Get four relatively sane and/or sensible adult males (anglers) standing around the counter at a fishing tackle store, discussing pretty well any subject matter, and you will inevitably come up with at least five different opinions.
So it was last week when I happened to stop by Westside Stores where three fellows I knew were talking about jigging for fish through the ice. A bit early to be talking about ice fishing I thought to myself, but when one listens it is amazing what one learns. So I listened in on their conversation.
Some time back, I got it into my head that I wanted to get into ice fishing, which is a bit odd considering just how much I dislike winter. I mean, I don’t like having to go outside into the cold even when it’s out of necessity, never mind to intentionally sit out in the cold for hours on end in hopes of maybe catching a fish. Then there is the whole question about when is the ice thick enough to support someone of my weight and stature.
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I listened and learned. Boy, I was surprised to learn just how sophisticated ice fishing has become in the past few years. There are specially designed rods just for ice fishing, as well as special reels and line – not to mention polypropylene long underwear designed just for ice fishing, one and two-piece Gortex suits and minus 50-degree boots to keep your feet warm while out on the ice.
There are also tents with heated padded seats and sleighs to haul your gear that can either be pulled by hand or attached to a quad, assuming one has a quad of course.
A decent ice fishing rod and reel setup costs anywhere from $50 to $75. This is considerably less than, lets say a fly rod setup, which could easily cost 10 times that amount.
I know. I own a fair number of fly rod setups. As I recall last winter I paid just over $85 for a top-of-the-line Fenwick rod with an Abu Garcia reel loaded with Berkley Fireline Micro Ice Fused Crystal fishing line.
I also bought one of those round cushions that you put on top of the five-gallon ice cream bucket to use as a seat. I had tossed around the idea of using a collapsible lawn chair but I figured I could carry all my gear in the ice cream bucket.
I’m always thinking.
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Last year, I picked up a good pair of Sorel boots with leather uppers at the thrift store, but I wore them so often I ended up wearing out one of the felt liners.
So, when the conversation at the tackle store turned to politics and Donald Trump, I figured I would head over to the thrift store to see what I could find.
Wouldn’t you know it, they had a pair of Sorels just like my other ones. The stitching had come undone on one of the boots but the liners were just fine so I bought he boots and switched the liners.
But the really good part was that liner from my old left boot wasn’t really all that bad – and yes, you guessed it, the new left boot was also in pretty good shape.
You can probably tell where I’m going with this. I now have a perfectly good spare just in case something should happen to my left boot. Boy was that my lucky day.
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The only thing I have to come to terms with now, I guess, is how to overcome my aversion to cold weather and thin ice.
I suppose I could always bundle up and just grin and bear the cold weather. I mean other people manage to go out into the cold and enjoy themselves. It’s just the thought of sitting out there for all those endless hours on a frozen lake, listening to the ice creaking all around me, as the winds blow, looking down into a little hole in the ice, with the frost collecting on my moustache, wiping my nose, fingers freezing, waiting and waiting for a fish to swim by … maybe I should just wait until the middle of January or so when I can almost know beyond any shadow of a doubt that the ice will probably be thick enough to support someone of my weight and stature.
Maybe I should go back to Westside and listen in on another conversation in hopes of learning a bit more about ice fishing.