Ice Fishing with Kids

Ice fishing, or perhaps it should be called ice chopping, or ice straining.

Another somewhat dubious adventure in winter is Ice Fishing. When the ice is thick and the snow is no good for sledding, skiing, snow-shoeing, or anything else, ice fishing is the perfect choice. I’m no expert in ice fishing so I recruited my two assistants, Ben, Alex and my Dad. Mostly for their willingness to go out and play in the snow. There are tons of lakes, ponds and puddles here in New Hampshire, most hold lots of trout, perch, pickerel, and other fish willing to bite at something in the dead of winter. We chose Lake Chocorua for its short drive and in the spring and summer there’s usually lots of fish to catch. We were sadly mistaken, we had a great day out but caught nothing but soggy gloves and boots. The highlight was definitely the chopping holes, and straining the ice chunks out. Ben was the self-appointed strainer. Alex took on teh task of building a wall of snow to block the wind that blew steady out of the north. By the end of the afternoon we had a pretty sweet set-up going on out on the lake. Even with all that dedicated hard work, we ended up going home fishless.