Big Wood Pond - February 10-13, 2020
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| The View From Sally Mountain Cabins in Jackman, ME |
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| My Personal Best Brook Trout |
If your idea of winter fun is chillin in a cozy wood-stove heated bobhouse while catching plenty of Brook Trout, Splake, and Salmon, then Jackman Maine is the place to go. This was our fourth winter trip to Jackman. We started way back when the kids were young. Cynthia and I both grew up in Northern New England. Bringing our Cape Cod kids to Maine during the February break was a way to show them what a real winter was like while enjoying some fun winter sports. Ice Fishing, Cross-country skiing, and skating were all on the agenda. For the last three winters, Cynthia and I went to Lake Winnipesaukee for our ice fishing vacation. This year we decided to go back to Jackman for a change of scenery.
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| Family Ice Fishing On Big Wood Pond |
Sally Mountain Cabins is located on the eastern shore of Big Wood Pond within walking distance of the center of town. The cabins are very comfortable and include a fully equipped kitchen. My favorite amenities though are the bobhouse rentals and the on-site bait shack. The bobhouses are heated with a small wood stove (firewood provided). Guests can help themselves to smelt and shiners and just add the cost to the final bill.
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| Scuppy And Choggie Hoggin' The Woodstove |
We booked our cabin well in advance since both of us needed to request time off from work. Fortunately we got lucky with the weather. The days before we arrived had temperatures in the teens and a wicked windchill. On the days we fished temps were in the low 30s, with a light breeze, and gentle snow flurries. In other words, perfect ice fishing weather. Any warmer and the surface becomes wet and slushy which is problematic. One day in the middle of the week was colder and windier, so we took a break and went sightseeing in Quebec which is only 17 miles away.
On the first day we started catching fish before all the holes were drilled. This trend continued throughout the week and we never did need to use all ten lines as allowed by the regulations. The first fish was a small Landlocked Salmon followed by a few Yellow Perch. More Perch soon followed. Around noon the action slowed down so we heated up a pot of chili on the wood stove. Before I could even take my first bite the tip-up flags started to pop up again. It seemed as though the Brook Trout had also decided to eat lunch. We caught three beautiful Brook Trout of which two were kept for dinner. Altogether we caught one Landlocked Salmon, three Brook Trout, eight Yellow Perch, and two Fallfish.
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| A Pair Of Brook Trout |
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| Landlocked Salmon |
The next day played out almost exactly like the previous day with two Salmon caught in the morning, Yellow Perch hitting the bait all day, one Fallfish, and two Brook Trout in the afternoon. Cynthia caught our largest Salmon yet, a fourteen incher.
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| Cynthia Holding Her Salmon |
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| Fallfish |
On the third day we decided to take a side trip to the Canadian province of Quebec. The road from Jackman to the international border has to be one of the worse roads that I’ve ever driven on. The road improved greatly once we crossed over into Quebec.
We drove the the nearest large town, Saint-Georges, an attractive town located on the Chaudiere River. The best feature of the town is the riverside park. The park covers riverbanks on both sides and is connected by two covered pedestrian bridges. The trails were all plowed, sanded, and salted. It has all the usual park amenities such as playgrounds, picnic spots, and an area for dogs. What makes this spot special and unusual is the many modern art sculptures scattered throughout the entire park. After an enjoyable walk with the dogs we found a nice pub where we could eat lunch. We got gourmet pizzas and a side order of poutine. What is poutine? It’s the ultimate French Canadian comfort food. The three main ingredients are french fries, cheese curds, and brown gravy. A spicy modern variation uses barbeque sauce instead of the gravy. Best of all we had enough leftovers to enjoy the following day while out on the ice. Sure the fries were a bit soggy the second time around but ice fishing makes a person hungry enough to eat just about anything that qualifies as food for humans.
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| Poutine |
Our last day of fishing was the best one of all. By the end of the day we caught four small Landlocked Salmon, two Splake, two Brook Trout, and nine Yellow Perch. Splake are a hybrid cross between a Brook Trout (aka Speckled Trout) and a Lake Trout. They closely resemble a Brook Trout. They are identified by the caudal fin which is more deeply forked than the Brookie’s squared tail. Splake also typically lack the red spots with a blue halo that is are found on Brook Trout. The highlight of the day was a personal best Brook Trout. It was eighteen inches long had a ten inch girth and weighed two and a half pounds.
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| Brook Trout |
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| Splake |
That night we feasted on trout seasoned with a honey mustard & dill marinade. Delish! By morning the temperature had dropped to the single digits with the windchill well below zero. We were glad not to be fishing that day and instead to be driving home in a warm automobile. However as we worked our way back to Cape Cod my thoughts were on planning the next Maine ice fishing trip.
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| Trout Cooked Dill & Honey-Musterd |
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