As much as it pains me to admit it, most of my ice fishing forays have been abject failures. Usually, I hit the hard water in the brutal stretches of winter--the cold, gray, numb foot days where you venture outside only because you're sick of stale air and bad television. Usually, I stick it out for a few futile hours and stagger home exhausted, with nothing to show for my efforts.One day last March, I got a taste of the good side of ice fishing. J and I were spending a late winter weekend at Cass Lake. The conditions were freaky-glorious. Mild temps, fresh snow, and cobalt skies that went well with my handsome bright blue Minnesota Department of Corrections jacket.
We trundled a hundred yards or so off the West Shore of Star Island, carrying lawn chairs,
sandwiches and some basic ice fishing gear, and I punched a few holes in the ice. Actually, "punched" isn't the right word because, as usual, my auger was dull. It was a minor miracle I didn't bust a vein while boring through ice two and half feet thick.
Anyway, J listened to Johnny Paycheck and soaked up the sun, while I fooled a bunch of curious yellow perch with a simple fathead/jig presentation.
Oh, for my fishing homies: the perch were located in six to eight foot water.
2 comments:
Am I the only one starting to wonder whether all these "archival" posts might not be evidence that this "unemployed" angler is secretly working days?
Or does someone need to pay you to hit the piers on a more regular basis? Like, give you a job or something?
While it is true that I have dabbled in labor lately (and I do mean dabbled), that's not the main reason for the absence of fresh posts. The main reason? That nasty oil spill which shut down the nearby municipal pier.
Also, I'm lazy.
But I agree, it would be best if someone would pay me to go pier fishing.
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