ice / fish

a co-worker of mine just left, heading out for a long weekend. he\’s taking off this evening for lake of the woods on the minnesota / canada border, and will spend the subsequent three days ice fishing. and i\’m incredibly jealous.

this will be the first year since 2001 that i won\’t be making a similar trip. for five years, mceathron, matt wall, jay wall (matt\’s dad), and i did the ice fishing thing on lake of the woods. we stayed *on* the ice for the first two years, which was fun but– candidly– scary as hell at times. the last three years we stayed at a resort. it was rough.

(oh, and simpleprop reader brian did join us one year, but had his face firmly planted in a maxim or FHM the entire trip, so it\’s easy to forget that he was there.)

we\’re not making the trip this year, however. jay had a health issue earlier this year and isn\’t able to make the trip. but wade, you say, can\’t the three of you still go? well, i suppose. it wouldn\’t be the same, though: jay was our mentor, our driver, and (importantly) the guy who wasn\’t afraid to take the fish off the hook. not that we ever caught a lot of fish, but still.

in lieu of the trip, here are some top memories of ice fishing (as i remember them…)

+ catching an eelpout and having no idea what to do with it. (luckily jay brought reinforcements.)

+ the annual sin-fueled shopping trip: doritos, jerky, mini dougnuts, more doritos, swiss cake rolls, beer, sun chips, whiskey, cigars, fritos. you know, organic and healthy stuff.

+ the \”bumps\” on the road along the way. meaning: stopping at the handful of small-town bars on the trip up for a cocktail, pull-tabs, darts, and/or pool.

+ making fun of the fish that mceathron caught (typically smaller than the standard mini doughnut.)

+ sitting in the \”lounge\” at the zippel bay resort and being entertained by people that were much drunker and much bigger idiots than we were.

hopefully we can get up there again soon…