The Ice That Binds

The shelter was packed—a mishmash of anglers, camp chairs, jigging rods, electronics, and bottles of booze. Between us and our gear, we were stuffed like sausages in the big red Eskimo, but no one was complaining; hell, it was a goddamn blast. The more lines we had in the water, the hotter the bite got, and it hardly mattered that the fish coming through the ice were a mere six-inches long. We were targeting mouthwatering rainbow smelt; some to use as trout bait for that outing, some for personal consumption later that day. Smoke and laughter bellowed from the shanty doors when they opened to the blustery, bluebird day outside. The shelter’s inhabitants came from all corners of the state; a group of characters that hadn’t all been in the same space since the last smelting trip years prior. It was a common bond of ice fishing that brought us together again.

More than any other type of angling, ice fishing bleeds camaraderie. Unlike surfcasting that can be unsociable at best in the deep hours of the night or fly fishing among standoffish anglers in pressured trout waters, ice fishing is largely about fellowship. From erecting a pop-up shelter in 20-knot winds to tending your buddy’s tip-up line while he plays a big pike to being a sous-chef while bacon sizzles on a 40-year old Coleman grill, ice fishing goes hand in hand with teamwork. That unity is one of the biggest draws for me. That sense of togetherness, more so than safety in numbers, is why I never ice fish alone. What would be the point in that?

When The Going Gets Tough

The National Weather Service recently announced that Connecticut's snowfall amount in January was higher than any other monthly total since record keeping began in 1905. That sucks for just about everybody except plow guys and ski bums. Dragging an ice fishing sled full of gear through all this snow is torture. If the slush beneath the snow layer cakes to the bottom of your sled, just forget about it. It's tough out there, but if you want to ice fish then you have to deal with it.    

Sloppy conditions or not, some friends and I were determined to get out last Saturday. We spent the early morning hours jigging up rainbow smelt in one of our favorite lakes. It wasn't on fire by any means, but we caught enough for a days-worth of trout bait. The cold, clean water here and healthy smelt diet always ensures good looking trout if you can find them. We kept the smelt fresh in a live-well and eventually set them on tip-ups and dead-sticks suspended under the ice. It didn't take long for some trout to key in on our baits. The first flag produced my only trout of the day, a beautiful 17-inch holdover brown. Aaron scored the next two fish, including a nice 16-inch brown. That was about it for action, but it was a blast to be on the ice again.

Bring enough shit?



Photo credit: Aaron Swanson

Photo credit: Aaron Swanson

Ice Time

Friends and I logged some good ice time between the Holidays. Nothing real crazy to write home about, but we had fun and found fish on every trip. It was cool mixing it up for different target species like walleye, pike, trout, largemouth bass, and smelt. 

Here is to a happy and healthy 2011!

Photo credit: Aaron Swanson

Smelting

The camaraderie of smelting is unmatched. There is something about good friends gathered around holes in the ice, catching Rainbow smelt and shooting the breeze. The more the merrier for this type of fishing, as the chum and jigs just attract more smelt.

Many northern New England tidal rivers have winter populations of anadromous Rainbow smelt.  However, Connecticut has a handful of lakes with their smaller, land-locked brethren.  These slender, carnivorous fish are tasty to both humans and game-fish.  The end goal of a smelting trip is to catch enough to bait your tip-ups for trout and to take enough home for a solid meal.  Some days you can catch your limit in a few hours, other days you can punch 100 holes and only find a dozen.

Although I release most of what I catch while fishing, smelt don't go back.  These are too good to pass up and don't even need to be cleaned.  My uncle taught me his way of preparing the smelt that is simple, yet delicious.  Heat a small skillet medium-high with peanut or vegetable oil.  Dip the smelt in whisked egg yolk, then into flour or bread crumbs.  Next fry the smelt in the oil until they take on a light, crispy brown.  Afterwards, dry the smelt on paper towels, lightly coat with sea salt and enjoy.