Ice Fishing

As a Minnesota who likes fishing and doesn't own a fishing boat, I look forward to getting out ice fishing. You don't need a boat in winter. You don't even need an icehouse, but it sure would be nice to have one.

I go fishing with my brother now and then. Neither of us has an icehouse, so we either take the car out on the lake or just walk out there if the ice is too thin. To stay warm, you warm up the car or keep your back to the wind. A thermos of hot chocolate helps, too.

One time we were out on Bush Lake in Bloomington for a few hours. Skunked again, we started walking back to shore and passed several nice icehouses. One was a taller structure that looked kind of interesting. We decided to go over and have a look. My brother tried the door and said, "Hey, it's open." He peered into the darkness inside and stepped in. "This is kinda nice. Look, they've got four holes. Five. No, six! you could have a nice party in here." I remained outside, not really sure about what constitutes trespassing. We weren't on anybody's land, after all.

I glanced through the door, up into the loft and saw a shaggy, blonde head move. It was the middle of the day, but a guy was sleeping up there. "Hi," I said, sheepishly, as the guy looked up and grinned. My brother kept on talking. "You could fit about five or six guys in here, comfortably…. We could…." "Bob," I said, "there's somebody up there." "Oh, hi," he said, looking up. "Sorry, we didn't know you were trying to sleep." The guy was very friendly, and didn't get angry at all. He just said, "Hey, how's it going? Catch anything?" "No," we said, "Nothing today," feeling like a couple of jerks. "Sorry to bother you, have a good one," said Bob as he pulled the door shut. We walked on, a little stunned, but grateful we had encountered a laid back fisherman and not a crabby old bear.