First Ice

It got just cold enough for just long enough. The window was tiny, heavy rain and mid 50's temperatures were inbound. But the braze will find ice if they look. I'm not very brave, but I am very light, so I'm comfortable on thinner ice than most should be, though only if it is clear and hard. I found that ice just in time. It was a thing of beauty. Just north of the thickness I'm comfortable with, and so good and pristine and dark. I didn't think that's what I'd find after seeing milky, soft, unsafe ice for days. But there it was. It was time to walk on water.

The fishing wasn't good. A few small bluegills came to hand, two of which were to be sacrificed in the quest for a giant pickerel. Flags did not fly on this day. Nor did the few takes I had on hair jigs result in large crappies for the frying pan. But it was nice to stand on the hardwater again and get into the rhythm of it, if only to have it all melt away in the coming days.

Please be careful out there this ice season.

Until next time.

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

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