The Year In Ice

Well, it was a tough ice fishing season, and I think I'm ready to hang it up. It started off with three skunks in a row. First on the Bellamy reservoir in Madbury, NH, followed a day later by major skunkage in pursuit of crappie on the Lamprey river in Newmarket, NH with Les. Then there was Sunapee in February with Les & Jay. Oh, Sunapee... Oh 35 MPH wind gusts... Oh white out conditions... Oh... you get the picture. Did I mention no fish?

Then my luck changed, but not by much. The Bellamy produced a little for me, then I went up to Maine for a week and spent many lonely hours on Duck Lake in hopes of catching some salmon, whitefish or trout (Thank you Richard for the tips and the free minnows). I only managed to catch a bunch of yellow perch and pickerel. I kept a few big yellows and 1 big fat pickerel, whose post-fillet remains kept the bald eagles well fed.

The big downer of the season was that the Oyster river never froze, and thus never produced for us any delicious smelt. So the shelter will be stowed away for next year, and the trout gear will come out soon. Here's to grilled brookies on Les & Trisha's barbecue!