Late ice equals a long drive...

[Tim Moore]

I got a new Jason Mitchel elite series 38" Mackinaw Big Fish rod and wanted to try it out before the season ended. I got on the road to Lake Winnipesaukee at 5am, stopped for coffee and away I went for the 1 1/2 hour drive. 30 minutes later I realized that I left the battery for my ION and my Vexilar at home, grrr. An hour later I was back in the same place and finally on my way to the lake. I stopped at AJ's and got a dozen smelt and one large sucker. The traffic light in downtown Meredith was the longest ever, at least that's how it felt. I was excited to get into some lake trout and try my new rod.

I was taking a bit of a gamble because I fished the same spot a week earlier and when I left the edge was getting bad. I knew that there was a chance that I wouldn't be able to get on the lake there. I pulled in and there was just enough room to park my truck and walk on. I got out to where I wanted to start and drilled a couple of holes, set one tip-up, and plunked the transducer into a hole. It didn't take long to land my first fish, a 19" lake trout. The bite was good until the sun got high and the wind started to blow. I eventually saw gusts of 25mph. I picked away at the fish eventually landing 5 lake trout and 3 cusk, everything was released. The early fish came on one of my hand-tied bucktail jigs and all the later fish came on a white tube. I stayed until my Mr. Buddy heater ran out of propane.