# People vs Fish '21-22: The Northern Hard Deck Edition



## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

First trip on the ice this season was a success! Good way to make the best out of some unseasonably cold temperatures. It's been -15 most nights with highs around -5 for the past week, and below freezing for a week before. That's left us with 6-8" of good clear ice and an insatiable wanderlust to explore new lakes. 

The Cupcakes and I brought a few friends out to try a new lake, and despite frigid temperatures (I stopped looking at the thermostat when it went to -18F on the drive), we managed to draw first blood in this year's battle. Rainbows and Arctic char for everybody! With a celebratory campfire with mom afterwards.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

Those smiles are priceless, great job dad.


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## 2full (Apr 8, 2010)

Looks like fun for sure. You are teasing the rest of us. 
but.......that is too cold for me.
my ice fishing buddy retired and moved back home this summer.
so I’ll be doing some ice fishing this winter. 😎

We‘ll be hitting Panguitch mostly, and Fish Lake a time or two. 
Need to get new line on the poles and get things ready to go.


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Those smiles say it all - way to be a great Dad!


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

Sweet! 

Looks like it will be a while before we are breaking out the ice gear down here.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

That 2nd pict is of your bait right? 

-DallanC


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

DallanC said:


> That 2nd pict is of your bait right?
> 
> -DallanC


My buddy wouldn't let me take a pic of his kid's 3.5" char! Nothing super notable yesterday, but a few nice 15-17" bows. Planters in this lake, but it is a neat one.


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## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

I read that somewhere south of you got like 12 feet of snow in 2 days. Is that true? Atmospheric river or something like that.


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

caddis8 said:


> I read that somewhere south of you got like 12 feet of snow in 2 days. Is that true? Atmospheric river or something like that.


Yeah, and then that same storm dropped an estimated 28 feet over 3 days on Marcus Baker (remote mountain ~13k feet about 75 miles from Anchorage. My property in Anchorage got 20" in 12 hours that day. Winter came early, and with teeth, this year. We're supposed to stay subzero for the next week.


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## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

I"m surprised you hadn't planned a ptarmigan expidition


johnnycake said:


> Yeah, and then that same storm dropped an estimated 28 feet over 3 days on Marcus Baker (remote mountain ~13k feet about 75 miles from Anchorage. My property in Anchorage got 20" in 12 hours that day. Winter came early, and with teeth, this year. We're supposed to stay subzero for the next week.


I'm surprised you didn't plan some ptarmigan expedition or something.


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

caddis8 said:


> I"m surprised you hadn't planned a ptarmigan expidition
> 
> I'm surprised you didn't plan some ptarmigan expedition or something.


It's been a mite too avalanchy for my tastes! But if this weather holds through the weekend without dropping more snow I might give a spot or two a go after Turkeyday


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Hit the hard deck with the cupcakes for Round 2 of the season today. Had to find some new friends to go this week, I wonder why?! 

It was -19F when we got to the lake at 10:30, and -22F when our friends arrived and we started walking out. Oof, this winter showed up early and mean. 

But we caught a bunch of char 10-16" and a few 14" rainbows. The kids had a riot running the Kitty Kat every which way, and smiles were had all around. Icing on the cake, it warmed up to -8F by the time we got back to the truck at 3:30, down right balmy.


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## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

So awesome. How deep is the ice now with those cold temps? Do you get dark winter as in it's dark all day?


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

I was a bit surprised that the ice wasn't thicker. In a week of sub zero temps it only grew to 10" thick. Right now where I'm at it starts getting light out around 9 and it's dark by 4:45. At solstice here it won't be light until 10 and will be dark by 4.


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