Winter has a firm grasp on most of us this year.  We went from a beautiful warm fall into full fledged winter!  We have had very cold weather in the North and at least one snow storm a week.  There has been quite a bit of snow but nothing like areas further south along the border and even south of that where the snow is even deeper.  With this month of cold weather we went from no ice to over 2 feet already.

The one thing about being cold is that the sun shines.  Most pure Canadians don’t mind the cold as long as the sun is shining!!  We are into the New Year and the days will begin to get longer soon.  Fishing season is getting closer everyday.

Another great thing about the sun is that it provides me with lots of photo opportunities.  And of course my pal Dustee is in most of them.  She has been very happy spending lots of time out on the lake with me and my Brother.

During freeze-up we had high humidity when the lake froze and it got very cold, very fast and created this Hoar frost on the lake.

We also had a ton of gale forced winds during freeze up which made for mine fields of ice and slow travelling.

My Brother and I are some of the few Commercial fishermen left fishing on Lake Manitoba on the ice.  Since a flood of our lake in 2011 we have had an infestation of Pike.  We normally chase the higher priced Walleye but since 2011 it has become increasingly difficult to catch Walleye as our nets are plugged right full of Pike.  The pike came from small lakes surrounding the big lake and had never had access to such abundant feed.  They are thriving but also consuming more and more Perch, Walleye, and literally anything they can fit in their mouths.  We can sell the Pike but the price and labor involved make for long days filled with swear words.  We do it because we love it as our family has for 3 generations.

The wind molds the landscape.  Here are some Coyote tracks that were left behind after a storm.

With winter late in getting here it has slowed me down from trapping much this year but I have been able find a few coyotes.  The fur is in great shape this winter.  Hopefully the prices will be too! 🙂

2017 is shaping up to be a great year.   Please let us know if you would like some dates for next season.  We would love to show you a great fishing vacation.