First Ice
January 31, 2009 by admin
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By Chris Hustad
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Some scary looking ice & water
No matter how many times you ice fish, no matter how “tough” you think you are, you’d have to be a liar to say you’re not somewhat afraid the first time you step onto the ice each year. The same was true for me this year, when I ventured onto the ice for the first time in the NW corner of Lake Audobon in North Dakota last December.
At this time, it was a transition period for me as I was still stuck in fall mode. There were still geese located in my favorite area and there was an abundance of pheasants lurking everywhere I looked. But as I assembled my new portable ice house on a late Saturday, December afternoon I was getting the itch to wet a line the following day.
The Sunday started out rather comically for me. I was up visiting Aaron Anderson (a.k.a. BenelliBlaster), a schoolteacher in Turtle Lake, ND. The night before, we were helping someone celebrate a special occasion in their lives. To make a long story short, a couple landowners and hunting partners that fall were in my favorite watering hole and to be honest, the conversations were too good to miss. After a longer-than-normal Saturday night, our Sunday morning started a bit slower than we would’ve liked. But we were determined to get out and nothing was going to stop us.
Our trip started with a trip to the bait shop. We figured the closest, open bait shop was down the highway at the Cenex station in Washburn. We took separate vehicles because at the end of the day we were splitting ways with my return to my home in Bismarck. As we drove all the way down, we came to the Cenex to find out they were out of minnows. That’s a problem, they were key ingredients to a solid walleye or perch bite. With a quick brainstorm, we decided to head up to the 6-Mile Bait Shop on the north end of Lake Sakakawea. On the drive north, I started to see flocks of geese heading out to feed. Even though I was forcing myself to break-in my new ice house, I couldn’t help but keep mental notes of the fields I witnessed birds using. We got to the bait shop and filled the bucket, now the tricky part, where to fish.
I don’t claim to be an expert of Lake Audobon by any stretch of the imagination, so I relied on Aaron to show the way. But as we drove around the lake we couldn’t help but notice the patches of open water that still remained in many parts of the lake. Again, I don’t care how safe you feel early ice can be, open water is a definite red flag.
We witnessed a bay off the road where we saw a couple portables out, and even an occasional permanent. We were told by a few sources that the lake was 5-7 inches thick….in most parts, so be careful. Well we figured, if there are permanents out, it has to be thick enough!
Now I hate a crowd as much as the next guy, probably more, but when the ice is “iffy” I’m going to stay reasonably close to other entry points to where guys are fishing. We checked another end where we wanted to fish more, but open water in some spots gave us the notion that turning around was the best idea. So there we were, at our entry point so it was time to unload.
First drills of the year
With a couple test pulls of the auger, a roar from the engine gave us the assurance that we were ready to fish. After a 10-month absence, you just never know if she’ll go. We packed our sleds and pulled down to the ice edge. I wholeheartedly was polite to Aaron, “After you Aaron, I insist…I’ll follow.” After a couple much deserved, derogatory slurs and chuckles, the first step was made. About 6 steps in, and right at the dropoff, we gave the auger its first workout…..6 inches, no problem. Ten steps later we made another attempt, only to find yet another 6 inches…so far so good! I looked to my left and we had some spectators looking upon, basically watching to see if we’d go through or not or to laugh at the 2 grown men slipping around the ice like a spring fawn on it’s new legs. The wind was gusting up to 40 mph this day, and it made moving a bit challenging. When we ventured far enough to reach the depth in the area we were looking for, we made our final drills and prepared to setup for the morning.
Now this is where the natural fear of ice comes to play. Over the years I’ve avoided some bad situations, and with a little luck, have never witnessed the tragedy of broken ice. But on this day, with this wind, the ice was giving some amazing visual and audio displays. The ice was cracking on every step, and when we weren’t walking it seemed to crack even more. And nothing adds to the fun more than a big split that goes right between your legs. But nothing was going to stop us from our pursuit of walleyes so we started the setup.
Well I wish I could continue on with stories of 28” walleyes and 12” perch pulled through the ice, but it didn’t work that way. Neither of us had ice anchors with so we our houses were useless in the wind gusts. And -20 windchills didn’t add to the fun of fishing outdoors so our day was cut REAL short. But if there was one thing I gained that day, was the assurance that we’d taken on our first ice…and the rest of the season will settle much easier.
Be Safe and Good Luck This Month!
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