Hardwater Traditions
It all began standing over a hole in the ice on the south end of Canyon Ferry Reservoir east of Helena, MT. I was on my first of many ice fishing adventures with my dad (Kit) and my grandpa (Poppy). Although I can't fully remember the entire experience of reeling in my first fish (a big rainbow trout), it somehow instilled a passion into my veins that never left. And when I look at the photo, I can almost remember the feeling I felt..almost. But, what I can remember is having cold toes and a happy heart!
Now many years later, my best pal and adventure buddy, Chris Schlenker, and I always take an annual trip to the remote and magical Fort Peck Reservoir. The first few years were a big learning experience being under-geared and uneducated on the massive body of water. Our biggest setback was our old Tecumseh power auger. In fact, it was the same auger that drilled the holes to produce my first trout some twenty years prior. The auger was as trusty as they come, but she had come near the end of her life. Sometimes it would run great and other times it would let us down. Fort Peck is so large and the ice gets so deep, a good power auger is of paramount importance. Let's just say Chris and I had some long frustrating days drilling through thirty-six inches of ice with a hand auger!
The thing about ice fishing is that fish are cold blooded and don't move a lot in the winter. The key is to find holding grounds where the fish are concentrated. On a lake the size of Fort Peck, there were days we drilled close to a hundred ice holes searching for fish.
With our annual trip approaching in January, Chris and I were like two kids waiting to open gifts on Christmas morning. Wait, we were two kids on Christmas morning. As I snuck into the living room I saw a big long rectangle box with my name on it! After ripping it open and finding a brand new auger I gave dad a huge hug and ran to call Chris! "Dude, we got a brand new power auger for Peck" and Chris replied "YES! This is going to rule."
It was mid-morning on a gorgeous eastern MT day and Chris decided to run back to home base to grab the brats for lunch. Deciding to drill a few more holes, I fired up the new auger and started drilling like a two hundred pound gopher. We were the cool guys on the ice now and the new auger ran like a top. Heck, we were drilling holes for other anglers! About to punch through on another hole, I caught a flag go up on a close tip-up of ours. Turning the engine off and creeping over to the tip up, I could see the drag was spinning so fast the tip up was rocking in the ice hole. I thought to myself, "Oh boy, I'm glad the new auger has a ten inch blade so I can fit this monster through the hole."
About the time I grabbed the line I could see Chris heading back in the far distance on the four wheeler. With the same adrenaline and passion ripping through my body as my first fish, I did my best to stay calm with how enormous this fish felt. After a few minutes I got a glimpse of the beast and let's just say I needed a change of shorts after the battle. When it swam under the ice hole it was so long it took at least two minutes to swim by (lol). With heavy breathing and held breath, the giant gators nose finally appeared up the ice hole. Taking everything I could, I slipped my fingers gently under its gills and lifted. Little did I know it was going to take two hands to lift the beast. After wrestling the prehistoric creature onto the ice, I had to catch my breath and stare in disbelief of the huge northern pike lying beside me. I jumped to my feet and did the Arnold Schwarzenegger holding the twenty some pound creature above my head for Chris to see. With his four wheeler making the normal putting vroom, I could tell right when he saw my silhouette. The bike went VRRRROOOOOM, VRRRRRRRROOOOOOM, VRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!! Peeling out and leaving it in gear while he flew off the bike, Chris tackled the fish and I with a celebration hug. The rest of the trip was as magical as any and a wonderful time with a great friend.
As with all fishing, it is an escape. We go to free our minds and cleanse our souls. It is a time of friends and family and tradition. And of course, catching fish!
