Erie Ice Fest: A Pleasant Ending

The ice conditions that greeted us this morning at Misery Bay were miserable indeed, with free-floating ice chunks separated from the shore and the wind blowing hard. Nowhere around Presque Isle bay looked better, making it obvious that we needed to figure out another plan. Dave Lefebre determined that we'd make better decisions over breakfast, so we headed to the Zodiac Dinor in Erie, which was a very good move.

We talked through a variety of options and eventually decided to visit Pleasant Lake, a small lake that tends to offer good ice when many others do not. Another good move. Plentiful aggressive trout, a fair number of perch, and a couple of bluegills helped make the lake pleasant indeed. Most trout were rainbows, but we did manage one brook trout. I caught several rainbows, so I was able to add species No. 5 to this year's list. Looking back at the past few days, best I can remember, our small group together caught eight different kinds of fish.

Tomorrow I head for the Erie airport to begin a day of travel that will end nicely at home. Erie Ice Fest has provided a wonderful start to the 2014 fishing season.