Well Valentine's Day was coming up, so it was time for our annual trip to the Saguenay Fjord. The Fjord has one of the most unique fisheries in North America; ice fishing on saltwater. This year would be a short trip in terms of fishing, only staying on the ice for one afternoon before heading north on a hunting trip. Given the short timeline, we chose to focus on one spot in Anse a Benjamin.
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| Anse a Benjamin |
We made it out onto the ice and prepared our various rigs: two for Arctic Cod, one for Atlantic Cod, and one for general bottom fishing. The Arctic Cod rigs were simple, just a tiny chunk of bait on a sz8 hook presented 12" under the surface of the ice. It was one of these rigs that went of first! The fish didn't hit immediately, but I could see something playing with the bait. Eventually I hooked it and was a little disappointed to see a Rainbow Smelt.
Shortly after, the general bottom rig, consisting of a high-low rig weighted with a jigging spoon, started bouncing so I set the hook and began reeling the fish up the 300' of water we were fishing. Getting it to the surface, I was super excited to see a Vahl's Eelpout! I've been chasing this species since I saw my girlfriend catch one 7 years ago.
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| Vahl's Eelpout |
In the confusion of catching and releasing the Eelpout, we almost missed seeing the Arctic Cod rod that had started bouncing. I noticed the line was pulled off to the side of the hole so I set the hook and pulled up lifer #2!
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| Arctic Cod |
Our second Arctic Cod rig was out on a tip-up which Alex went to check and ended up with her lifer just as quick!
Happy with our success thus far, we pulled the Arctic Cod lines and continued to focus on the bottom rigs. Action on the rod that had caught the Eelpout was fairly consistent and it wasn't long before Alex was pulling another fish up through the long water column. After reeling it most of the way in, it got stuck at the bottom of the hole. I knew she had her lifer Thorny Skate. I was able to reach down and pull it up by hand for some photos and a quick release.
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| Thorny Skate |
The bite continued and soon I had another Skate up on the ice! We rarely have such consistent action on the Fjord so we took advantage of it for as long as we could.
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| Thorny Skate |
It was dark by the time we started packing up and walking back to the car; we needed to be ready for a long drive to Labrador. I'll spare you the details but it was awesome to drive one of Canada's most remote roads and check of the final province of our country. And, of course, it helped that the Ptarmigan hunt was very successful!
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| Labrador! |
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| Ptarmigan Hunting |
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| Trans-Labrador Highway |
