I had always had a desire to go ice fishing. From the first time I saw people fishing on a lake, on the ice I knew it was for me, however my mother saw things differently. She thought it was too dangerous, which was kind of funny because I was allowed to ice skate on ponds and lakes all the time. But for some reason ice fishing was too dangerous.
My mother had always told me that once I moved out I could do what ever I wanted. I was married, in the Army and stationed at Ft. Drum in NY, when I came to the realization I could go ice fishing and no one could stop me (not even my wife).
I had heard that there was a good lake close to my house, so I decided to check it out. I went down to the lake and walked around for awhile, I didn’t talk to anyone but I did learn a few things that day. Things like you need some thing to drill a hole in the ice with, some sort of scoop to clear the hole once you made it, people used portable shanties, and that they hauled all of their gear on sleds. This was in the time before the internet.
Taking my newly gained knowledge, I headed to the local drug/sporting goods/crafts store. I went to the ice fishing section and bought a pole that looked big enough to handle pike, a scoop, and a few jigging lures that the package said pike on. I also picked up a kid’s sled to haul my gear.
I was delighted to find out that the Outdoor Recreation facility on base rented tip-ups and gas augers by the day or the weekend. It was $1 for 5 tip-ups for the day and $5 for the auger.
The only thing left was a portable shanty. I figured that the old dome tent I had laying around would suffice. So I set it up in the living room, cut a hole in the floor, got my beach chair and was in business.
In the living room
I loaded up my sled and headed out onto the ice. Once I got a little ways from shore I realized I had no idea what I was actually doing. I looked around saw a few other people fishing and figured that I didn’t want to make a fool of myself in front of them so I went the other way.
I walked for a while and figured that seeing I didn’t know anything about the lake any spot was as good as another. So I unpacked my sled, got the auger, used my best judgment on how to start it, and proceeded to drill my first hole. The ice was well over 12 inches thick and took longer that I expected to drill through. Once I made it though I learned my next lesson. When you pull the auger back up the hole, a lot of slush and water comes with it. I was glad I was wearing rubber boots.
The next thing I learned was that it is very difficult to set up a dome tent in the wind by yourself. But seeing that I was a soldier I was able to get past this obstacle. I threw everything I brought into the tent, including the auger, to keep it from blowing away. I set up my beach chair, lit my Coleman lantern for a little heat, and came to the realization that I had no idea how exactly to jig for pike. I looked over the selection of pike lures that I had purchased and selected the jigging Rapala. I figured I couldn’t go wrong with a Rapala. I tied it on, sent it down the hole and made some jigging motions.
Within in five minutes of starting to fish a strong gust of wind came up and blew the side of my tent into my lantern melting a big hole in the side. The lantern still distinctly shows the remnants of the melted tent material on its lid. It was at this point I was glad I decided to fish away from the crowd. I turned off the lantern and made a mental note that dome tents, wind and lanterns do not make a good combination.
A little while later, after some less than graceful jigging, something happened, the line pulled back. I had actually done it, I caught a pike!
First one
As it turned out, this was the first year in nearly 50 that anyone was allowed to fish this lake. The DEC and Cornell University, were doing a study on the effects of fishing a nearly “virgin” body of water. I probably could have stuck my foot down the hole and eventually something would have bitten it.
I made it out on the lake several more times that winter; actually you couldn’t keep me off of it. This is where I made my famous (at least to myself) -60 F wind-chill outing. I usually took several of my friends and have several good memories; we caught a lot of fish that winter. The dome tent however, never made it back out.
Unfortunately for my ice fishing opportunities I was transferred to Germany in the spring and it was 6 years before I was able to get back out on the ice.
I am thinking of taking a road trip back to this lake this year. It has been over 10 years since I have fished it and I think it is time again.
