Ice fishing

“I was taught that only one person ever walked on water, so the act of stepping out onto a sheet of frozen water amid a cacophony of cracks and moans raised more than a few puckers for this lowland transplant. The concept was simple enough. Watching the ritual unfold still had yet to raise a hair on my neck…until the first flag popped. All tasks were immediately halted. Everyone raced to the hole with all eyes fixed on the eight inch portal into the watery abyss. It was a tip up rig, so the line was pulled up firmly, but with the finesse that allowed the fish to make multiple runs before tiring. After what felt like minutes, the head of a toothy water dragon emerged through the opening and a 28” Northern pike was held for admiration by our entire group.”

“Shortly after we got there, a flag went up on a tip-up, and the boys asked me if I wanted to pull the fish up. I went over to the tip-up and could definitely feel something on the line, so I gave it a swift tug and continued to pull in the line. I excitedly pulled up a decent-sized perch, and then handed it over because the hook was too far down for me to get it out! Flags kept going up the rest of the time we were there, and I finally understood the excitement of ice fishing and wanted to try to go for a full day and get the whole experience.”