As the season draws to a close, I feel the need to fill you all in on my best year yet.
I work at a college in a small town and my brother, some 15 years my junior, enrolled here as a freshman last fall. Ice fishing has given us a common goal and has served as a bridge between our ages.
If success is determined by fish count, you all would consider us to be miserable failures. However, if fond memories and new acquaintances count, I believe we've become pretty darned good anglers.
I've fished the hardwater several times with friends and relatives in the past, but it seems to have taken on a new meaning for me this year. It all started when I bought a five-gallon bucket full of old fishing sticks and a skimmer at an estate auction last summer. When I got home that day, I put the bucket in the back of the garage and didn't give my purchase much more thought until rediscovering it during one of those dadgummed unseasonably warm days this winter. In my state of cabin fever, I decided to build a sled to haul my stuff in -- got the idea from one of my distant cousins who is a great fishing partner, but has since moved away. After a little Googling, I stumbled across this great site and promptly found the information I needed to create a design. The rest is history.
The discovery of IceShanty.com has been a great blessing (my wife might consider it a curse). Since then, I've bought a hand auger, a couple of jiggin' rods, a few tip-ups, and have constructed some awesome tip-downs (thanks to the design provided by an IceShanty member). Now, my dreams are filled with visions of Vexilars, portable shanties and mechanical augers. We'll be traveling through Sidney -- the home of Cabela's -- on Saturday and I am greatly looking forward to a stop at "the world's foremost outfitter," even if only to dream.
I believe I saw a post on here a while back about my next topic. "You meet the nicest people on the ice."
We went to a lake about an hour away on Sunday. Upon arrival, my brother started cranking on my eight-inch Mora to get through 10 inches of ice. A fella from Wyoming came walking over with his gas-powered Jiffy as my brother was working on his second hole, and politely asked, "Want me to drill you some?" He popped 10 holes for us and asked for nothing in return but a little conversation.
After we fished for a while, another guy came strolling over.
"I think I recognize that sled from an Internet Web site," he said.
"IceShanty.com?" I asked.
"Yep."
"I'm Hawgerdawger."
"I'm Sandbilly"
After talking to him a little bit, he provided a tour of his site -- gave us a demonstration of his Vexilar and his Clam Fish Trap. On top of that, he insisted on giving us a "bait puck" full of waxworms after I told him that we had only nightcrawlers (because our hometown bait shop just went out of business). He couldn't have been any more generous.
While I've always immensely enjoyed fishing the softwater, I must say the ice has become just as enjoyable -- heck, probably more so. Although there are occasions, during breaks from swatting mosquitoes, in which we communicate with other summer anglers by yelling "Having any luck?" over the growl of an outboard, there's something special about being able to walk up to every angler on the lake and have a genuine conversation. The fishing almost seems secondary.
We got out only three times this winter, but, weather permitting, I plan to do much more hardwater fishing next season and the years after that. My son turned 3 last month, and I can't wait to take him.
Not sure why I wrote such a long note; guess I just wanted to help those on this site remember how they felt when they first became passionate about this great sport, and felt the need to reiterate how invaluable this Web site has become. Without stumbling upon IceShanty, I doubt I'd have ever gotten nearly as excited about ice fishing as I am now.
With high temps in the 50s to 70s this week, I'm sure our season is in the books. However, from now on, I won't be spending those cool fall days dreading the wrath of Jack Frost. From this year forward, it will be "bring on the ice!"
