Belwood Lake Ice Fishing - Fergus and Elora

Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you want to spend the day immersed in nature, casting for trout, or sitting on a frozen lake waiting for a nice pike to make your drag sing, but your significant other has, shall we say…other plans. As I write this post it’s -15c in Southwestern Ontario, the lakes are hard as a rock and the fish are waiting.

Well if your idea of relaxation on a cold winter’s day differs from that of your spouse I just may have the compromise you’re looking for. Head to Belwood Lake just outside the town of Fergus where you can ply the frozen depths while those less inclined spend a great day browsing the shops and sites of beautiful Fergus and Elora.

Nestled along the scenic banks of the upper Grand River the towns of Fergus and Elora boast unique shops, great scenery, and fantastic restaurants. The towns abound with artisans of all kinds and you’re sure to find something to please any taste.

Belwood Lake is a man-made flood control reservoir administered by the Grand River Conservation Authority and is just upstream of the town of Fergus. Live bait and ice hut rentals are available and the ice fishing is great. As with all good things there is often a downside; it is quite conceivable that you will run out of bait before your spouse runs out of cash and there is always the chance that you could be forgotten altogether.

Oh well, there are plenty of great B&Bs available in the area, so why not make a weekend of it. Whatever your preference, get out and enjoy our great Southern Ontario Outdoors.

©2009 Lloyd Fridenburg – All rights reserved click here for copyright permissions

Ice Fishing Weekend 2009

If it’s one thing you can count on throughout the Southern Ontario winter it’s the fact that you can never depend on the weather. Each year we plan an ice fishing trip to Smed’s (name altered to protect the guilty) cottage near Owen Sound. We usually head up sometime between mid and late February so we can enjoy a few more hours of fishing as the late winter sun rises a bit higher in the sky and stays out a bit longer.

Food was bought, travel arrangements made and then it happened; an early morning message from Smed saying that all the highways heading north were closed. So now what? Do we pick another weekend or play wait and see.

Finally by late morning the winds started to die down and the sun peeked through the clouds. Smed started out first and was to let us know if he thought he could make it. Well after another 45 min we got a message saying that he was making slow but steady progress. Sam started out from Ayr and was to pick me up in Kitchener on the way along. After waiting longer than it should have taken I get a phone call from Sam. “I’m on the side of the road; @#$%$ car died!” After another hour and a few bottles of gas line antifreeze, we were on our way.

Other than a few minor whiteouts, the trip was relatively uneventful. Handshakes all round, a toast to the fish gods, and off onto the ice where his ice hut, affectionately know as Red/Green was waiting. Sam soon had a roaring fire blazing in the stove as the temperature continued to plummet. After a couple of hours and no hits we decided that the sudden change in temperature had the fish all messed up so we fired up the ATVs and headed back to the cottage for supper, only to find that Smed had forgotten that he had agreed to provide supper. Oh well, a bit of fussing and some scrounging had us sitting down to a fine feed of barbequed pork chops, chased down by some rather good French wine.

With the exception of a short break for lunch, Saturday found us back on the ice for the whole day but still with only one reasonable pike to show for our efforts. Well, back to the barbeque and some nice thick T-bone steaks. So thick in fact that we only had steak; that’s right nothing else just steak, a true meateterian delight.

The weather called for blizzard-like conditions again on Sunday so we only spent a few hours on the ice, most of it in a screaming blizzard, and then quickly packed up and headed south. I should mention that I did manage to land one reasonable sized pike on Sunday morning. The drive home was even more unpleasant than the drive up, but some good conversation and CBC radio got us through.

So there it is, a whole weekend and only two fish. So why bother you ask? Well to me it’s always about the journey and not the destination. It’s the memories, the companionship of good friends and the warm glow after a couple of drams of good scotch that makes it all worthwhile. Why not drop us a line and let us know about your own ice fishing adventures.

©2009 Lloyd Fridenburg – All rights reserved click here for copyright permissions