Ice Fishing
So, it is January. We’re over the holidays and deep into winter. Now I love winter. I love snow. I love cold. I don’t love entertaining small children in the winter. See, winter activities require balance and agility. Snowboarding. X-Country skiing. Downhill skiing. Ice skating. My poor kids, they have my sense of balance so couple that with their age and our winter sports are limited to something like sledding. And there’s sledding. Oh, wait sledding too. We spend a lot of time sledding.
Now Bubba is getting older – he is SEVEN now – and he realizes we sled a lot. He wants to do Other Things. One of the Other Things he asks to do now is fish. We went fishing a couple of times last summer, and he is hooked (pun totally intended). He was surprisingly shocked to find Little Campbell Lake completely frozen over when we took him by there. He suggests, “Ice fishing?” Phone call to my Dad who is versed in such things and the next thing we know we are outfitted enough to take the kiddos ice fishing. Over Christmas, my Dad took the boys & Terry fishing, and they had a great time. So, when we had a lull one weekend the suggestion was….”Let’s go ice fishing.”
Ice fishing it is. Now let me say up front, I am not a fishing person. Not that I have a problem with it, just I would rather do Other Things when I am outdoors. I am not squeamish in any way shape or form….quite the opposite actually. Still. The boys long to do something else, and I must be an open-minded mommy.
Honestly, it was a pretty good time. See these guys up above? They have very different fishing styles. Bubba is very alert and patient. As soon as he feels the bittiest, bit of a bite, that poor fish is yanked out of the water with force similar to a shuttle launch. Seriously. The poor fish are airborne well above Bubba’s head. Muskrat on the other hand is slower. He waits until he is certain the fish is on the hook. Preferably after the fish has SWALLOWED the damn hook.
Our job? We are fish removal and baiting of hooks minions. It is a thankless job resulting in very, very cold fingers. I think it was about 8 degrees in these pictures. We don’t keep the fish….they are pathetically small but very fun to catch.
One job we don’t get to do. Ice removal from the hole. This a kid only job and high prized. Note to parents: purchase two ice scoops for they are not expensive, and it will keep the peace.
We did drill our own holes in the ice using a hand auger. If one were REALLY into ice fishing, they would have a power auger. We are not REALLY into ice fishing so we use a hand auger because drilling the hole is half the fun. This is one of our holes in progress. The ice is about 18 inches thick. Plenty safe. I was surprised to find how easy it was to drill a hole in the ice. I expected it to take longer. We will definitely do more fishing this winter….
Categories: Alaska · Da boys
Ice fishing it is. Now let me say up front, I am not a fishing person. Not that I have a problem with it, just I would rather do Other Things when I am outdoors. I am not squeamish in any way shape or form….quite the opposite actually. Still. The boys long to do something else, and I must be an open-minded mommy.
Honestly, it was a pretty good time. See these guys up above? They have very different fishing styles. Bubba is very alert and patient. As soon as he feels the bittiest, bit of a bite, that poor fish is yanked out of the water with force similar to a shuttle launch. Seriously. The poor fish are airborne well above Bubba’s head. Muskrat on the other hand is slower. He waits until he is certain the fish is on the hook. Preferably after the fish has SWALLOWED the damn hook.
We did drill our own holes in the ice using a hand auger. If one were REALLY into ice fishing, they would have a power auger. We are not REALLY into ice fishing so we use a hand auger because drilling the hole is half the fun. This is one of our holes in progress. The ice is about 18 inches thick. Plenty safe. I was surprised to find how easy it was to drill a hole in the ice. I expected it to take longer. We will definitely do more fishing this winter….
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