Whitefish Outing

[Iambjm]

I went to Sturgeon Bay this weekend on a whitefish outing with 30 woman from a Club called Wisconsin Women Fish. I spent Thu. night in Wausau and woke up to snow and whiteout conditions Fri. morning. Arrived at our resort around 10:30 am after 3 hours of white knuckle driving. Needless to say that days fishing was cancelled as the winds were gusting to 35 MPH and you couldn't see 10 feet out on the lake.

Pro Walleye fisherwoman Marriane Pfister Huskey gave us a seminar on fishing for whitefish and and the importance of ice safety and the use of GPS's when out fishing. I could very well see the importance of a good GPS on Friday. We made our plans for our Sat. fishing and then spent the rest of the day chomping at the bit to get out on the ice.

Sat. morn was overcast, cold and very windy. We all headed out to the lake to go fishing, we were going out on ATV's and sleds and ferrying gear on our trailers. Got mine hooked up to my Polaris and loaded down with gear. Had a passenger behind me and one on the trailer rode down to the lake and remembered I hadn't locked the car so we headed back to the car to lock it. Stopped the atv and it killed, tried to start it again and the battery went dead after 3 tries. Tried the rope starter and darn near tore my arm out of the socket, my passenger had a jump starter which got it going again but it wouldn't keep running.

Then several gals came up and helped me push it up behind a car and I pulled my car up to wedge it in and we hooked my trailer up to another ATV and headed out. Out on the ice everyone helped each other set up their shacks, and Marriane and a couple of my good friends helped me set up my new Clam thermal hub. She even drilled my holes for me rather than me dragging my auger out there.

Fished all day in 25 mph winds and I admit the thermal hub was warm with just my Mr. Buddy heater on low. I did have a few small issues with the hub, and I am not sure if I like the way they set up.

The bite wasn't great but I did end up icing 3 whitefish and my shack mate got one. We both missed several, they are a totally different fish with small mouths and easy to lose.

End of the day came and again everyone helped everyone else take down and pack up. When we got back to the car everyone helped me push my wheeler back on the trailer. We then headed back to the resort and a bunch of the gals prepared a fish boil for dinner along with all kinds of snacks, side dishes and desserts. Me and another gal went down the road to a local restaurant for dinner (I am a diabetic and couldn't wait until 8pm to eat dinner).

A group of the women planned on heading out on Sunday for more fishing but I decided to head home because it is an 8 hour drive for me. Would I do it again? Heck yes, every outing I have had with this group has been fun, informative, and I have met some great new friends. If they do it again next year I will make sure the wheeler is running, head up there a day or two earlier and stay a day or two longer. It was great!

Note to Polaris: do you have to put the battery in such a difficult place to get at?

Note to Clam: come up with a little better design for anchoring the hub and make sure your stitching hold on your anchor straps.

[Mrs Boilerman]

Isn't it amazing what we'll go through to get some time in on the ice? Eric and I once drove across the lake with a running auger in the back of the truck because the recoil had broken and we were afraid we couldn't get it running again.

Glad to hear you iced a few fish between solving problems