pics up either later tonight or tomorrow.

As well as Dock Boy, I want to thank everyone who helped out with info (both on these forums and in a certain phone conversation) last winter and this winter as we prepped for our first trip. I'd planned on going in last March, but winter ran away from us at full speed. These days, with GPS and all, a person can pretty easily explore with some confidence, but it's still nice to get a helping hand through the forums in advance of the journey. I didn't get much info on the forums, but what I got was good.

[prov1900]

Look forward to the pics Steve. I saw Lac La Croix from the Crooked Lake portage many years ago while canoeing in the Quetico. It looked like a beautiful body of water, but of course that whole area is awesome.

[Spearing Machine]

Glad you guys were finally able to make it out there, Steve!! It had been quite a long while in the planning for you and hopefully the next trip(s) are more successful for you. Looking forward to seeing a couple of pictures from the "northwoods"

[finnbay]

It was a fun day. Travel conditions were less than ideal, however. You haven't seen anything until you've seen Steve trying to negotiate the deep powder and slush on his sled with an elephant on his back! He also left some roadkill on the Mukooda Portage. Steve, sent you some of the pix from yesterday. I'll let you post all of the ones you'd like.

[Steve Foss]

Hah! That was a LOT like surfing, with over 100 lbs of gear on the back of the sled. Wish I'd have seen Dock Boy's report over on the Crane Lake forum before heading out. Next time, I'll be traveling light. That durn box is going in the garage! Hand auger, baby!

Here are pics from the day.

[Surface Tension]

Nice story and great pics as usual.

[Jim Almquist]

Awesome looking scenery !

Sounds like a great way to spend time with a friend as well !

With you two I would expect nothing but great pictures

[Tman2]

Really nice pic of you holding the fish! I try to make those pics a little nicer too.

A question: why the holes in the plywood box? It would seem to me that they would allow snow into the box. My box is only about 14" high and I have 2 Mad Dog mounts on top of it to hold the auger. Metal would be nice, but starts to get spendy.

[Steve Foss]

The holes are to cut down weight, and they make it very easy to find a place to hook bungees if the eyehooks don't happen to be in the right place. Snow does get in easily, but there are holes in the bottom so it's easy to brush out. Darn box still weighs about 50 lbs. Works great (I have cutouts on top for the power auger) if I'm fishing alone and not in deep snow/slush, but that trip in and out of la Croix with all that extra weight on the back was ugly.

I'm not throwing the box away because there are still times it'll be useful. I will take the top 4 inches off of it all the way around, because it's taller than it needs to be. I just finished a smaller box today. It's 2 feet long by 14 inches wide and about 5 inches tall. I'll be able to lay in tackle box, Vex, rod bag and hand auger (bag and auger laid upright, and lash everything with bungees. I'll also be able to access the roomy storage compartment inside the seat, which I couldn't do with the big box mounted. The small box weighs about 5 lbs.

It'll save a ton of weight leaving behind the big box and the auger powerhead, not to mention leaving 25 pounds of camera gear at home. The pics on this thread would have been easily done with my compact digital P&S. Big box + powerhead + camera gear = 100 pounds.

[NoWiser]

Looks like a good trip, even with the slow fishing, Steve! I fished 3 days across the border over the weekend and the trout just weren't acting like they should in January. I caught exactly 4 trout and lost 2 in those 3 days. Over the last 4 years on a January trip, I don't think I've ever caught less then that in one single day. I couldn't even hardly get any chasers. We fished our 3 best lakes too, and one new one. I'm blaming it on all the deep snow and slush on the lake, compared to most years. It was more like February conditions, with slush.

A bad day of fishing up there is still better than a good day fishing pretty much anywhere else, though Good luck on your next trip!

[Steve Foss]

A bad day of fishing up there is still better than a good day fishing pretty much anywhere else, though

You got that exactly right!

[Dock Boy]

Just a quick note. If traveling to La Croix I would highly recommend traveling light. After the last 4-7 inches of snow slush has taken over many areas of the lake. If you don't stick to tracks you will most likely be stuck towing any type of a fish house/sled. FYI

[finnbay]

Thanks Dock Boy! Any fish left in the Lake?

[Steve Foss]

And have the portages been groomed?

[Dock Boy]

Lots of fish left because of the slush. Mukodda portage has been groomed, but Dawson never gets groomed. 4 miles of bumps

[Wanderer]

Dock Boy,

I understand you're at the Voyagaire Resort on Crane? We'll be staying there Friday night. Wondering if you know where a guy can score maps of lakes on the Ontario side?

Will you be around Friday night?

Thanks