Thursday, January 21, 2010

Visiting the old "stomping grounds"

Today we headed up to Lake Francis which is one of our favorite fishing places from when we lived in Conrad.  We always seem to catch something up there and have landed some of our biggest fish.  (I caught an 18 lb northern pike when I was pregnant with Dane and Clint has caught some really nice walleye!!!)
Anyway, the weather was supposed to be calm and clear with highs in the low 40's.  Perfect weather for a day out on the ice with the family.
About halfway there we got into some heavy fog that never lifted.  When we got to the lake it was nice and calm, but pretty chilly.  Clint headed out to start setting up tip-ups and I started the process of getting Dane ready.  (Lots of layers!!!)  He has learned that fighting me on this process does no good so we were able to get through it pretty quick and head out to "help" Clint.  By the way...  I highly recommend "toasty toes"(little foot warmers with adhesive backs to stick to your socks).  I was hesitant to use them on Dane in case they got too hot, but as long as his boots are on they don't get enough air to get really hot, they just stay the perfect temperature to keep his little "toes toasty"!  I always wear them too.
Here is Dane pulling his sled.  He lasted about 10 feet pulling it before I put him in it and pulled him.

When we got to the first tip-up Clint had set, the flag was up.  Clint was busy with the second one, so I took the opportunity to see what we had hooked.  Well, imagine our surprise when it was a nice walleye.  That is the only one we have ever caught through the ice up there, so it was quite the treat!!!


After that, we caught perch like crazy!  They were biting so great and Clint has figured out the magical combination that they like so much!  It was fun cause the tip-ups were always popping up.  Here is Dane and Clint with one of the perch. 

Here are the boys with a tip-up that has a bite...

It stayed pretty chilly the whole day.  I had a hard time getting a picture of it, but Bones had frost on his whiskers...

It was a great trip...  Dane lasted pretty well until about 1130, then he reached his threshold...  I thought maybe he would catch a quick nap and then we could head back out, but at about 1230 Clint came back to the truck as well and we decided to call it a day.  On the way back we stopped by some friends and visited  for a while.  It was so good to see them!
Tomorrow we are going to head up to the cabin for a night and enjoy the slower pace!  Should be a good time!

1 comment:

My Life by Abby Sutfin said...

Dane is soo cute in his snow clothes! And you look great lady! (i like the picture of bones as well)