Invitation

I wasn't planning on making it out this weekend because I had to work all day Saturday, but when I was on the bus ride home my dad texted me seeing if I wanted to go ice fishing on Sunday. Usually it's me asking him (and he usually can't) so I jumped at the opportunity (after checking with the wife) and we decided Atley should probably go too.

Due to the potential move coming sometime in the future (read about it here) all my ice fishing gear was in storage. That meant Atley and I had to get up a little early in order to go and gather everything up, but Grandpa was right on time so it didn't seem like a wasted effort. Fish lake is always beautiful, but especially in the morning.

After a short walk out to what looked like a good spot we drilled through the thick ice. While taking quite a bit of effort, at least the ice put Atley's fears at ease. We checked depth and I helped Atley get a rig down while grandpa and I cut more holes and set up the shack. Atley iced his first fish before we were done getting things ready.

Once we had everything set up Grandpa caught his first fish of the year, a little splake (a cross between a brook trout and a lake trout) which set off a morning of pretty consistent action. We iced quite a few, but they were all pretty small. The most entertaining part, for us, was watching Atley miss a barrage of hits, frustrating for him.

The midday sun brought the temperature inside the shack up to comfortable, which cued the boys for a little nap. It didn't take long at all before I was serenaded with a snoring duet from Atley and Grandpa in stereo. I've never been able to sleep while there was fishing to do, so I kept on catching a few and trying new things.

When the snore-fest finally came back to the land of the living we decided to try a little closer to shore in hopes of finding some perch for Atley to play with. Part of the reason he was willing to get back out on the ice was the chance for catching a tagged perch, and the fabulous prizes that go along with it (read about that here).

Once the temps began to drop again we decided to gather up and head for home. Atley seemed quite distraught by the fact that he hadn't had any 'real' lunch and was forced to eat candy (some people's kids). All in all, it was a great day with great company.

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Soaked Ice

Talked the wife and kids into joining me for a couple of hours on the local pond's hard deck. Whenever I can get out with the family it's a good time, even if we were in the middle of a January rain storm. Yes, a rainstorm in January. Usually at this time of year you can open the fridge to warm up the kitchen a bit, but this year it's decided to rain instead of snow. 

You'd think that if it's warm enough to be raining that it might not feel so cold when you're out there on the ice, but the way it actually worked was that we were all wet by the time we got set up. We stuck it out for a little while, but soon it was obvious that the day was going to be cut short. At least the boys were both able to get a fish, their first of the year, and Caden even lost a little better tiger at the hole. Too bad the wife couldn't get her first fish of the year on the ice but I might be able to get her back out there one more time this year.

Cleaning up our ice shack soaked in rain was a cold experience, one that I hope I can avoid in the future. It's always good to spend time with my favorite people, hope you're as lucky!

Kidder

Out With A Bang

A fishing trip fell through this week when my Dad caught the sickness that has swept through my family. With a day suddenly open without commitments we decided to spend the day together and do a little fishing as a family. The usual haunts were tempting, but we decided to try something else and head to a new location. The hope was that we could cross a species, or two, off the Utah Grand Slam list and have some fun together.

Yes, it was cold

After a long drive we found a solid 5 inches of ice but no real depth. The good thing about the ice not being too thick is that you can drill a bunch of holes and move around. Unfortunately, it seemed like everywhere we tried we found the same 4 feet of water. Not knowing if any spot was better than the other options, we tried to spread out and hedge our bets. 

Nice spread

Atley hooked up with a white bass for our first fish of the day! While we were hoping that it would be the first of many, it didn't start the catching how we had hoped.

Proud of this kid

This guy is always happy

Another move before lunch had us pretty hopeful because the shore had quite a bit more structure, but the water wasn't any deeper and the fish were still being shy. Right when the boys had pretty much decided that lunch time had arrived I finally had a hit and made good with a large mouth bass (a species I'd previously checked off the list) that at least got the skunk off of me. 

Not a bad bass

It seemed like a good note to end on and we made the boys happy with lunch. After that we did a little exploring but didn't find any better options for fishing than the areas we'd already hit. With that we decided to change gears and find a place to try out my christmas present, a Smith & Wesson 9mm. 

I like this gun

A good day out with the family, even if the fishing wasn't all that we had hoped. It seemed like a fitting way to close out 2016. 

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Good times

Thin Ice

Woke up early on Boxing Day to hit the ice with Ross. I had heard that one of my favorite places to hit with the short rods was capped so we went for it. Lots of equipment to gather up and make sure it's in good condition before the first trip of any season, but referring to my packing list helps. On the ride there we noticed that there was some serious ice accumulating on the windows despite the defrost going full blast. The truck's thermometer confirmed that it was really freakin' cold when it read -17˚!

Check out the ice on my window!

