After a little bit of a hiatus, this blog is long overdue. The beginning of the COVID quarantine was spent mostly indoors with a hint of ice fishing, as it was approaching the end of the season. The ice melted quickly as Spring approached. With expectations of being highly motivated and getting things done during my time of quarantine for Rocky Mountain Sportswomen, it turns out this wasn’t the case. Most of my time was spent with my family, in the outdoors, and creating a sense of home.
However, summer is nearly here, and I can’t let it slip away from me! We had such an amazing ice fishing season this year, and I’ve been dying to share it with you all!
Over the last couple of years, since moving to the Yampa Valley, my partner, Jesse, and I have taken up ice fishing. With the accessibility of Stagecoach State Park and other lakes nearby, how could we not? Before this winter, I had really only gone out a handful of times, including our very first RMSW outing last year. You can read about that day here! This year was different. With my girl, Caitlin being an avid ice fisher, and getting more comfortable with the gear and staying warm, I was ready to spend more days in the ice!
My first day of the season was the day of the Stagecoach Tournament hosted by Steamboat Fishing Adventures. It was a beautiful, crisp morning, with a sunrise I’ll never forget. Jesse and I loaded our daughter, Ellie on her sled and dragged her, the dog, and our gear out to our spot where we met Caitlin, her boyfriend, Casey, and eventually our other friends from Eagle County.
A beautiful sunrise overlooking the beginnings of the tournament at Stagecoach State Park.
It was frigid cold as we set up, but we toughed it out and got our camouflage blind set up with a heater to keep our extremities warm. Soon after the horn blared to start the tournament, Caitlin caught a beautiful 17-incher! To enter in the tournament, you submit your two largest fish that are 15 inches or over. We were so excited, as we thought this was going to be the start of a killer tournament day!
Caitlin and the trout that made us believe we had a chance at the tournament this year.
However, that ended up being the only big fish that anyone in our group caught. There were a few smaller ones caught throughout the day, but overall it was pretty slow. Long after the tournament was over, Ellie decided to take a nap face down in the chair, and we kept fishing and enjoying each other’s company. It was an extremely long day on the ice, but a great way to start the season. Hopefully we’ll have better luck next year!
After the tournament, Jesse and I started getting out more as a family. Some days were certainly better than others with the toddler, but over all, she loves ice fishing. So does our dog, Tilly. Ellie has been learning to jig her rod up and down, and even reeled a couple of fish in this season. Though her interest in holding the rod is short lived, we were sure to provide her with tons of snacks, some toys, and coloring materials.
Ellie is not a fan of actually touching the fish, but we’ll get there.
Jesse and I even managed to sneak out for a couple of “dates” on the ice without the little one, which is always much needed as young, adventurous parents. We spent Valentine’s Day evening (which also happens to be our anniversary) on the ice while catching a few big ones, and grilling up elk steaks on the Coleman stove.
There were also a ton of days spent on the ice with Caitlin. Whether it was an all day outing, or just a couple of hours to get our fix, we were out there. We even toughed out a white out blizzard with our other friend, Kate, who caught her first trout while ice fishing! We were excited to share a few days on the ice with Rocky Mountain Sportswomen Co-Founder, Jaime, who finally caught her first trout in Colorado on the ice! We even got our girl, Rachel, who joined us on our Chunky Trout Outfitters trip back in September, on her first trout from the ice! You can read about our Chunky Trout trip to Utah here!
I spent a few outings on my own, now that I finally had my own gear, and ended up having a killer outing one afternoon with my dog. I picked a random spot, punched in a hole that had already been drilled by someone earlier that day, and dropped a line. Planning on just a quick outing with the pup, I ended up catching fish after fish! It was such a fun fishing experience for me, and the fact that I was out there on my own made me so proud. Being my best little friend, I always let Tilly give the fishies a little kiss before putting them back.
In February, we were so excited to team up with Colorado Parks and Wildlife up at Steamboat Lake State Park for a Rocky Mountain Sportswomen Ice fishing clinic! We had a great turnout of women from the area who ranged from avid ice fishers-to total newbies! Kirsten, a CPW officer, was amazing, and held a basics of ice fishing and safety presentation for us before we hit the hard water. This was my first time fishing out at Steamboat Lake, so I was super excited. Turns out, Steamboat Lake is a “gold medal” lake. In order to be labeled as a Gold Medal Water, the area must be able to produce a minimum of 12 “quality trout" (14 inches or more) per acre. Other stipulations include the accessibility for the public to fish, and produce 60 pounds of standing stock, which is the amount of various living organisms in the ecosystem.
We followed Kirsten out to the marina where she gave us access to bins of ice fishing gear for us to borrow. We picked a spot, dragged our gear, and started drilling some holes! Several fish were caught throughout the day, and we even had some beautiful bald eagle onlookers, hoping to snag a fishy snack.
This day also happened to be the day that I would catch the biggest trout I’ve ever caught in my life. It had been a pretty slow day for me, but when I snagged this fish, I knew he was a hog with the fight he gave me. It took me several minutes to reel him in. He dragged my line out several times, and all the ladies gathered around to watch the action. Caitlin, my right hand fishing partner, came running to my assistance, as I always do for her. As my arm started to get tired, I looked in the hole, and saw the size of the fish I was about to pull out. Just as he was about out of the hole, the hook suddenly popped off the fish, and he nearly escaped back into the water. However, I was not about to let the biggest fish of my life get away so easily, especially after the long fight. Without thought, I stuck my arms down in the hole, sleeves and all, and grabbed that fish right out onto the snow! With all the girls screaming and cheering around me, I was in shock about what I had just pulled out of the ice! With a massive smile I wiped the snow off this beautiful trout and took some photos with him. I couldn’t believe it. As I gently let him back into his hole, I held is tail, and gave him a thank you for letting me catch him and showing me a good time. That was a moment I’ll never forget, and I’m so grateful to have shared it with so many other women. This day really showed how fun ice fishing can be, between the beautiful weather, the amount of fish caught, the conversations, and of course the thrill of pulling a big one out.
We had plans to have another ice fishing outing out at Pearl Lake with Kirsten and Rocky Mountain Sportswomen, however, the pandemic had struck, and we had to cancel our events and outings. Coronavirus didn’t put a stop to our ice fishing season however. We still managed to spend some time in the warm spring sun out on the ice, since it was a “social distancing-friendly” activity. This was a time of uncertainty and unemployment, so we took advantage of our fishing privileges, and kept a few trout for the freezer to feed the family.
Though we couldn’t do our RMSW event at Pearl Lake, a few of us decided to make the venture out there anyway before the season was over. This was a chance for me to catch my first grayling ever. It took me all day, but I managed to pull one out after being frustrated that everyone else, including my daughter, had caught one but me! It was a beautiful day overall, and it turned out to be my last day on the ice for the season. Soon after that, it was Spring and the ice quickly thawed.
Ice fishing has become my new favorite winter activity. I used to be an avid snowboarder, until after I had Ellie. With hunting and fishing becoming more of our family priorities than snowboarding, we haven’t been getting on the mountain as much. Ice fishing, to us, is more affordable, accessible, and very enjoyable. I have learned so much this last winter and am really looking forward to endless seasons in the future, especially as my daughter grows.
Ice fishing season may be over for now, but that just means it’s time to whip out the fly rod and spin rods, and discover the love of fishing all over again.
Elena Reynolds, Founder