February 11, 2015

A COLD SATURDAY BRINGS ICE FISHING SUCCESS


Saturday was cold… really cold. Temperatures on the ice were below zero and the third hour of not catching fish led us into conversations and a quantity of cold beers I could never have imagined. Ice fishing has a way of helping bond friendships. Sitting in a 6 ft. x 6 ft. popup shack is more entertaining than one would imagine. A flag can, and eventually will pop up at any moment, so dozing off isn’t a valid option. And being in such close proximity keeps it lively. If you’re on a semi-trafficked lake, other fisherman will be sure to holler “flag!” from across the lake should they see no activity from your camp after 60 seconds of a tip-up rising – it’s the neighborly Maine way.


Tending traps keeps a guy fairly busy. If one particular spot shows more promising fishing than another, we drill holes closer to that area. Should a certain depth be more successful, we’ll adjust our other lines. Hooked bait also has a way of disappearing via tricky fish and fishing with an empty hook produces few fish. If nothing is working – we’ll adjust everything. If that doesn’t produce fish, we drink more. I can’t say that tends to help us haul in large fish, but the cold at least stay at bay.


Today we throw out 10 traps and test lake depth with a sounder, hovering our shiners 2 feet off bottom. Our goal is to find a perch school or perhaps a few smallmouth bass. Before long, we enjoy a nice fight with a handsome white perch. Hoping this catch is promise of future activity, I drill more holes nearby. The afternoon brings a total of three white perch. As we head home for a small fish fry, I anxiously await my famous recipe. Perhaps I’ll share it with you soon… Cheers!