Ice Fishing

Smelt or smolt?  Which one did you get?  One you put back in, one you keep.  I wish I could show you pictures but the truth of the matter is, we didn't catch a darn thing!  

I could make up a beautiful story for you and talk about how they jumped out of the hole right into our bucket, but that would be a lie.  I could also tell you that we dipped our little hooks in and they hit them right away, that also would be a lie. 

What I can tell you is that I had another wonderful experience and learned how to do something I never thought I would get to do.  Ice fishing is something that was done to survive.  Now, many items can be bought from a store, shipped in and it's not a requirement to ice fish anymore just to survive.  I enjoyed getting the opportunity to see how it is done and experiencing the thrill of stepping out onto the frozen river, standing around hoping something would hit and relishing in the warmth of the jacket as the wind whipped by.  

Learning how important it is to scoop the hole so that the ice doesn't freeze over, watching the ice build up on the line as you wiggle it to entice the fish and standing there in the wind and realizing why people do build the little shacks on the ice when they are out there for days were all great experiences. BUT DANG, it was COLD!  BRRRR!

You might ask, "why make a hole in the ice in the middle of the river and then stand right next to it?"  Well to catch fish of course, silly.  That and because they have been doing it for years and I don't need to ask questions as to why it works, it just does.  Not enough of a hole to make the pressure crack the ice around it where you stand, but just enough to access the water below.  The mind tries to play tricks on you, well maybe just me, but as I stand around the hole, I swear I slid closer to it, the ice melting under my feet and edging me closer each moment.  I know it wasn't happening but the fear of a leg "post-holeing" into the freezing cold water was one that kept creeping into my mind.

To say the least, we had fun, got some good pictures and enjoyed the view of the mountains and the company we kept.  The only part that wasn't so great, my fingers got a tad bit cold.  Frost "nip" they call it when I took off the gloves to take some pictures of the mountains.  It was VERY cold!

These Mtns. caused frost nipped fingers.  BRRRRR

City Dock with the Mtns. in the background

Holding the fingers trying to keep them from hurting so much!