I took my sons Hunter and Cole out for their first-ever ice fishing trip up to Lake Joseph in the Muskokas. We met up with Captain John Blanchard on a cold windy day but luckily John had a perfectly heated hut so the boys didn’t freeze.

There was no way I was going to let my little buddies freeze on their first-ever ice expedition so John having that heated hut was our saving grace!

As soon as we got there we dropped our lines down and I saw fish on the Lowrance. I told the boys to reel up (seeing their jigs on the screen is such a bonus) and as soon as they got to fish level, Cole got bit. He lost that one and then Hunter nailed a nice little eater-sized Laker. Cole lost another before Hunter could even get his fish in.

Long story short, Hunter’s fish was the only one “iced” that day. Cole had at least 5 fish on (probably more like 6 or 7) and unfortunately lost them all.

Reports around the lake had everyone struggling so my boys actually did very well as far as getting bites. The bait of choice was an X Zone Slammer, white with a little black on the back tipped with a minnow. That thing got constantly bit while a white tube was the only other bite of the day.

All in all a great outing with the boys!