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Craig Lister
2014-03-23 22:36:08

Reptiles of the North


For some time now, I have been trying to get up to Manitoulin Island to spend a day or two ice fishing with a couple of buddies. Things finally worked out and made the seven hour trek north bound. After spending most of the winter inside arenas coaching, following hockey and working. it was great to get away. I had heard on several occasions about how good the lake trout fishery was. After the fifteen minute 4 wheeler ride out to the area we were going to fish......it did not take long to get into some fish. The first several fish were not lake trout but ling (burbot). I am sure many of you have caught tons of these fish over the years but this was my first time catching one. My buddies had told me how plentiful these reptile looking fish where and how good they are to eat ?? By the looks of their skin....you could make a nice pair of cowboy boots !!! We caught ling all day long with a few lake trout and one lone whitefish in on the action. I had an absolute blast catching ling out of 75 fow. We ended up catching close to (40) ling and brought a few home for dinners. The bait they wanted was a 3.5 " white tube jig fished on a 1/4 oz jig head and tipped with a small dace minnow. The tube jig was tied to a 3 foot piece of 12 lb. test Pline fluorocarbon leader that attached to the PowerPro braid by a swivel. I used a 31" m/h ice rod paired with a Shimano Stradic CI4 1000, spooled with 10 lb. PowerPro Ice-Tec (blue) line which was the perfect match for this type of technique. Most of the ling were caught tight on the bottom by pounding the tube and most of the lake trout were suspended that could be seen on the Lowrance Elite-5 Ice Machine.. All in all it was a great day with a couple of buddies and I am looking forward to getting back up to tangle with more ling !!!
0 anglers like this post
Mar 27, 2014 27/03/14
Jacques Sauve
Very nice Craig and very interesting!
Mar 24, 2014 24/03/14
Craig Lister
After pan frying with and without batter. Found it chewy. I then turned to a poor man's lobster boil. This is the best way to cook these tasty fish. Just as I had been told..... ling is like eating lobster meat. Next on my list is to try boiling ling with a different recipe using Mountain Dew or ginger ale. Hoping to head back for some more ling very soon.
Mar 24, 2014 24/03/14
David W. Reid
Sounds like you had a blast Craig, good stuff
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