Perpetual Ruminations

Ice Fishing Fun

I planned on writing in here last night after everyone went to bed, but I was too tired and went to bed, too. So, here I am getting this written while everyone is gone and I have some time to myself.

I finally got out ice fishing over the weekend. It's kind of ironic, our fishing season ends at the end of February and I managed to fish the last two days. Now, I need to get a new license to go back out. It's also ironic that I had to put off going out because of frigid temperatures and arctic windchill and can't go out now because it's too warm.

Well, I could go out, but I would have to pull all my gear and that would be difficult with the snow melting and the ice being slick and wet; too slick and wet to drive out there I doubt I could get back off the lake because the approach is a pretty steep incline. This is one of the times when I could really use four-wheel drive. Of course, even better would be a four-wheeler, but that's not going to happen anytime soon.

Did I catch any fish? No! In fact, the first day out, Saturday, I drove out to a likely spot, set up, and got ready to fish. That's when I realized I had forgotten to get my tackle box out of the garage. I had everything else ready to go and loaded in the pickup on Friday but had taken my tackle box out to put a few things in. And, then I left it sitting there on the counter.  Luckily, I had one hook in this knot-tying gadget I had bought and attached to one of my fishing poles, so I at least was able to fish.

Even though I had forgotten tackle and didn't catch anything, I enjoyed myself and was out for about three and a half hours. I didn't head out until after my wife and two girls had left for the weekend, so it was after one in the afternoon when I got going. It was a cold day, only in the teens and pretty windy, but I got the pop-up fish shelter put up without any problems and once inside, was comfortable. By two-thirty, it was getting colder and I started up my portable heater and fished, with one hook, in just my Writing.Com hoodie I purchased in January.

Sunday I went out earlier since nobody was home and the family wouldn't get back until about four. It was another cold day, barely in the teens, and even windier. I had a little more trouble getting the fish shelter set up, it wanted to blow across the ice, but I was prepared and had an anchor ready to secure it once I had the sides popped up. I put in a couple more, securing three sides so the wind couldn't blow underneath, and set up for some afternoon fishing. I was pretty cold when I got inside, but once the door was zipped shut, it warmed up nice from the sunshine without starting the heater.

I fished and relaxed, enjoying the afternoon, but around one-thirty again, the sun was too low to keep the shelter warm and I had to start the heater for a bit. I fished, drank some coffee, and enjoyed myself. I finally decided I should head in around four-thirty. I took my time putting things away, but once I stepped out of the shelter, I froze my caboose. The wind had picked up and the temperature had dropped even more. But it didn't take long to put things in the truck, only about five minutes to take the shelter down and stow it, and then I was in a nice warm truck, which I had started as soon as I came out of the shelter.

I'm hoping to get out some more, but not sure when. Today and most of the week is going to be very warm, getting up to fifty tomorrow. I do have cleats and a sled I can use to pull everything out, but it's going to be a sloppy mess on the ice. Hopefully, we get some cooler weather so I can get out a few more times yet this winter.