Manitoba Parkland Trout

[Jason Hamilton]

What a weekend battling closed highways that freezing rain made into skating rinks! We pushed west into the night a arrived at our base for the weekend: Arrow Lake Lodge, a beautiful cabin offering access to a number of world class stocked trout waters. The FLIPPR program stocks these small lakes and maintains aeration to prevent winter kills. The hard work this organization has put in resulted in unbelievable trout fishing; literally a gem in the rolling western MB hills.

The key to locating and catching these constantly cruising fish was to drill a series of holes and look for fish using the wide (20 degree) beam transducer on the FL22 unit. This helped get the bait to the feeding fish and resulted in more hookups than sitting and waiting.

Small tube jigs and small Lindy Darters got the fish to eat. I also had a blast with the new Clam Ice Spooler reel, these rainbows and browns take off on quick runs after being hooked, with the rod tip in the hole and feathering the reel like a centerpin it was a truly unique way to do battle with the silver and gold bullets. I was even lucky enough to land a MONSTER brown trout, my biggest to date. I had its twin in a rainbow to the hole but....well you don't see any pictures of her.

It was good to get out on the ice and test out some new gear...the FL22, the Clam Nanook Thermal and new Buddy Heater made this trip a pleasure, it was tough not to be too comfortable in the shack and put the Ice Armor back on to search for fish!

[Tod Todd]

Very cool Jason thanks for sharing something we don't see down south.

[Jason Hamilton]

Thanks Tod, I am working on an article that highlights where, how and when to get after these gold bars and silver bullets. Folks should sign up to be a part of the Ice Team because this will be a member exclusive!

[Jeff Andersen]

What a fish Jason! I bet there is a pretty low percentage of ice anglers that have experienced this type of fishing. Can't wait to read your article!

[cfreund]

Nice fish i would die to catch a trout like that!!!!