Previous Next

My dad (Big D) and I hit Rat Lake at around noon today. We tested the ice close to shore with a few holes drilled in about six inches of good clear ice. It seemed safe so we decided to walk around to the back side of the lake, walking close to the shore for safety. We arrived at the backside of the lake about 30 minutes later and proceeded to drill our first hole which was finished a little too quickly in about two inches good clear ice and about two inches of cloudy ice. Dad was about half way through the ice on our second hole when a crack shot from his hole all the way back to the my hole 20 feet away and continued between my legs another thirty feet or so to the shore. The loud pop (Dad said it sounded like a gunshot) got our attention causing us to grab our gear and head back to thicker ice near the parking area. With a couple of new holes drilled and lines finally in the water, the waiting began. My first bite resulted in about a 6 inch rainbow getting all the way to the hole before it spit the hook. The second bite came about 15 minutes later resulting in one small rainbow on the ice. After another 30 minutes of waiting I decided to drill a new hole a little farther out on the ice, the hook wasn’t in the new hole longer than a minute before my second small rainbow hit the ice. Dad pulled a 10 incher and finished the day with a nice 14 incher. It was very cold today probably running at or just below 0 degrees most of the day and certainly below 0 after the sun dropped down over the canyon rim.

blufin loui

1/2/2011 8:51:00 AM

WOW, what an adventure, sure glad you two found safe ice. You guys earned that mess of fish for sure. Rat lake is a nice lake to visit and fish, beautiful country and fish for the taking. Thanks LittleD for sharing the experience and pics with us, and here's wishing you and the "ole" man many more trips this new year.

afk

1/2/2011 11:37:00 AM

Nothing like a little bit of adventure mixed in with the fishing! Glad to hear you found safer ice to fish. As Lewis said," You earned those fish". Thanks for the report.

Malottguy

1/2/2011 6:55:00 PM

Rat is a great lake to learn to ice fish on for trout. I still remember fishing there years ago and biggest was about 18" so there are a few mini monsters in there. Great report and hope you have many safe outings.

MarkFromSea

1/3/2011 7:00:00 PM

Wow, bet that "shot" was better than a cup of coffee for waking you up. Thanks for the report!

MotoBoat

1/4/2011 8:17:00 AM

As soon as you cut through your first hole, did the surface of the water raise above and onto the ice? Indicating the ice was flexing? Cool fishing rod. I have not seen one with an intentional bend in it, only the broken kind of bend! Ha.

Little D

1/4/2011 11:05:00 AM

Hey Moto, No water flow onto the ice what so ever before the crack (Gunshot) and we didn't stick around to wait for it. I picked up the rod last Friday at hooked on toys in Wenatchee for $9.00 and put my own reel on it. The bend helps to stabilize it in the top of a 5gal bucket.

MotoBoat

1/6/2011 12:11:00 AM

I understand not sticking around to take notes! I was thinking about one trip to Rose a couple years back, where water came up through the hole and onto the ice if I walked up to the hole to look at ice thickness. That was spooky. I had two of my dogs with me, and they were hunting the cattails for Quail while I fished. One of them broke through the ice falling into 2 ft of water, near shore. I started toward him, but he got up onto the ice pretty quickly and off they went to hassle some different Quail. That was spooky too, I knew I would be getting wet if I was able to get close enough to help the dog.

Leave a Comment:

Login

Flag

×

Why is this comment inappropriate?

Close Submit

Delete this comment? Provide reason.

No Yes

Edit

×

Cancel Save