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Around January
or February - depending on how early Old Man Winter comes to
visit, a small community starts to spring up on the lakes and
ponds of Vermont. When the ice reaches about 6-8 inches
or greater in thickness, it will support the weight of a
vehicle - and the small "shanties" -as they are
called - which have been parked in the back yards of hundreds
of homes in the community, start to congregate at favorite
spots on the lake. |
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Shanties, at least wooden
ones, come in all sizes, shapes, colors, and degrees of
sophistication. They can range from small, one-person size to
large units which can hold a dozen fishermen - and are a challenge to
get out on the ice. The most popular size is one that will fit
in the bed of a standard pickup truck, and which typically holds four
people comfortably. Ice fishing with friends is part of the
pleasure of the sport. Windows of some sort are generally always
a necessity, although a surprising amount of light is reflected
upwards through the ice. It's never dark in an ice fishing
shanty, except at night.
On warm, sunny, windless days, no
shanty is needed |
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Portable shanties are
becoming quite popular, and come in several sizes. The have a
lightweight aluminum internal frame structure and fold up into what
looks like a very large polypropylene suitcase. Though not as
wind-resistant as a sturdy wooden model, they have the advantage of portability,
so you can easily move next to that fellow who has the big bucket of
smelt. The black fabric absorbs incident sunlight quite well,
helping to keep them warmer inside. A couple of ice screws are
handy to keep on hand, lest thee sail down the lake a goodly distance
if the wind comes up strongly.
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A portable heater
is highly recommended, but make sure it is designed for indoor
use, with a CO2 sensor and automatic shutoff if it is tipped
over.
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| Ice fishing
is generally done in two ways: either the "rifle" or
the "shotgun" approach. The first is jigging by hand
while sitting by the hole, or more typically with a line in each hand
with a pair of holes about a foot apart. Jigging is done by
lowering the bait or lure rig to a particular depth, then wiggling the
bait to attract the fish.
The shotgun approach involves
drilling a series of holes, then fishing each separate hole with a
contraption called a "tip-up" - which signals when a bite
has happened and sends the fisherman out of his shanty at a fast trot
to check the action. |
| Either way begins with
drilling a hole through the ice, which can be done either by hand
(cheaper, and more aerobic ) or using a gas-powered ice auger
(expensive, but very fast if you have many holes to punch through 2
feet of rock hard, dead winter ice.) |
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The simplest technique,
dating back to the Polar Inuit, is a simple hand line, usually
attached to a Jigging Stick. Jigging sticks can be just that - a
short stick of some sort, but anglers of the past were fond of carving
interesting variations, often fish-shaped, which included suitable notches
for winding extra line around the handle. Simple plastic ones
are very inexpensive, and work well.
Obviously, more modern ice fishing
rods and reels are widely available and widely used. |
| "Tip-Ups" come
in a seemingly endless variety of designs, reminiscent of man's
continual quest to build a better mouse trap. The fundamental
goal is the same: raise a flag of some sort to alert the fisherman
(tucked into his shanty with his friends, spinning yarns of the one
that got away ) that something has tugged on the bait or lure.
There's even a battery-powered, motor driven one (blue, right) that
automatically raises the line so all one has to do is remove the
fish. Brings new meaning to the term, "Fast Food". |
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Many species of fish may
be caught through the ice, including perch, walleye, northern pike,
salmon, and our personal favorite, the plentiful smelt - which are the
bottom of the food chain for all of the others.
Smelt are so plentiful, fishermen
measure their catch by the 5-gallon pail, or fraction thereof, they
catch.
Since they resemble and taste like
baby trout, they have no scales and are remarkably easy to
clean. Just remove the head, slit the belly, run the thumbnail
down between the ribs to clean the inside, roll them in cracker meal,
and drop into a hot frypan with your favorite cooking oil - a minute
or two per side. The bones are soft and edible, and the fried
tails are like a little potato chip. A dozen or so per person
makes a reasonable meal. |
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Tackle Note: There are so many ways to attract a fish and
catch it, we won't even begin to start on that subject. Any
tackle shop in Vermont is familiar with ice fishing gear, and can set
you up for the style of fishing you want. But we will give you
one hint: One of the best natural baits for most smaller species
such as smelt or perch is smelt itself. ( We told you it was at the
bottom of the food chain. ) Simply fillet a smelt with a thin
bladed sharp knife, and cut diagonal slices across the small
fillets. This yields 5-6 slices per side, which resemble a small
minnow and have a nice shiny side, as well.
But how do you start your fishing day
with this bait? You need to have a smelt to catch more - a Catch
22 situation. It's simple - just ask a neighboring shanty for a
"starter smelt"... they'll gladly give you one from their
bucket. Ice fisherman ( and women ) are generally a real
friendly bunch.
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A Parting Fish
Story
Seems there was a young
fellow who read about Ice fishing, and decided to give it a try. He
went to a local tackle shop and bought an ice auger, jigging stick, line,
and some hooks, then headed out on the ice and started to drill his first
hole.
Suddenly a mysterious,
distant voice from somewhere on high said,
"There are no fish
under the ice there...."
Needless to say, the young
man was startled, somewhat wide-eyed, and nervous. He dutifully
moved a distance away and again began drilling another hole. Again
the booming voice from above said,
"There are no fish
under the ice there...."
Now the fellow was getting a
little frightened. Trembling, he again moved to a different spot,
began to drill, and again the heavenly voice said,
"There are no fish
under the ice there...."
By then, he was wide-eyed,
with mouth agape, and broken out into a cold sweat. He looked upward
and asked,
"Is... is.... is
this... the Lord?"
"No", said
the heavenly voice. "This is the ice rink manager..."
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