Ice fishing reports coming in from almost all of our guests were very good, lots of rainbows being caught, including some better than average sized ones. Better action seems to be up shallower on Tunkwa, from 4' to 9', with fish suspended off the bottom in the mid range of those depths. Many fish are still feeding heavily on scuds, but we are now starting to see more bloodworms making up a good part of the fish diets. Some anglers fishing bloodworms imitators found good success. Fish are fighting good, and 6lb line is mininum one should be using, one big fish even broke a guests rod on the fight. Weather continues to be unseasonable mild, with sunny, daytime temps hitting +4, but nights are still cool and below freezing. The lake continues to make ice, and no problems with slush on top, but reports indicate Leighton is getting slushy on top. It's a great time to be planning your ice fishing get-a-way!

Fishing has been good for our guests this week on Tunkwa, the largest being 3lbs caught on cooked shrimp. Fish have been caught in Farmers Bay, off Goose Bay, Rock Bluff, Goose Island and off the Provincial Park boat launch. Temps have been +4 during the day to -5 at night. A system is approaching from the Southwest today, a slight breeze to 10km with overcast skies and snow developing in the mountains to the West in the past hour.     Forecast of 3cm is predicted late this afternoon and into the evening, a much needed snow fall.

Little pressure on the lakes this week made for good fishing for the few who were out, being quiet is a key for fishing shallow lakes. One of our guests had non stop action the minute they started fishing, their holes all very close to each other made the best ice fishing trip ever for them. One toddler tossed his rod towards his hole as a larger fish made his reel scream and kept pulling scaring him,lol, good times!! Most fish were from 16 to 17 inches with one being 22 inches. Fish were caught 5 inches below the bottom of the ice in 4-6 feet of water. One could see the fish nibbling at their offering thru the hole in the ice and the take by more aggressive fish making for a neat experience. We are getting a light snow fall this morning with clearing expected latter today and the out look looks dry with some cloud for the next 5 days. Temps range from -2 to + 5. There is no water on the ice unlike higher elevation lakes with more of a substantial snowfall pushing water up thru crascks in the ice. Thickness of the ice at Tunkwa is 13 to 18 inches, with 3-4 inches of snow on top.

Tunkwa area finally received a much needed snowfall this weekend, with a few inches falling on us. Temps remained very mild, daytime just above freezing, with night time temps just dipping to below freezing. Ice is still anywheres from 12 - 18" thick across the lake, with the only open water near the neck down into Corral Lake. There were many people out fishing this weekend, but reports indicates it was a bit slow, and the bite seemed to be off. Most of the fish that were caught, were by anglers away from the crowds, we cannot stress this enough, a stealthy approach is needed to be successful on these shallow alkes. Again cooked shrimp or krill, seemed to be the best bait. Beside the usual scuds in there stomachs, were are starting to see some green blood worms making up part of there diet now.
This snowfall has made the area look like a winter wonderland again, just a great time to be outdoors.

Some bright sunny weather has made being out on the ice incredible as of late, don't forget to bring your sunglases and sunscreen! Cold nights have kept the lakes making ice. With a bit of leg work, ice fishing continues to be good, moving around quitely and keeping on active fish seems to be key. Fish in shallow water are very spooky, at times, even footsteps with scare them away.  Many fish in the 16 - 17" class are being caught, these fish are great fighters, smacking baits hard, and pulling out lots of line, plus they are superb eating. Best bait as of late seems to be small pieces of cooked shrimp, fished on a smaller jig head, with glow colour heads seem to be more effective then just plain painted heads. We have received a shipment of very small, coloured/cured krill shrimp, that have been working well on pressured fish, offerring them a bait closer in size to the scuds they are gorging on right now, works. A flash spoon above any bait, really helps to call them in from a distance. Fishing bait under a small sensitive float or a strike indicator is catching fish as well, bights can be gentle and a sesnitve float will easily dectect them, and increase your chance in hooking up.  Fish are still up shallow, just off the weed beds in the lower light periods, and often move deeper as things brighten up. Best bights seem to be the first 40 min's of light and then the last 20 min's in the afternoon. Tunkwa has been fishing best at first light, while Leighton seems better at last light. We are noticing, on the graphs(fish finders), more fish swimming up higher, way above the bottom, often in the 3-6' range, these fish will eagerly chase you bait down if you lift up to them. Rigging up a graph or fish finder makes a huge difference out there, letting one know when an active fish is around there bait. Without a finder, try looking down the hole, cover your head to keep the light out, and you will be surprised at how clearly you can see the bottom and how many trout will come in to look at your bait! It is a great time to be on the Tunkwa/Leighton hardwater.