Coldest day this season....LET'S GO FISHING

Yeah........this past weekend was the coldest so far of the winter. Negative numbers after the sun went down (at my house at least), and just........plain.........cold.

So what does any person do when it's that super cold out? You got it.....GO FISHING!!!!!

Ha.

My friend Eric (Best Man at my wedding and one of two of my oldest friends) shows up at my house on Sunday around 7:15am to go ice fishing. Before you think we're crazy....let me explain something. Yes, the temperature may have been in negative/single digits, BUT there was no wind and not a cloud in the sky. It MAY have been 2F, but it felt like 15F, and that's nice when you're ice fishing.

If you've been following my ice fishing season...you'll know it hasn't been all that good. As a matter of fact, this is the WORST ice fishing season I have EVER experienced. Not that there's not enough ice, just not enough fish. I have no idea what's going on, but my "go-to" ponds and lakes skunk me. They are skunking ALL of us.

Anyway, he shows up and I'm just about ready. (I think it took longer to put my boots on...too many layers, and I'm getting older. I can't lift my legs that high anymore lol). Off we go to a private place in the Back Mountain. When we got there, we had to "gear up", and that takes awhile as well. Especially when it's that cold. I won't get into too much detail, but just imagine what it feels like when you're waiting for your significant other to get ready to go out. We both felt this at one point.......HURRY UP DUDE!!!! LOL.

Once on the ice, the serenity set in. It was an almost PERFECT day to be out there. Like I said before, no wind, no clouds......almost perfect! (If it was actually 25 or 30 F, it would have been perfect). We popped some holes and started setting up as usual. One problem we had to face was the holes freezing back up quick. It felt like a constant battle with the cold weather regarding keeping the holes open. But we managed.

After about an hour or so, I saw something that I have yet to see this year. A flag on a tip-up actually popped up. You heard me....a flag was tripped. FISH ON!!!!! (I hope at least).


Eric was on top of that flag like a lawyer at a car wreck. Then I saw something else I have yet to see this year. A fish was actually caught on a tip-up. ONLY 6 ICE FISHING TRIPS TO FINALLY SEE THIS!!!! It wasn't a huge fish.....but it was a fish!!!!! I HAD to take a picture.

I was sooooooooooooooooooo thrilled. My patience and tolerance finally paid off and I got to experience what I love so much (else) about ice fishing. That moment right there made my day...and if the trip continued the way all this year's trips were, it didn't matter. I saw a fish caught on a tip-up. I was satisfied.

A little bit of time progressed, some food was consumed, some coffee drunk, some water consumed (I had to keep shaking the 2 liter water bottle because it was freezing up), and of course TONS of laughter and joking around, then the magic words. Right from Eric's mouth, "Jenkins, you got a flag". What? I what? Where? How? When? Why? This is sooooooo not the norm this year. I ran to the tripped tip-up, and God granted me what I've been waiting for. What I've been searching for. What I hunt everytime I go out...........a LUNKER. (A lunker for you non-anglers is a real big fish.) My fishing line was SCREAMING under the tip-up, the reel was spinning so fast, the water was boiling around the hole (not really, but that would be pretty cool) and I set the hook. "DUDE, THIS IS BIG ONE!!!!" I think I said that about 5 times, all while fighting this fish. What scared me a bit is that this fish was swimming through EVERY STINKING PIECE OF WEED under the water. I had to pull this fish through weeds, around stumps, through some sort of maze he was going through, all while he was pulling back. It was WONDERFUL. I saw the head and said a prayer this fish wouldn't open its mouth, because if it did, I wouldn't be able to pull it through the hole. He obliged. He kept his trap shut and I landed the fattest pickeral I EVER landed. Not the longest, but the fattest.
This thing was a beast!!!!

My day was MORE than satisfying. I was super happy. We spent a few more hours on the ice, a few more smaller fish, and LOTS more laughs, LOTS more stories, and LOTS more coffee. :)

By the time we exited the ice, it was 24 times warmer than when we got out there. Yes, it was 24F. Now we were sweating. But that's OK, since we stripped off 34 layers, we were OK.

Half-way home, I realized I left my PRESCRIPTION glasses on the roof of the truck. Oh well, they are long gone now. Eric even volunteered to go back and look around on his way home. No avail. They are now with all the odd socks of the world. No biggie. I don't NEED them, and I have a back up pair or two. So this trip cost me a pair of glasses (and some gas $$). And I'm grateful.


If you're heading out fishing...tight lines, droopy nets, and stay on top (if ice fishing).
Thanks for reading, and for listening to Magic 93.