First Ice Fishing Trip!

Well that time of year has arrived, what is it you ask? It is that time of year where you have finished up deer season, waterfowl season has ended and you are patiently waiting for the first good ice of the winter so you can get out and do some hard water fishing! That time has arrived here in Michigan!

Today fellow Up North Journal Pro Staff member Tim Ford called at 8am to give me the weather report and coax me into heading outdoors to hit the ice for the first time. In all reality I really didn't feel like getting out of bed, but I remembered a discussion I had previously with another UNJ staff member last week. That discussion was about us being fortunate enough to have the freedom to get out to hunt or fish while our soldiers fought and died in a foreign land for our freedom to be able to get out and do the things we love!

So I quit whinning about how cold it was and rolled out of bed and made the trip to the lake with my oldest son Mikey. He didn't want to get up either, but I made him! We arrived at the lake at the same time Tim and his kids arrived, so we loaded up the sleds and made our way to the frozen lake surface to spend a little time jigging for frozen fish sticks!

I only had about two hours to spend on the ice so we got busy quick. Mikey and Tim popped some holes and I got my rod ready. While Tim was getting his kids set up, Mikey told me he was going to break out the secret weapon today since we were on a limited time schedule. He broke out the seldom seen "Ice Dance"! I have heard about this secret tactic but I have never witnessed it until today! Mikey assured me that this always works and I was eager to see the dance live and in person. I was fortunate enough to have my camera phone to record the seldom seen event, take a look at the video!

The Elusive Ice Dance

I had my doubts about this crazy tactic actually working, but to my amazement and wonder Mikey actually caught a fish less than two minutes after performing the ritual dance! Fortunately I was rolling video on that event also!

Proof That The Ice Dance Works!

You can see my utter amazement that this crazy stunt actually worked and brought the fish to the hole!

My Amazement Of Seeing The Ice Dance Work!

I wasn't about to perform the ice dance around my fishing hole for fear that I might actually break through with my luck! I decided that I would just fish the old fashioned way and fore go the embarrassment. I did manage to pull a small panfish through the ice before leaving, which turned out to be my only catch of the day but atleast I put one on the ice.

My Big Catch Of The Day!

Tim's daughter and oldest son got cold so he ran them back to the truck to warm up. Mikey and I stayed on the ice for another 45 minutes to try and help Tim's other son Collin try to pull a catch through the frozen ice. As hard as we tried, we couldn't coax one of those little buggers to take the bait. Collin even resorted to doing the "Ice Dance" after watching Mikey give him a few lessons on the correct technique, but even that didnt' work! Actually after Collin did his dance it began to snow, so I think instead of the Ice Dance he did the Snow Dance!

Collin Trying To Put The Whammy On A Fish!

All in all we didn't tear them up by no means, but we sure did have some fun with the kids on the ice and it sure did feel good to get outside and do something, even if it was just a crazy little dance! Glad I made the decision to roll out of bed this morning and join the crew on the ice!

Remember that even a bad day outside is something our troops fighting for our freedoms would love to be a part of instead of being in some of the situations that they are in everyday! Thank and support our Armed Service People who are protecting us and our freedoms! Now go get outside!