Ice Fishing

In southern Massachusetts there is presently 10"-12" of ice on the ponds. Woo-hoo for ice fishing season! Ice fishing is about the only upside I can see for this cold snowy weather. This year we bought all of our own gear to have a good time on the ice:

I even have my own little jigging pole! This past weekend we went to go try it all out. We have a sitter for just 2 hours a week, which translates into about an hour of ice fishing. Most of your time is spent setting up; Drilling the holes, scooping the ice out of said holes, finding the depth to set the tip-up line, assembling, attaching bait, and setting the flags on the tip-ups, etc.,... It's not much work, and the set up really is part of the fun- I just don't deal well with the cold. It definitely helps bringing camp chairs, hot coffee, and blankets. This year I would like a chance to bring a little Webber grill out on the ice. We also still need to finish making our ice sled for the gear. That alone will cut down on a lot of setup time. Here's a few pics to enjoy from my first excursion this year...

Hopefully this weekend we'll actually catch something as we'll have a little more time. Though, looking at the upcoming temperatures this week.... There's just something about being outside on an open pond in 5 degree weather that I don't think will be a good idea. We'll see though!