Once we made it to the reservoir we found out that we weren't the only ones who had heard about the ice, but there was still room enough for us to stake our claim. Since it was early in the season we were being careful and checking the ice thickness as we worked our way out but with about 4" of clear ice we felt good about fishing. It didn't take long for the fish to give Ross some attention, unfortunately he was busy working on a tangle when they did. The fish wasn't so lucky it when it played with me, and we had our first fish on the ice!

Football

Another miss by Ross, and another nice rainbow by me, before the sun's warmth really started making the ice sound off. At first I could play it off as the usual sounds, but once I realized that my back was hurting from being constantly flexed and I wasn't having fun, it was time to go. Ross agreed and we cleaned up our gear and headed for the truck. We made one more stop on the way home at a lake I've never fished before where we struck out. A good start to the season!

Hope You're As Lucky,

Kidder

Can't ask for a prettier place to be skunked!

New Plan

Around Christmas by brother-in-law Courtney and I made some plans to get on the ice together before his second child was born. His family lives all the way up in the Northern part of the state so us getting together takes a little more planning than is convenient, but it's always a great time. We had some great fishing two years ago when we headed down South so we planned on a repeat performance (read about our last trip here). Unfortunately, at least in terms of fishing, baby boy's getting impatient and Courtney had to stay close to home. With plans to visit as soon as the bundle arrives it didn't make sense for us to head up and instead we canceled the trip.

A couple of days worth of indecision were weighing on me when Luc dropped by to pay for a fly rod that I'm going to build him (more to come on that). Turns out he wasn't doing much Saturday and so we made plans to head out. There was little discussion on where since he hasn't done much ice fishing and I still had that return trip on my mind. With very little persuasion Luc's brother Ross decided to join us and then we knew it was gonna be party. 

The snow was deep around the lake, but not impassable, and soon we were cutting our first holes to check water depth and if there were any fish around. Too bad I forgot to check the batteries on the finder. Oh well, we cut a few holes in a direct line away from shore and had some fish come to hand pretty quickly. Both Luc and Ross had their first splake to hand before the cold had really set in.

A nice way to start the day

Several of the splake were looking healthy like this one

After a few minutes we could tell that setting up the shack was going to be needed if we were going to be able to stay out there. We decided on which hole had the most action and tried to set it up so we could all fish comfortably. Once the shack was up the boys found their first ever perch and we had a blast sight fishing in the crystal clear water. Inside the shack was warm enough for us to lose the heavy coats and pull in lots of fish. It was a mixed bag of splake (how do you tell if it's not a lake trout?) rainbows and perch. The fishing would go in spurts with schools of the different species coming through which made for some really fast fishing at times. 

The boys were happy to have a chance at so many different species

Some of the prettiest rainbows around

Fishing stayed pretty consistent until mid-afternoon when Ross and I couldn't seem to buy a fish. Once things slowed down we looked outside and realized that a storm had moved in. Despite Luc still seeing and catching a few fish it was time to go. Ice fishing can be a lot of fun, especially when you can see the fish come in and take your jig, but I'm definitely feeling the itch to get back out fly fishing. In doing some research to write this post we found a website that has been copy and pasting all of my posts. Not cool. Please make sure you visit kidderfishing.blogspot.com to read. Hope you can get out, be safe, and enjoy nature.

- Kidder

I managed to catch my personal best splake!

A Beginning

When I woke up this morning I couldn't believe that we were ten days into the year and I still hadn't been fishing. There were a few reasons I hadn't made it out, not the least of which were the sub-freezing temperatures outside. Even without the weather's deterrent my schedule is picking back up with the restarting of school, my wife's last hurrah before her return to college was to spend Saturday afternoon at a painting class (that's also conveniently in a bar) with my sister and sister in-law. Spending an afternoon watching football and some kids at my brother's house wasn't exactly a horrible thing, and Deli gave me her painting as recompense.

I think she did a great job!

A late night of driving home helped to ensure that we'd all be sleeping too late in the morning for me to make an attempt to break in my new fly rod that I'm yet to break in on a fish. So instead we had a relaxed family breakfast and made plans for the boys to go harass some trout through the ice. I rounded up the gear that we'd need while the boys tracked down some warm clothes. At the lake we made the short walk out to set up in 11 feet of water. Before I had cut a hole for little brother, Atley was already reeling in his first fish of the year.

Atley sure knows how to work the short rod

As always, Atley had the hot hand on the ice but little brother wasn't too far behind in finding his first fish of the year. 

Hold it a little higher Caden

The action stayed pretty consistently inconsistent with the fish coming through in schools, but fish could only hold the boys' attention so long. Luckily we had some diversions in the form of a thermos full of hot chocolate, a football to toss around and of course letting the boys play in the snow. 

