About Me

My photo
Currently living the dream of moving to Toronto for 12 months for a Firefighter Exchange!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Ice Fishing

Mum and Dad have been here for close to 5 weeks now. Since arriving with Marg and Roger we have done alot of kilometers accross Canada.  But just before they arrived I was invited to go out Ice fishing with Barry and Lloyd, they are our adopted/temporary brothers in law.  I didn't have to take anything, "just wear warm clothes" they told me.  Ok just before I go on, I am pretty sure what I wore that day would have been considered warm!!!! So anyway, as I had finished work that morning I rushed home to get ready and then hit the road for the day of fishing. Unfortunately I was running a little behind time so I missed setting up the shack for the days fishing.  I am now thankful for this, for I would now be missing limbs due to frostbite. What they should have told me is "wear 2 of EVERYTHING"  Thats right!!! put 2 socks on then put your boots on, and then fit those boots inside another pair of boots!! wear a pair of jeans over the first pair and put 2 jackets on.  When I arrived Barry was out on the lake already putting the final touches on the shack. It was probably about 100 or so meters off the shore. The wind was cutting through me, by the time I got out to the tent I couldn't speak properly as my face was frozen. Lloyd was coming down later as he was still a little under the weather from the night before. Barry had a suit on that resembled something like what they wear at the Antarctica, but we were only half hour out of Toronto!! I soon realized I was going to freeze if we didn't get inside the shack directly.  We cut three holes through the ice by hand, that took less that a minute each one, then we scooped out the ice until there was just water in each hole, then we were ready to go!

 I am holding on to the auger that cuts the holes in the ice
By this stage I am thinking "How big are the fish in here?"

After we had settled down Barry pulled out a heater.....FUCK YEH!! get that thing going.  "Oh shit" I hear him say "Lloyd told me not to forget to fill it up"...........Are you fff....No....Surely not......Haha......Really? Turns out there was enough fuel to get it going but It took 3 goes and nearly an hour until it sustained combustion. After a while Barry commented that the heater was doing a good job, Lloyd was here by then, "We can't see our breath anymore".  Seriously I could sit on that heater and it wouldn't even make my bum red, let alone burn me! Not that it mattered anymore, I was numb from the cold by now, later stages of hypothermia had kicked in!


 The heater in question
I tried to put this one back but I don't think he faired to well from his ordeal

We caught heaps of little fish the size of whiting, I think he said they were perch, the keepers just get laid out on the ice to freeze, I took a handful of fish home to try but had to fillet them first.  That night I started to fillet them when two fish decided they would come back to life and start flipping around on the table.  These things had been frozen and had been out of water for over 7 hours???? Erin and Candice had to leave the room hahaha.

More adventures coming soon!!!