Good Morning and welcome to the Wannaskan Almanac for Tuesday, February 6, 2018.
“Anyone can be a fisherman in May.”
― Ernest Hemingway
If you have spent any time in Northern Minnesota you know that one of the activities enjoyed by many during the winter months is ice fishing. For those of you who have never tried this, ice fishing is a relaxing way to spend a short winter day. It involves driving out on a frozen lake, drilling a hole through ice that is often three feet or more thick, and then (in my case) wondering if there are really any fish in the lake. With that said, here is my completely non-fact based, fictitious fishing report for the next couple of days.
Wednesday: Walleye activity slow. Yellow fin tuna will still not be biting. Use a gold (yes, 14 karat) circular jig head (tie a straight hook to your wedding ring) and bounce it off the bottom. If you lose it, consider staying on ice until spring.
Thursday: Walleye activity slow. Northern Pike slow. Perch slow. You will only need one frozen shiner to fish on Thursday.
Friday: Three day weekend! Call in sick and go ice fishing. Do not leave fish shack…boss is ice fishing too. Walleye activity slow. Northern Pike slow. Perch slow. Bring beer to pass the time.
Saturday: Ah, the real weekend. Way better than that fake weekend on Friday that almost got you fired. Bring three rods on Saturday. Fish with a silver jig head that has one red eye and one green eye. You will catch a monster walleye. You will be so excited that you will drop the rod through the hole. Do not try to stop this from happening. It is your destiny.
Sunday: Pray that the fish start biting again. They will…in the summer.
This winter I rented a house out on Lake of the Woods from Zippel Bay Resort. You can check them out at http://www.zippelbay.com/ . The temperature outside was about 15 below, but inside the fish house we were toasty. I will admit that the resort worker who checked on us at noon gave me a strange look when he saw I was wearing only my underwear. My bad…I forgot to pack some shorts. It was beautiful out on the lake. The wind was the only sound I could hear. I even caught quite a few walleyes, and had a nice meal the next day.
Usually by this time of the year the ice fishing has started to slow down. The traffic out on the ice doesn’t really slow down that much though. That is because ice fishing is not always about fishing. It is one of the few places to truly get away. One of the most remarkable things to see are the ice fishing villages that pop up on the lake. Out on the ice you can often see miles of roads, streets, and rows of fish shacks spaced out just enough to give you a little privacy. If you are interested, use your favorite search engine and search for ice fishing shacks. You will see many unique fish houses and villages.
As usual, I have forgotten that I am supposed to be writing an almanac entry. Here are some of the important events that happened on this day:
1577 King Henri de Bourbon of Navarra becomes leader of the Huguenots.
1693 Royal charter granted College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia
1778 France recognizes USA, signs Treaty of Alliance in Paris, 1st US treaty
1869 Harper's Weekly publishes 1st picture of Uncle Sam with chin whiskers
1902 Young Women's Hebrew Association organizes in NYC (The Village People tried to do a song about this, but it did not chart very high)
2012 Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot is presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (His song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is one of the few I can play on guitar)
Notable birthdays for February 6th include:
1564 Christopher Marlowe, English poet/dramatist
1611 Chongzhen, 16th and last Ming Emperor of China, born in Beijing (d. 1644)
1756 Aaron Burr, 3rd US Vice President (D-R: 1801-05) who killed Alexander Hamilton in a pistol duel, born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 1836)
1895 George Herman (Babe) Ruth, baseball great (NY Yankees), born in Baltimore, Maryland
1900 Roy Smeck, guitarist/banjoist (because I have always wanted to type the word banjoist…I can now die a happy man)
1911 Ronald Reagan, 40th US President (Republican: 1981-89) and actor (Bedtime for Bonzo), born in Tampico, Illinois (d. 2004)
2004 Princess Louise of Belgium
In Wannaska, Minnesota, the average daytime high is 17° F. The average low temperature is -8° F.
In Wannee, Florida (no relation to Wannaska) the averages are 69°F for a high and 41°F for a low. Ice fishing is not recommended at these temperatures.
As always, you can email me at ffefreekshow@hotmail.com with any comments, concerns, or questions. I promise to read them, or at least forward my junk mail to you.
“Anyone can be a fisherman in May.”
― Ernest Hemingway
If you have spent any time in Northern Minnesota you know that one of the activities enjoyed by many during the winter months is ice fishing. For those of you who have never tried this, ice fishing is a relaxing way to spend a short winter day. It involves driving out on a frozen lake, drilling a hole through ice that is often three feet or more thick, and then (in my case) wondering if there are really any fish in the lake. With that said, here is my completely non-fact based, fictitious fishing report for the next couple of days.
