Fort Peck Ice Fishing

Another great year was had on ol' Fort Peck Reservoir. My dad with two of his friends and I all got to spend a few days in a winter paradise fishing. Theres nothing quite like the change of pace that winter camping and ice fishing brings about; I love it. Lets wake up today and do exactly what we want to do all day with good friends. Tough huh? This trip really supports the saying 'the fishing is always good, but the catching can vary.' I dont know how many years in a row we have been out there now but its never quite long enough and we cant wait to get back. Its exciting to drive through a blizzard in the dark across the ice/lake three (sometimes four) sheets to the wind and know right where you are and where you need to go. I like being comfortable if not thriving in high consequence scenarios. I know my dad almost went through the ice on a four wheeler a few years back but this is the first year one of us has gone through the ice; it was Mr.Adventurous me. It happened so fast and I was out of the water and on the ice so quickly that I didnt even have time to panic. I broke through a snow bridge over open water from a pressure ridge. Ill bet I never do that again. Luckily we always bring the necessary equipment to deal with worst case scenarios like that (monster heaters, throw bags, ice picks and an ice house to mention a couple).  The CMR is a wild place.

If you have never seen a trophy Northern Pike, well here you go; 43" long! (not caught by us)

These guys from WY and WI killed it out there!

I like this silhouette photo. Its takes teamwork to catch these big fish!

This was the big fish of the trip at 36"; the rest of the pike came in at 35" and Im not just floating my own boat.

Grizzly Adams is really good at drinking everyone else's beer!

It went from slick blue ice to covered in snow in one day.

Gaggles of geese were flying over the whole time.

One way to thaw frozen fish is to put them next to a 200,000btu heater in a wall tent; you cant even imagine the smell.

I dont think this is my first Sauger, but its my biggest!

Yup, thats a BD Express holding down the fort. Sharp end ice fishing?