You Got What!?

I asked a friend if she had a nice Christmas and she replied:  “It was.  Got a new toilet seat for my ice shack.”   After I stopped laughing, my mind went back years ago when I was a kid and tagged along with my Dad when he went ice fishing.

 

Ice shack on Ironbound Pond

 

As you can see above, an ice shack is a little building just about big enough to house a couple of chairs and a cooler.  You drag it out on a frozen lake on runners, just like a big sled.  Traditionally, ice shacks are used for ice fishing, where a hole is drilled in the ice and traps are set.  When the little flag goes up on the trap, the fishermen know they have a fish on the line that needs to be hauled up through the hole.

Now there are those who say that ice fishing is nothing more than an excuse for a couple of buddies to get together, sit beside a hole in the ice, and drink beer.  That could be true for some, but serious ice fishermen are there for the fish.

 

Folded ice traps in a pack basket

 

As a child, I spent many, many hours on frozen Maine lakes in howling wind as I  wondered what part of me would get frostbite first.   In spite of that, I’d watch those traps like a hawk, just waiting for a flag to go up.  We didn’t have the luxury of an ice shack back then.  And you’d better believe we didn’t have one with a toilet seat, either!

 

What was the most unique present you either gave or received this holiday season?

 

 

Photos courtesy of Debb Quimby Heald, one of the finest nature photographers I know.