I hate ice fishing

Let's cut to the chase: I couldn't put any patterns together this hard water season. Not for lack of trying. But there was some missing combination of skill and fate and luck. Or maybe it was a lack of patience - I moved from one goal to another too often. Fisherman are judged most for their decision making abilities. I failed on that front this winter.

I fished in and around Huntsville a handful of times. On Lake Vernon, I targeted shallow water species: perch, crappie, and pike. I marked a few small fish and nothing more.

A two hour drive brought me to Bark Lake near Barry's Bay one Saturday. You can rent huts for $30/day at Sunny Hill Resort.

Once again, I marked fish, but wasn't able to get any to commit. The service at Sunny Hill Resort was great, and I'll definitely be returning next year (if not earlier: the lake apparently has great bass fishing).

The only place I had any kind of consistent success was Peninsula Lake, catching perch in about 40 to 44 feet of water.

On one outing, I used live bait, but otherwise caught them on drop-shots using soft plastics, or small jigging spoons. Sometimes I tipped the spoons with Crappie Bites.

I left some slack in my line while drop-shotting. Rather than 'feeling' the bite, I focused on line movements. I fished in shallow and deep waters.

There were also a few unsuccessful outings on Lake of Bays. One morning, I walked out from Dwight Beach. The other time, I walked from the public boat launch in South Portage.

There is a shoal or some kind of structure further south on Portage Bay, but I didn't have the energy to walk that far through the wet snow.

Finally, I went to Haliburton one weekend to visit some friends. The weather was great but the fishing was slow.

Part of me wants to wrap up the hard water season and start planning for open water. But I may have one more day in me, so stay tuned.

Greg Cholkan is a lawyer and fisherman. He works in Muskoka with Barriston LLP and his practice focuses on real estate, wills and estates, and business matters. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter.

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