12/26/16 & 12/27/16 A Christmas Miracle

December started out like any other year. Highs in the low 40s and lows in the 20s. It then quickly deteriorated to arctic like temperatures with highs in the single digits and lows down to 17 degrees below zero. We also got our first significant snowfall of the year and had up to 8 inches of snow on the ground in some areas. The ice junkies were excited and buying new gear at a record pace and I was left wondering if any lakes would be open once the current 'Polar Vortex' was out of the area. As you can imagine all of this extremely cold air put an abrupt end to my open water trout season. Every lake in the area quickly had a covering of ice and my favorite trout lake succumbed to the cold literally the night before I was able to make a trip out to fish. Fast forward two weeks and not much had changed. The temperatures were slightly warmer but the ice was seemingly here to stay and ice fishing had begun in earnest for most folks in the area. Then came some interesting news. The forecast for several days now showed high temps in the 40s and the day after Christmas forecasted to be close to 60 degrees with heavy winds and rain! Christmas with my family was great and I went to bed on the 25th with high hopes that maybe, just maybe, at least one trout lake would be open when I woke up the next morning. On the 26th I woke up to a text that simply read: Wide open - wind has pressed remaining ice to the east and about 10 yards out front. I quickly made plans to get up to the lake and take advantage of this opportunity to fish open water again! Upon arriving there was a good amount of ice on the bank and just to be sure I could launch, I put my waders on and pushed my way out into open water. It was relatively easy and I knew it was go time. The wind was still very heavy and I knew that my best chance would be to fish the opposite shore where the wind was not quite so extreme. There was still ice covering approximately 30% of the lake but there was also plenty of open water! There was also plenty of fish willing to play! I ended up catching 4 Rainbows and had several missed opportunities in just over 2 hours! It was a very surreal day with all the ice remaining on the water. I was often fishing around icebergs and shelf ice was still prevalent on much of the lake. The next day was very similar with heavy winds but even less ice to contend with! The fishing was just as good and I managed to put 4 Rainbows and my first Brown Trout of the winter into the boat. I thought that the Brown was going to be massive by the impressive fight that it gave me. Instead it was a chunky 15" fish with great colors and beautiful perfect fins. I released it quickly and only have GoPro footage from which to take pictures. It was great to get out twice to take advantage of this sudden thaw. I only hope that the open water sticks around long enough to squeeze in at least a few more trips.