Southern thing.

[SawyerTed]

A buddy who lives in Michigan says yellow perch are  a common ice fishing catch. 

[jb616]

@GAB, I remember the story and I believe it was a spearing shanty where they cut a hole in the ice at least 2ft x 3ft to entice Northern Pike with a decoy and then spear them. I have heard of muskrat coming up a regular 6" hole and surprising the angler.

[GAB]

@GAB, I remember the story and I believe it was a spearing shanty where they cut a hole in the ice at least 2ft x 3ft to entice Northern Pike with a decoy and then spear them. I have heard of muskrat coming up a regular 6" hole and surprising the angler.

jb616:
That article has to be in the neighborhood of 50 years old.  They say that the memory is the second thing to go, I can't remember the first, and what you said may very well be right.  That is why I would like to be able to reread it.
GAB

The other article from the same author that I remember well was entitled PIGS and it was in the mid 80's.  If you have ever been involved in trying to catch a young loose pig it would leave you with a lasting memory.  Why them short legged, low clearance  little critters can turn on a dime and give you 12 cents change back.

[barbender]

Apparently it's not uncommon for a muskrat to try to come up in a spearhole, and typically in a very bad mood. They are a pretty I'll tempered little beast generally, anyways. 

I had a retired game warden tell me a story once, hopefully I'm not repeating myself because I just told this story somewhere else recently- in MN, game wardens have the right to come up to your fish house on the ice and rip the door open unannounced, to be able to catch fishing rule violators in the act. Obviously this can create some tense moments. 

Well, this warden told me he had walked up to a spearhouse, and was reaching for the door when it suddenly blew open from the other side. The fisherman came out at a full run, with his spear that was tied off to his ankle dragging behind him. And right behind the spear, was a very angry otter that had came up the spearhole!

[YellowHammer]

"Show me a man who fishes in the winter, and I'll show you a fanatic." 

Opening line from the story "Cold Fish" from the McManus book "They Shoot Canoes, Don't They?"

You can download them for a fee, but here is a guy who reads them.

[YellowHammer]

So you are saying, and this is how it sounds to a Southerner:  
Ice fishing involves you driving your high dollar truck out onto the top of a partially frozen lake while dragging a lure out the window and your garden shed roped to the bumper hitch and trailing behind.  Then you drill a hole in the bottom of the shed, through the ice and use a fish decoy to try to get fish to swim up and say Hello??  At some point, you get a spear, tie it off to your leg with a short rope, and then wait for a big wet, angry rat to come out of the hole for you to spear because the fish didn't?  And if you miss, the wet rat chases you out on the ice, right into a cop who then can shoot you?  And you call this "Ice Fishing?!!!"  

Count me in!  Sounds like fun!    

[barbender]

That sums it up pretty well, Robert!😂

[Andries]

I'll have to take photos on my next ice fishing trip.

I think Yellowhammer's description is completely over blown accurate - but I'll have to check the photos to double check. 

Like looking in the mirror the morning after.

[Hilltop366]

Sometimes threads on here remind me of the "grumpy old men" movies but this one defiantly does.

[TreefarmerNN]

@GAB, I remember the story and I believe it was a spearing shanty where they cut a hole in the ice at least 2ft x 3ft to entice Northern Pike with a decoy and then spear them. I have heard of muskrat coming up a regular 6" hole and surprising the angler.

jb616:
That article has to be in the neighborhood of 50 years old.  They say that the memory is the second thing to go, I can't remember the first, and what you said may very well be right.  That is why I would like to be able to reread it.
GAB

The other article from the same author that I remember well was entitled PIGS and it was in the mid 80's.  If you have ever been involved in trying to catch a young loose pig it would leave you with a lasting memory. Why them short legged, low clearance  little critters can turn on a dime and give you 12 cents change back.

We used to raise pigs and while we had a small farrowing barn, sometimes we wouldn't get the sows into the barn in time and they would be out in the lot.  Nothing like trying to grab little pigs and hauling it to a fence with Mama right behind.  We'd try to muzzle the pigs if Mama was asleep but sound usually got out and a sow can go from sound asleep to full throttle in nothing flat.

[SawyerTed]

Never have done any real ice fishing but don't deny being a fanatic...there's no cure.  







Next trip is January 24!

[YellowHammer]

I used the leaf blower to clear the snow off the concrete.  It worked well, I guess all the Northerners use a real snowblower.  That got me to thinking.... 

Is a leaf blower used on snow really a "snowblower"?
Is a snowblower used to blow leaves really a "leaf blower"?




 

[thecfarm]

That just might work on the snow I am getting today.
Looks just about the same amount.
Will have to wait for a snow storm with a foot to give it a try. 

[beenthere]

I also used the leaf blower to clear the snow from the concrete pad in front of the garage, and it works because the light snow fell on frozen concrete due to a couple weeks with no snow and below freezing temperatures. 
With warmer ground, does not work so well. 
But I finished off the 1/4 mile drive/road with the 7' blade. 

[GRANITEstateMP]

Me, a couple buddys, and my son were out on the lake with atvs today.  No fishing, but in the words of RaiderBill, plenty of zippiedy do dahs!  We had a great.afternoon

[SawyerTed]

Is a leaf blower used on snow really a "snowblower"?
Is a snowblower used to blow leaves really a "leaf blower"?

Being in a position to blow snow or leaves interferes with fishing, hunting or sawing...so it blows no matter what!   

Had to resort to using the loader to scrape the snow on my driveway.  A blower would not touch it. 

[Mooseherder]

When your fish shack location stinks, just move it.

https://youtube.com/shorts/kaoW3nlfTEc?si=2QJsw6xRlYDCdOqC

[Peter Drouin]

I like that! First time I've seen a cordless drill used that way.

[SawyerTed]

That's a $25-30k fishing shack!  That's mighty nice!  

[barbender]

If you guys could see the amount of money out on the ice...it's just crazy. There get to be virtual cities of "Ice Castles" and expensive pickups to pull them with. 

It's getting to be an issue for resource management (in many ways). When a party of 6-10 people can go out and live on the ice for 4 days straight (with poles in the water 24-7), they tend to catch more fish than when people used to go home at night. 

[YellowHammer]

I had no idea what he was saying without the closed captioning.

I kept waiting for a rabid muskrat to pop up out of the hole and tear into him like a Tasmanian devil! 

[twar]

and expensive pickups to pull them with.

I grew up in N.Carolina and was told from an early age, "never walk out on the ice, a frozen pond/lake is NEVER safe". So when I went off to the U in Montana, I remember cautiously, slowly stepping out on a frozen lake, almost looking around to make sure my parents were not watching. It was scary. I did not know at the time that even thick ice cracks and pops, so I expected to fall through at any moment.

Then I was passed on the ice by 4 Big Sky-sized guys packed in a standard cab F-150. I was a bit more relaxed, but I still didn't like to hear the noises the ice made under foot.

[customsawyer]

Those big ice pops and cracks can wear on a persons nerves.
Does anyone else see the irony in here. If you take a look at the title and come in here to do some reading. I'm willing to bet this is not what you would expect.

[doc henderson]

Yes, I went to cross country ski on lake Placid in the most northern part of NY.  I was carefully side stepping out on the snow on top of the ice.  then I was told the ice is 3 feet thick and everyone else is driving on it.  I went about 40 feet and was done due to the cold and the thought of falling through the ice.

[Jeff]

I'm thinking about either fixing up a mess of grits then going to check the ice, or just sit here and watch the Andy Griffith show while it snows.