Our stay at Cookies!!

[FireRanger]

     To my surprise, at the end of last seasons Ice Fishing Challenge I had found out I won the grand prize donated by Cookies on Upper Red Lake of a free night stay in one of the ice houses they have. I had contacted Cookie soon after but it was too late in the season to make plans. Cookie generously said to not worry and that next season we'd be able to schedule it once the ice came in. So the waiting game began. All summer and fall I was wondering when the weather would start cooperating so I could contact Cookie and make some plans. Finally in late December, mother nature decided to cool down and start making ice. I had then contacted Cookie and we started the ball rolling. After a few emails we had decided to add another night to our trip and schedule it for the last weekend of the walleye season which was February 26-28th. We asked another couple to join us and the plans were set.
     The weeks leading up to our trip were filled with excitement and anticipation of experiencing something that all four of us hadn't, sleeping in an ice house! The ladies were a little anxious about it but I had told them the ice was over 2 feet thick and that seemed to ease their minds. I contacted Cookie while on the way up and he told me he'd meet us out on the ice after we tied up some loose ends. Once we hit Waskish, we headed out on Upper Red and met Cookie in the Blue Thunder on the ice road. He gave us directions and we headed 9 miles out on the lake to Cookies little ice house spot. Cookie had a few things to take care of but would meet us out there in a few. Once we hit our destination it became somewhat surreal to see and know that it was finally happening after a year of waiting. We were staying in 'Montana' which came with all the simple comforts of home combined with surroundings that would allow you to wet lines and enjoy your company. We unloaded our gear, set up a portable, set a few tip-ups and got the rattle reels set. We were finally fishing the infamous Upper Red Lake!
     Cookie was great. He came by a few times a day to check on us, made sure we had everything we needed and gave us reports about how people were doing around us as far as fishing success was concerned. He gave us ideas on how to improve our luck and even invited us to come by and visit him and his friends and family who were also out in our little ice village. He also rescued our drinks by picking us up a bag of ice which we had for got. We ended up with 6 walleye over the weekend which was great! Three people had never caught one before, let alone even one through the ice. The weather was great, the company was excellent, Cookie was always available for whatever you needed and there was nothing anyone could have done to make our weekend more successful. It was an event we will never forget and we're already trying to figure out when we'll return next ice season.
     So a big Thank You to Cookies on Upper Red Lake for donating this great prize and MNO for the platform for hosting a fun Ice Fishing Challenge! Good Luck and tight lines to all!

[cookie]

Very nice Chris. Thank you. I thought the girls were having a grand time on a grand lake for sure