The Ice Fishing Topic

[Peter the eater]

I wouldn't call it a high-adrenaline winter sport like, say, Curling. Find a frozen water body, make a hole in the ice, drop a line, wait.

I grew up with people ice fishing all around me but never gave it a try until a few years ago. For me it has become ritual and therapy.

One weekend a year I meet the boys at a remote cabin in Northeast Maine -- halfway between Boston and Halifax so nobody has to drive more than six hours. The lake has plenty of brook trout, splake and pickerel. We can usually land a keeper every twenty minutes or so.

Who has an ice fishing story, comment, photo, injury, etc?

[rooftop1000]

I can look out my window and see the lunatics sitting on their buckets on the weekends LOL

Actually a few years ago we were out racing the quads and snowmobiles around the lake with the neighbors and someone decided we should make a party. The ladies went for supplies and the guys dragged a few gas grills onto the ice and we had burgers and fresh fish. A very good day.

tracey

[Peter the eater]

the guys dragged a few gas grills onto the ice and we had burgers and fresh fish. A very good day.

Eating outside might be the best part of ice fishing.

[Peter the eater]

We try to meet in Maine during late January when the ice is more than six inches thick. We snowmobile out the hut and get the fire inside going, then we start drilling a dozen or so 10" diameter holes with a gas auger. Scoop out the ice and snow, bait the hook and set the flag. When a fish takes the minnow it releases a spring-loaded orange flag which can be seen far away. Just below the water surface is a spool with the line and hook. Sometimes nothing happens for an hour and other times they start popping all over the place.

[gfweb]

How many guys in that little hut?

[Peter the eater]

Considering the Topic Description is "Show me the fish!" I probably should have taken more photos of actual fish. I'll wait and see if the other guys got any good shots.

Meanwhile back at the ranch (well actually it's more of a log cabin with a large central hearth and pit privy) we've got everything necessary for a fine fish feed. I absolutely love cooking in this fireplace with the iron grill that swings in and out and slides up and down on a post. As you can see, those are my homemade bagels on the fire not trout. And the most patriotic coffee mug I've ever seen.

[Peter the eater]

How many guys in that little hut?

Seventeen.

Just kidding, we were four and there was room to seat another one or two.

[haresfur]

Ice fishing isn't in the cards form me these days - especially with the temperature forcast to reach 40 C today. In the times I've tried, I never even saw anyone catch anything and haven't been too motivated to repeat the experience. Oh, I did catch a small, no HUGE - honest lake trout casting from the ice into the open water by the shore on a lake in the NWT before break-up. (Easier not to get snagged when the lure is retrieved from shallow to deep water).

We try to meet in Maine during late January when the ice is more than six inches thick. We snowmobile out the hut and get the fire inside going, then we start drilling a dozen or so 10" diameter holes with a gas auger.

My father's university department would go for ice fishing trips. They would try to convice the graduate students from southern climates that it was easier to find the holes they drilled through the ice the year before than to drill new ones.

[Peter the eater]

Haresfur, this lake is stocked by the State and monitored closely which helps the local outfitters immensely. The economy in these parts is all about the trees, tourism and to a lesser extent wind power. We did reuse a few holes -- from the night before.

NWT = Northwest Territories, Canada?

[gfweb]

I've done my share of ice fishing and learned my lesson quite well.

[David Ross]

What a great topic. Show me more photos.

[runwestierun]

I am from Minnesota. My brother has a collapsible ice house that fits in the trunk of his car. He hates spring and fall because the ice isn't stable and it cuts into his fishing time. There is nothing he would rather be doing.

[heidih]

And I want to know what you eat while waiting for the fish

[Peter the eater]

And I want to know what you eat while waiting for the fish

Oh Heidi I wish I took more photos. One guy brought a glorious fresh swordfish steak the size of a toilet seat, and a lovely bottle of Lagavulin. Another had a Dalwhinnie older than my cat.

To answer your question, no we didn't eat while fishing this time. Mostly we talk to other people on the lake and pretend we enjoy our cigars.

[haresfur]

NWT = Northwest Territories, Canada?

Yes, the part that's Nunavut now, near the Thelon River.

[Peter the eater]

What a great topic. Show me more photos.

Okay.

1. outside the shack
   
2. the shack ceiling with rods
   
3. woodstove in shack
   
4. cabin kitchen with big propane stove