NAIFC

Bob Esbensen

After fishing the December Championship then the series of qualifying tournaments there’s a certain void when it all ends. It’s not quite time for open water fishing. Even here in northern Illinois. In the last two years I’ve turned to the Ice Roads On Ice Clinics to fill the void. It’s the cutting edge ice fishing school designed for fishermen by fishermen. This year (2009) the ice road brought me and my cousin John to Lake Superior’s Chequamegon Bay in mid-March. We checked in on Friday afternoon to take in some educational seminars by Lake Superior guides, biologists and guest speaker Dave Genz. We were treated to a nice meal and made specific plans for the next day’s fishing. Saturday was an early start for a long ride out to the lake trout spots near the Apostle Islands. We fished all day in water 180 to 260 feet deep. We had expert instruction with nearly a 1:1 teacher to student ratio. We caught some nice fish but no giant lakers. We had a nice dinner waiting for us when we got back to the hotel.

Day two also started early but this time in much shallower water for rainbow trout near the mouths of the tributaries. At late ice the trout move to these areas on days that are warmer and the streams are flowing some. We were only in 4-6 feet of water, using automatic fishermen and jigging rods. Spawn bags and wax worms were effective. This area also produced a bonus brown trout. Later in the morning when the trout action slowed we moved to a smallmouth spot. You can’t visit the Chequamegon Bay area without sampling the smallmouth action. We fished in 22-24 feet of water using jig and minnow and jig and plastic. Fiskas and genz worms worked well. The group also caught bonus whitefish and coho salmon. John and I fished until sunset not wanting the ice season to come to an end. All of our fish were released except one lake trout.

Ice Roads is run by Jim Hudson of Hudson’s On The Spot Guide Service. Ice Roads On Ice Clinics provides me with the bridge I need to transition from the end of the ice competition to the beginning of the open water season. I don’t know where the “Road” will take me next year, but I’m sure there will be good fish and good people there.