First time fishing hard water.

Well the weather cooperated, the stars aligned, school reports are done so I went fishing. Ice fishing that is.
This was a new adventure and my first time ice fishing.
I had a late start and packed up all my gear to head to Cobb Lake. Through a snow filled back road and to the lake, I found two groups already on the ice. One guy was just landing a nice brookie and my hopes were high.
I carried all my gear out onto the ice and drilled my first hole. Easier than I thought it would be, I was expecting it to be harder. The ice was about 5-6" thick. I put on my bait, procured shrimp, and dropped it down the hole. With my bait in the water and the occasional lift to give it a bit of movement I took the opportunity to gaze around the lake. After all, there no need to watch into a hole in the ice all day. No sooner had i taken my eyes offthe hole, I felt a little tug, then another and then another. I set the hook and had a fish on. Now, I'd like to say it was a long hard battle but to be honest it was over pretty quick. My bait was probably only a foot under the ice and the little rainbow came in with ease. I pulled out my phone and quickly snapped a shot, but the fish must have been shy. It flipped out of my hand and back into the hole it went. It would have been nice to get a proper picture with my first ever ice fishing catch, but I was going to let it go anyway.

Unfortunately for me, I only had one other fish on all day which spat the hook before i realized it was on. In my books it was still a good day out, and I can't wait to try again soon.

On a side note, the thermometer read -15 degrees Celsius when I left this morning. Officially my coldest day of fishing.