Today’s subject is something I confess I know absolutely nothing about, but am totally fascinated by it. The part that I find fascinating are the people who enjoy sitting on a frozen lake, often for hours at a time, in a small wooden (or canvass) hut, freezing their —- off, waiting for the fish to strike.

My brother, Running Car, is one of these people. Now in all fairness, he is an avid fisherman. During the summer, long after the sun goes down, there he sits in his aluminum fishing boat, reeling in one walleye after another. His frozen minnow by his side, his fish finder activated, and the net ready, he takes this sport very seriously.

How do people sit still for so long? Apparently, hot toddies are one of the necessities of this sport, in addition to a well stocked ice hut. According to The Cottage Bible, these huts can be as large as 10 by 12 feet, constructed on skids for towing to a site and have four to six bunkbeds, a gas or woodstove, and gas lighting

Another website I checked out for the definitive guide to ice fishing, Ice Fishing Canada, had some interesting stats. Did you know:

• Canada is home to the greatest number of people who “hard water” fish
• In 2000, anglers across Canada spent a combined total of 4, 489,296 days fishing
• Fewer than 1/3 of fish caught beneath the ice are eaten
• 60% of the fish caught are released
• If you are fishing with a group of people make sure the ice is at least18 centimeters thick and if you’re going to drive on the ice, it should be 28 centimeters thick.

I would love to hear from the hard water fishermen out there as to why this sport attracts so many Canadians. Pictures are always welcome (email julie@cottagedaily.com).

Here’s to some interesting fish tales.

Cheers,

Julie

This entry was posted on Monday, January 28th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under Boating. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.