Wednesday: Walleye activity slow. Yellow fin tuna will still not be biting. Use a gold (yes, 14 karat) circular jig head (tie a straight hook to your wedding ring) and bounce it off the bottom. If you lose it, consider staying on ice until spring.
Thursday: Walleye activity slow. Northern Pike slow. Perch slow. You will only need one frozen shiner to fish on Thursday.
Friday: Three day weekend! Call in sick and go ice fishing. Do not leave fish shack…boss is ice fishing too. Walleye activity slow. Northern Pike slow. Perch slow. Bring beer to pass the time.
Saturday: Ah, the real weekend. Way better than that fake weekend on Friday that almost got you fired. Bring three rods on Saturday. Fish with a silver jig head that has one red eye and one green eye. You will catch a monster walleye. You will be so excited that you will drop the rod through the hole. Do not try to stop this from happening. It is your destiny.
Sunday: Pray that the fish start biting again. They will…in the summer.
This winter I rented a house out on Lake of the Woods from Zippel Bay Resort. You can check them out at http://www.zippelbay.com/ . The temperature outside was about 15 below, but inside the fish house we were toasty. I will admit that the resort worker who checked on us at noon gave me a strange look when he saw I was wearing only my underwear. My bad…I forgot to pack some shorts. It was beautiful out on the lake. The wind was the only sound I could hear. I even caught quite a few walleyes, and had a nice meal the next day.
As usual, I have forgotten that I am supposed to be writing an almanac entry. Here are some of the important events that happened on this day:
1577 King Henri de Bourbon of Navarra becomes leader of the Huguenots.
1693 Royal charter granted College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia
1778 France recognizes USA, signs Treaty of Alliance in Paris, 1st US treaty
1869 Harper's Weekly publishes 1st picture of Uncle Sam with chin whiskers
1902 Young Women's Hebrew Association organizes in NYC (The Village People tried to do a song about this, but it did not chart very high)
2012 Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot is presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (His song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is one of the few I can play on guitar)
Notable birthdays for February 6th include:
1564 Christopher Marlowe, English poet/dramatist
1611 Chongzhen, 16th and last Ming Emperor of China, born in Beijing (d. 1644)
1756 Aaron Burr, 3rd US Vice President (D-R: 1801-05) who killed Alexander Hamilton in a pistol duel, born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 1836)
1895 George Herman (Babe) Ruth, baseball great (NY Yankees), born in Baltimore, Maryland
1900 Roy Smeck, guitarist/banjoist (because I have always wanted to type the word banjoist…I can now die a happy man)
1911 Ronald Reagan, 40th US President (Republican: 1981-89) and actor (Bedtime for Bonzo), born in Tampico, Illinois (d. 2004)
2004 Princess Louise of Belgium
In Wannaska, Minnesota, the average daytime high is 17° F. The average low temperature is -8° F.
In Wannee, Florida (no relation to Wannaska) the averages are 69°F for a high and 41°F for a low. Ice fishing is not recommended at these temperatures.
As always, you can email me at ffefreekshow@hotmail.com with any comments, concerns, or questions. I promise to read them, or at least forward my junk mail to you.
Your best yet; happy words!
ReplyDeleteJubilee Banjoists
Travel to Tampico
Before Bonzo's bedtime
Just for de Bourbon
Thanks@Woe
ReplyDeleteVery good. I can picture it exactly. I like the three foot thick ice part with its illusion of safety. I went to the L.O.W. (Lake of the Woods) on a ten-dog two-sled expedition in February. The ice was three feet thick. The sun was out. The day was warm enough to us borderland pepples that we took off our jackets and walked about in only our bibs and pacs, no choppers, some even removed their tuques! An amazing day. A memorable day!
ReplyDeleteYour almanac entry recreated it for me, thanks.
John, I'm a bit late commenting on your latest Tuesday post, but here I am, better late than next Tuesday. Even though I've lived "up here" for nearly twenty years now, the experience of ice fishing has eluded me, thank goodness. I have enough trouble keeping warm just walking the dog. Having three feet of ice beneath me just isn't appealing. I've always wondered whether it's really as warm in the ice houses as people say, and even more important, if it's that warm and comfy, why doesn't the ice melt and sink the whole enterprise? I especially enjoyed your fishing reports; however, the "slowness" of all manner of fish makes me wonder why bother at all. Ah, I get it. It's a way to escape the homefront, eh? And those left behind, hoping for a walleye dinner, can comfort themselves with that fantasy. Well, that's my take on your 6 Feb post. Enlighten me if I'm missing anything I might want to know. With respect for your fortitude, JPS
ReplyDelete