My hubby is happy to see colder temperatures return. One of his retirement joys is ice fishing with his buddies, but, of course, they need at least 4-5" of ice before they can safely go. Personally, I prefer there be more ice than that, but....
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| Northern and Blue Gill |
Few hobbies pay off like ice fishing. Not only do the guys spend a guy day in Nature's finest and freshest air, but they bring home meals of wonderful fish.
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| Hubby Jigging Inside Ice House |
Ice fishing has changed since I tried it (and didn't like it) years ago. Technology now gives the winter angler the fun of using a camera to watch the fish down in the hole. Hubby gets a real kick out of this. At first, I thought it was cheating.....until he brought home his catch. Man, that quickly swayed my uneducated opinion about the use of these modern gizmos.
The jigging rods they fish with are so darned cute. The fisherman holds the jigging rod and works the tip of the rod in an up-and-down jigging rhythm to attract the fish to their bait.
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| Tip-up |
Another gadget the winter angler uses is the 'tip-up.' When a fish takes the bait, the flag tips up, and he grabs the line and pulls the fish out of the water. Tip-ups give the angler a bit of freedom to go stretch his legs and check how the fish are biting in other spots. The round cover also keeps the augered hole from freezing up.
I gotta confess.....when I hear those crisply fillets sizzling in the fry pan, I start praying for colder temperatures, thicker ice, and a day when his buddies are free to head for the Mississippi.
Me? Heck, I'm content to stay back with the fuzzy one, my own hobbies, and keep the home fires burning until they return with more fish to sizzle!
