Herbert Grosshans: #A beautiful Day on the Ice

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Welcome to my personal blog. I have another blog, Herbert's Place, but that one limits me to what I sometimes want to publish, because it is mainly used to promote my books. As it says in the header, I want to use this blog to write about things that have nothing to do with my books. There is no real theme here. I'll be writing about anything that causes me to either be happy or somethings that concerns me. It could be political, travel, a hobby, or anything else. So come and visit me sometimes.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

#A beautiful Day on the Ice

Yesterday was our yearly ice fishing trip from the #Seven Oaks Game and Fish Association I belong to. We fish on the Red River near Selkirk. It is amazing how many people enjoy fishing through the ice. Now with the new pop-up ice shelters it is so much easier and enjoyable than it used to be years ago.

It was actually a warm day. Warm for winter. I think it was about minus 5 Celsius. But even with those warm temperatures, it would get chilly after a while with the North wind blowing across the ice.

We got there shortly before 9 AM and set up our shelter. It doesn’t take long to do that. First we drilled three holes through the ice and then we moved our shelter over that spot. We also drilled a few holes outside for a second rod or for somebody else to use. The ice was about 2 feet thick; thick enough for vehicles to safely drive on.

Quite a few people caught fish, mostly Sauger and the odd Walleye. My son caught 3 fish but only one was a keeper. We had nibbles but they didn’t want to take the bait. I managed to catch only 2 fish. I kept one; the last one was too small. People suggested I leave it on the hook for bait. It wasn’t quite that small. I didn’t measure it, but I guess it was around7 or 8 inches long.

We saw only one large Walleye somebody caught. Again I’m guessing, but it could have been near 19 inches. The same family caught a large Pike.

At lunch time we ate hot dogs and drank coffee or soft drinks.

In the afternoon, even the sun made an appearance and it turned out to be a perfect day.

Some people left earlier, but we stayed until 3 o’clock.

Who says winter needs to be boring? Getting onto the ice is a wonderful experience with getting fresh air, talking with other like-mind people and even catching a few fish. What could be better than that?

Today is quite cold again, but the sun is shining and that makes it bearable. I wonder how the rest of the winter is going to progress. Last year we sat already in our sun-room on March 8th. Not for long, but with the heaters helping the sun to warm it up, it was enjoyable and a nice break from the winter.