Give him a little liquid chocolate and he's happy

Just chillin with some cocoa

The boys are obsessed with Zelda

This smiley face isn't the most convincing I've seen

We were only out a couple of hours but had plenty of action & lots of fun. Hopefully it's the first of many days spent out in nature with my boys this year. Speaking of this year I'm looking forward to doing a lot of fishing, camping, hunting and everything that comes with it. I've got a few rods lined up to spin, some flies to tie, and a few projects to build (with any luck a few nets will be on that list too...). Hope you can get out, be safe, enjoy nature, and make 2016 one of the best of your life. 

- Kidder 

I caught my first fish too, a tiger trout

Hard Water

One of the things we always try to get out and do this time of year is a little bit of ice fishing.  When it's good ice fishing can be a lot of fun. When it's not so good it's pretty much awful. I think I'm the only one in the family that really enjoys spending time out on the ice, but my family puts up with so many of my oddities one more isn't that big of a deal, right?

Once on the ice, we enjoyed the nice morning and tried out a few different depths trying to find the fish. With only 5" of clear ice moving wasn't a big deal so I kept trying out different spots hoping to find some active fish. 

Once the storm started moving in we drilled some holes closer together and set up the shack. Just in time! Once the storm hit the snow and wind hit so hard we couldn't see more than about 10 yards and it would've driven us right off the ice had we been out in it. It's nice being in the shack for a lot of reasons, but it's nice to keep an eye on the boys' rods too. Seems like Caden had more hits than all of us combined but didn't notice. Luckily Deli was paying attention and hooked into a fish that seemed intent on stealing all of her line. Unfortunately, with all of us being in one shack the running fish it meant that tangles were unavoidable and the fish got off before we could get a good look. That was it for Deli and the boys so they helped pack things up and went to the truck for an attempt at a nap. I was left on the ice alone with the promise that I wouldn't be too long. I decided to move again but this time the move paid off on my first drop bringing a nice rainbow that got off just after peeking above the ice. I figured this was the spot and quickly moved my gear over to take advantage (Deli saw me running around on the ice and would later make fun of my goofy run). With the stuff all moved I made quick work of actually catching a fish.

A few minutes later I was fighting another fish of about the same size when I thought I had lost her at the hole. I could plainly see my lower jig disconnected from the fish, yet could still feel the fighting bow. Once I landed the fish the mystery was solved. I had somehow hooked a swivel from someone else's rig that had hooked the fish. Just about the weirdest way to catch a fish I've ever seen. 

With enough success and a weird story to tell I loaded up and headed back to the truck. Miraculously, Deli had gotten a little sleep despite the boys' best efforts at keeping her awake. Hope you can get out, be safe, and enjoy nature.

Merry Christmas!

- Kidder

2014 Year in Review

It's been a great year. Here are my favorite pics:

First fish of the year

My boy with a nice little tiger to start the year

Went a couple of years without catching a splake, didn't take long to find some this year

Some great bows were caught this year

Got out a couple of time with my Bro-in-Law

Little Brother knows how to fling a fly

Personal best rainbow

Was able to get out several times with my Dad this year, hopefully we can keep that trend going

Darkest rainbow I've ever seen, thought it was a catfish for a minute...

First (and only) largemouth bass to date

Cado knows how to pull in the big ones

Got his first brown trout this year too

Fun stuff under the surface

I didn't catch a pike this year, but this kid caught a couple

Bro-in-Law on his home water,

He's getting more independent 

I love brownies

One of my favorite streams

Beauty

Biggest chub I've ever caught

My first bluegill

My friend Ross with a great cutthroat

The fish may be small, but that smile ain't

A great brown trout on one of my favorite streams

Can't complain with a roadside brownie on a purple haze fly

The wife didn't get out much this year, but when she did she caught fish

Caught several nice Cutties this year

Atley caught some great fish all on his own this year

Found some new water that held nice tigers

And great lookin' splake

Always great to fish with this kid

Another great cutty, with Mickey Mouse in his eyes

My buddy Lane with a great lookin' cutty

This was the trip that Cado caught about 100 of these cutts

Nice tiger

Slippery, but he's determined to keep hold

We loved having my niece Riann come down and visit during the Summer

Broke my personal best for Cutthroat several times this year

Lane caught some serious cutties too

One of my better underwater pics

Only got to this stream once this year, during a downpour, but what a great day

Personal best Cutthroat, can't wait to go back and see if he grows

Caught my first grayling

My Dad fished circles around me

Found a new pond close to home that I can't wait to get back to

Took a couple of trips to a stream about ten minutes from my house

This is a great place to take young fly fishermen

My personal best Brookie

Little brother only poses with nice fish

This fish was an absolute chunk

Dad caught some great lookin' bows on this trip

Cado had a great day

A great way to finish out the year

Just hoping 2015 can be even close to as awesome, and hope that you can get out, be safe, and enjoy the outdoors.

- Kidder