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| Photos by Bob Chochola |
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WINTER WONDERLAND
By Bob Chochola
for Tne Fishing Network
My partner and I were all geared up to go ice fishing. Snow suits, boots, insulated gloves, ice rods, and auger to drill holes in some frozen pond – plans were set and we were stoked. After all, I had never been ice fishing before and the thought of this new adventure gave me goose bumps.
My well seasoned partner is a veteran of this bizarre winter pass time. You see, I’ve always been a “store the gear ‘til next year” kind of a guy. Never really felt the need to stand over a hole in the ice and shiver. Besides, how good could it be? A cold front passes through in July dropping the thermometer from 85 degrees to 73 degrees and it seems the fish all get lock jaw for a day or two. Do they really bite under 8-inches of ice? Do they even move when it’s that cold?
I was assured fish do indeed bite under the ice and that I had been missing out all these years, it seems, on some very good fun. I learned that one of our friends had pulled a 43-inch muskie through the ice not long before and that northern pike are a scream, because they try to jump out of the water during the fight (like they always do) and slam head-first into the ice. Cool!
Pan fish - normally associated with hot sunny blue bird sky in the dog days of summer - can be a bonanza through the ice too. Crappies, blue gills, and just about everything that swims can be caught this way. Who knew?
So, plans were made, work was put on hold, and we were ready for action. But a funny thing happened on the way to the shanty: no ice. That’s right. The “safe layer” that supported hundreds of wild-eyed ice fishermen catching their limit of finned critters and laughing with giddy pride just one week earlier, had vanished into the thick layer of fog rolling-in with unseasonably warm temperatures and rain.
By the time we started our trek there was nothing but open water everywhere. Our hopes of finding safe ice were gone and my first experience of the kind was put on ice (so to speak).
With our original plan spoiled, we decided to head for a favorite summer spot that we had not visited for years: an old power plant and out of service railroad bridge on The Fox River near Carpentersville, Illinois. The hot spot used to provide great angling opportunities for catfish, carp, pike, and bass. We spent many whole weekends on this spot catching more fish than we could count. We decided that this was our best bet.
What I discovered at our former summertime haunt was a magnificent winter wonderland (minus surface ice, of course). Ducks and geese were frolicking about and the winding river was black against the still white snowy banks. Trees void of vegetation were mysteriously vivid against the murky fog backdrop passing through the river valley. Like the black water in the river bed the gloom of the mist disappeared from sight not far up and down stream.
Like the cold fronts of summer, this winter warm spell put most fish into a non-biting funk and there wasn’t a whole lot we could do about that. Ironically, while we were fishing, snow began to fall. Then it got serious and dumped the deepest snowfall of the season (to that point) on us. And by the time we got home, packed our gear away, and headed back to work, the mercury had plummeted to -6 degrees – plenty cold enough to start putting that surface ice right back where it belonged.
It was a case of bad timing and nothing more. We’ve had trips up north to Canada and Minnesota when we thought we’d have to put on scuba gear and jump into the lake to find a muskie. Then we’d check the next week’s fishing report to find out ten muskies were caught in the area two days after we struck camp. Mother Nature can be a cruel host sometimes and some folks think we’re downright loopy for braving such extreme elements just to catch a fish. But maybe fishing isn’t the only reason we do this sort of thing after all?
Fortunately for us, the fish we catch really play a close second fiddle to being outdoors. I had been visiting The Fox River all of my life – more than forty years - yet I had never seen her beauty this way. I’d seen her a million times in the summer and I sure did drive near her in the winter, but these special circumstances took me to a place I had never been before. And I was relaxed, happy, and in awe.
My Dad taught me to fish when I was five-years-old below the dam in Algonquin, Illinois, then further down river by the Montgomery dam when I got older. In my late twenties I discovered Carpentersville with my friends and we’d fish the old power plant several times a week - boy did we ever have some good times back then.
Backwater eddies like this on The Fox (particularly those situated below a dam) have always been a great place to catch smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye, crappie, and carp. If you use chicken liver for bait in the summertime, you're sure to catch a snapping turtle as big as a dinner plate too, or maybe even a big catfish. Watch out! Those turtles are nasty buggers!
If you use a live chicken for bait, you're bound to catch a big muskie. The Fox River gives-up some pretty big toothy critters these days. I’m just kidding about the "live chicken" bait. Really!
On this winter day we didn't exactly knock ‘em dead, but we had a whole bunch of fun in the snow. We were expecting safe ice and got open water - go figure? It all made for a nice day though. And as usual we gave it our best shot.
No matter what you like to do outdoors, the most important thing is that you go do it. This experience was not stellar fishing, but the setting and scenery were magnificent. Well worth the effort in stress relief.
I look at the photos I took and wonder how I’d missed this incredible scene for so many years. Then I realize that I had my mind made up long ago that such an experience would not interest me.
Without ever having been ice fishing, I had it in my head that I would not enjoy it. I was wrong and I look forward to the day when I can actually fish through a hole in the safe ice beneath my feet.
My advice is to get out and enjoy life every chance you get.
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