My embarrassingly inefficient effort at ice fishing

[beerme]

So it was that it was a balmy 40° out today, so I packed up the auger, a couple of ice poles, a few hooks, some worms & marhmallows, a pastrami & swiss sub, and a tallboy Bud Light, and set out for Southfork reservoir, roughly 20 miles southeast of home. I think the last time I went ice-fishing must have been at least 7 or 8 years ago. My buddy had a slick gas-powered auger that drilled through 16 or so inches of ice in no time. He gave me his old hand auger, which I took on along on this here solo venture.

I swear, it took 45 minutes to drill through about the same amount of ice with the hand auger. That thing wore me out.

Finally I sunk a worm, sat & waited, and waited some more. I played with the depth of the worm a little bit, and waited yet some more.

Some folks down the way were enjoying some nice quality time.

My patience was finally rewarded with a big, fat, egg-filled mama rainbow.

The tape measure kinda gives it a little perspective before the knife came out.

The embarrassingly inefficient part of the story is that for all the time I wasted drilling ice, well that turned out to be completely unnecessary. Not 30' away from me, there were 2 holes already drilled that I could have used to drop a line from both of my poles. Next time, I'll just follow the footprints & molest someone else's ice hole.

 

[RenoJohn]

Now that is totally awesome!!!!

Thanks for sharing that.

Me thinks you shoulda ridden your FJR across that lake.........................

 

[Scab]

Next time, I'll just follow the footprints & molest someone else's ice hole.

You know, if spoken with an accent, that could get you in a little trouble.

 

[twowheelnut]

Well, if you'd quit pissin' in the hole, the fishin' might be better. Jus' sayin'.

 

[Bearly Flying]

Not enough Fishin Whisky... Works every time.

 

[Bustanut joker]

FUZZY BALLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to the fishin' whiskey. Won't go out without it

:jester:

 

[LDRydr]

Now that is totally awesome!!!! Thanks for sharing that.

Me thinks you shoulda ridden your FJR across that lake.........................

Just watch out for the potholes, they can be real killers this time of year!

 

[sonicspeed]

hmmmm standing out in the middle of a frozen lake fishing with only one tallboy

and they say us southerners are dumb :lol:

 

[FatNakedGuy]

froze my nuts off last time, won't happen again.. until my 7yr old begs and pleads again...sigh

 

[donaldb]

I'm thinking Beerme is frozen.............as are those other people............as is that fish.........which suspiciously has a plastic grocery sack under it.........hmmm...just say'n :eh-smiley:

 

[sonicspeed]

the only ice fishing i'm gonna do is fishing for a beer out of the ice chest

 

[dcarver]

hmmm. Sayings..

'I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.'

'I went fishing and all I caught was a buzz'.

Yeah, that line is better..

and they say us southerners are dumb :lol:

 

[Khunajawdge]

hmmm. Sayings..'I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.'

'I went fishing and all I caught was a buzz'.

Oh yeah? How about this one:

Morro Bay... a drinking town, with a fishing problem?

 

[krashdragon]

So it was that it was a balmy 40° out today, so I packed up the auger, a couple of ice poles, a few hooks, some worms & marhmallows, a pastrami & swiss sub, and a tallboy Bud Light, and set out for Southfork reservoir, roughly 20 miles southeast of home. I think the last time I went ice-fishing must have been at least 7 or 8 years ago. My buddy had a slick gas-powered auger that drilled through 16 or so inches of ice in no time. He gave me his old hand auger, which I took on along on this here solo venture.
I swear, it took 45 minutes to drill through about the same amount of ice with the hand auger. That thing wore me out.

Finally I sunk a worm, sat & waited, and waited some more. I played with the depth of the worm a little bit, and waited yet some more.

Some folks down the way were enjoying some nice quality time.

My patience was finally rewarded with a big, fat, egg-filled mama rainbow.

The tape measure kinda gives it a little perspective before the knife came out.

The embarrassingly inefficient part of the story is that for all the time I wasted drilling ice, well that turned out to be completely unnecessary. Not 30' away from me, there were 2 holes already drilled that I could have used to drop a line from both of my poles. Next time, I'll just follow the footprints & molest someone else's ice hole.

NICE! Yummy, even!

But Elko didn't look like that when I rode thru in the the middle of July!

mary

 

[stormrider]

Thanks for sharing.

I used to do a boatload of ice fishing. then I moved about 2 hours south of where I grew up. It is amazing how diferent the temps are with a small amount of distance. It never gets sustained cold here so the ponds etc rarely freeze over. I still have all my tip ups and gear but don't get to use it often