i am now an ice fisherwoman
January 23, 2011 § 3 Comments
If someone had told me 2 years ago that I would be living in Colorado and ice fishing, I would’ve told them they must be smoking something. Today I boldly went ice fishing for the first time at Georgetown Lake with some good friends we’ve made living in Boulder. It was one of the strangest things I’ve ever done and also some of the most fun I’ve had in ages.
First we had to auger a fishing hole:
We’re now the proud owners an ice auger! It took us about a half an hour to make the hole, taking turns and scooping out the ice as we got deeper. The ice was about foot and a half deep which made us feel better about the cracking we would hear from time to time on the lake. As we were close to the end some real fishermen came out with a gas powered ice auger and made a hole in about 2 minutes. We were still pretty proud of our efforts!
With a hole to fish in we were ready to fish. We had about 20 minutes of somewhat peaceful fishing and then the wind kicked up. I forgot to mention it was really, really windy on the lake. Here is the tent progression:
Our tent went from a somewhat sturdy shelter to a moving shelter being blown across the lake with Jessica in it, to a parasail almost picking my husband and our friend Steve off the ice onto the I-70 highway. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in awhile at all of us being blown about as we were trying to appear to be serious fishermen.
We were undaunted, however. We got back out on the ice, sans tent, and gave ice fishing another try.
We could see the fish down there, but alas we did not catch a one. We did get a few nibbles. All in all, it was quite an adventure stepping out onto a frozen lake for the first time. It was a fun bonding experience with new friends as we were being blown about the lake. Other than the wind, it was a gorgeous day and a great way to spend a Sunday.
One of my favorite aspects was how beautiful the ice was with all of the bubbles frozen in place:
I will give this ice fishing thing another try…maybe in a lake that is not quite so windy next time!
52 To Do 
I left a comment on FB before I clicked on this site. How nicely organized and informative this was – you’re doing a great job. I can just see that tent and all the humor that evolved. Thanks for sharing the experience.
thanks kathy! i’m building up to the scarier stuff, but had a fun day today trying out cross country skiing.
[…] goodie bag of coffee and pickles on my friend’s doorstep. I felt like a real neighbor! Going ice fishing with new friends we’ve made here in Boulder. Could not have been more random, could not have laughed harder […]