Well last week the 2012 ice fishing season wrapped up in most of Alberta. Due to the warm weather that we had the past 4 weeks there wasn’t many lakes that had safe ice. Actually in the southern end of the Province there were a lot of people out in their boats fishing the open water while I was still trying to drop a hook through the ice.

With only a couple of days left in the season I decided that I would head out for last one kick at the cat. I was really hoping to hook onto a couple of those 30 pound pre-spawned Northern Pike that haunt me every year at this time.

When heading out for big fish like through the ice, you need a product that is going to stand up to the tough conditions. I had recently just re-spooled all of mine tip-ups with some fresh 30 pound Spiderwire Stealth and was ready for the test.

When fishing with tip-ups, Pike will hit your bait then take off with it. When they do this, they run the line out the side of your hole, dragging it against the sharp abrasive edge of the ice.

Besides the fish pulling the line against the edge of the ice, you the fisherman, are just as hard on the line when you’re bringing your catch back in. Your fish is trying to stay put down there, and you are trying to pull it up, running your line against the edge of the ice. You may as well run your line against a hacksaw blade, so you need something that will stand up. I find that the Spiderwire Stealth resists fraying or breaking better than anything else on the market.

Even for a mid-April day the breeze made it fairly cool out on the ice. I fished for about 6 hours before packing up and calling it a season. I never did end up reeling in that big 30 pounder that I was hoping too, but I did manage to land a bunch of 5-7 pounders that will make trophies for someone someday. Even if the ones I caught didn’t make trophy status, the day on the ice still beat a day of work. That was a wrap to my 2012 ice fishing season here in Alberta.