A few weeks ago I felt bogged down in an endless, long, northern winter. I managed to escape to Denver for 4 days but encountered a snow storm the last day and flew home to minus 20 degrees.

Tiny plane out of Jamestown, ND. The government subsidizes rural stops, to keep planes running out here.

 

Culture shock- downtown Denver rush hour

My Denver sweet-ums

Cooked a favorite dinner: Cuban pork, yellow rice, and black beans

In an instant–almost–things are changing. Temps are in the 50s during the day and around freezing at night. I discovered that a warm spell like this causes the great spring melt. The snow is melting off and the water runs everywhere–into buildings, down hills, across the yard.

So what does an outdoor adventure seeker do? I thought briefly about spring cleaning but dashed off to go ice-fishing like any good North Dakota resident. Now, I was nervous about getting on ice, especially on a sunny day. However, I acted brave as I drove with a friend onto the ice in his old 4-wheel drive truck. When I got out–hmmmm. It seemed solid. 

As I watched the ice auger drill the first ice-fishing hole, I learned that the ice is 3-4 feet thick. It is solid, solid, solid. I felt safe. Next, I learned how to get set-up: clearing the slush from around the new hole, scooping out ice chunks, determining the depth of the water at the hole, hooking the minnow so it stays alive and kicking and so on.

Ice auger going down

 

Deeper

 

All the way through

 

Perfect ice-fishing hole through 3-4 feet of ice

 

Rod in the ice, line going into hole, minnows in bucket

The poles are short and stubby, and rest on the ice or stand up, thanks to a spear tip.  So, the next job is to get out the chairs, coffee and Smart Food popcorn and wait. Wait. Wait. About a half hour later they start biting. So fun to see that fish coming up through the ice hole. I can’t explain why it is so fun, but WOW. A new outdoor activity.

Winter contentment

 

Tango won’t get out of the truck after the first try–his paws are too delicate to stand on ice for very long. He preferred the warm sun inside the truck

 

Perch!

 

A mess of perch. We took home 17.

 

Intrepid ice fishing people have huts, tents, and trailers houses out on the lakes. They go out on the coldest days and shiver over those ice holes. Ice fishing right now is so pleasant– a warm 48 degree day with no wind. No need for a shelter. I know you are wondering about my feet and if they get cold. I have super warm outdoor boots, with room for two pairs of wool socks and also used my Yak Traks to keep from slipping.

 

This guy has three ice holes inside his ICE CUBE tent and a chair and a propane heater!

 

Local expert gives tips on using a reel-type stubby rod

We went out twice this weekend, between my work commitments. Sunday night: big fish fry. I cooked it up with a corn flake crust, served with sweet potato fries and sugar snap peas.

I hope we can go again next week and build a campfire. However, warm days in the 50s may lead to the great lake melt off. No matter. Birding season begins any second. Snow geese are one of the first that come by. They are so numerous that we have a special spring hunting season. The resident Great Horned Owls are moving around, often landing in my trees for a while at night. Cranes, ducks, and all the song birds will be here soon. Many are already in Nebraska and with our great melt-off, we should be getting hordes. Time to get the camper up and running, although the muddy back roads may delay things a bit, and I may be limited to day trips for a while.

The snow geese are in the air and over Nebraska already!