Drilling for fish

For a guy who's been dangling bait into frozen lakes for more than half a century, Dave Sawich is surprisingly disinterested in catching fish.

Sawich, 64, the former head of the St. Albert & District Fish and Game Association, spends most of his winter weekends hunkered over an ice fishing hole. For him, the exciting part is not so much catching a fish as it is the anticipation of its appearance.

"It's nice to see a fish come up and open its mouth, take the hook or just come up, go for the hook and turn," Sawich says. "Just waiting for that fish to come, whether he bites or not, it's just nice to see ... sometimes you sit for hours."

Sawich likes to hit a lake for an entire weekend with friends or family. His crew will often sleep in a motel and set up an outfitter's tent at the lake to act as a home base. They fish for a while and bring their catch back to base for a fresh fry. They don't even care if they bring any home.

"I've done that since I was a kid. It's the way my dad brought us up. Now my kids are all the same way," Sawich says.

"Getting out with the family, enjoying the outdoors, that's what I go for. I don't care if I catch a fish."

Getting equipped

Getting equipped for ice fishing can be simpler and less costly than summer fishing, mainly because it doesn't require a boat, Sawich says.

The basic tools include a hand ice auger, some line and some hooks. Specialized rods and tip-ups are also available for those who want to go beyond the basics, as are ice-fishing tents. Altogether, a basic set of gear costs around $400, he says.

It's still common for fishers to be found sitting on a plastic, five gallon pail, dangling a line in the water, Sawich says, but ice fishing tents are also used a lot. They block the wind and increase visibility into the water. Propane heaters are also available but the tents themselves increase comfort considerably just on their own.

"Even at 30 below, you can be sitting in there just in a flannel shirt and jeans," says Jack Reader, 68, of the Morinville Fish & Game Club. "It stays pretty warm in there once you get in there because your own body heat warms it up inside."

For serious ice fishers, power augers and sonar equipment are available.

How to do it

Commonly sought fish in Alberta lakes are perch, walleye, northern pike, whitefish and various trout. Most of these are fished by jigging, which is dangling a hook a certain depth off the lake bottom. Some fish are attracted to movement while others respond better to bait that sits perfectly still, Reader says.

Some fishers advocate dropping a lure quickly and dragging it across the lake floor before raising it again to arouse interest in otherwise lethargic eaters.

The fishing world is full of potential lures in all shapes and colours, from teardrops with a single, barbless hook to larger spoons. Bait can vary from maggots to minnows to kernels of corn.

Ice fishers use all manner of methods to organize their line, such as hand-made sticks, loose spools or small rods specially made for ice fishing. Many fishers prefer to go barehanded so they can feel a fish nibbling and set the hook with a deftly timed tug.

Reader has his own system that employs a thin, pencil-shaped bobber he makes himself out of Slurpee straws filled with Styrofoam.

About 18 inches above his hook he attaches weights, just enough to pull his bobber down in the water. It sits suspended in his hole and when it dips deeper, he knows a fish is serious about his bait and he responds in kind.

"It's an old English fishing concept that I learned years ago," he says.

Ice fishing veteran Brandon Benson, 25, has a set of ice fishing rods that he props up in the snow and rigs with a bell to alert him of fish bites. This system mimics the action of store-bought tip-ups.

Learning patience

Newcomers to a lake would be wise to drill their holes in an area where someone has already been fishing, particularly if the snow shows signs of recent fishing success, Sawich says.

A good way to learn is to ask oldtimers what they're fishing for and what kind of lures they're using, he says. There are also fish clubs like Trout Unlimited and online forums like the one at www.icefishingchat.com, which has many articles and discussion threads.

The final puzzle piece in any fisher's arsenal is a healthy dose of patience.

"If you're not catching anything, it's no fun for most people. Stay into it and eventually you'll catch something," Benson advises. "You spend eight hours out on the ice and don't catch anything, it is a little discouraging but it's something you've got to get over."

Popularity

The popularity of ice fishing is pretty constant in Alberta with activity on a particular water body usually hovering around 10 per cent of the summer fishing pressure, said Sustainable Resource Development spokesperson Trisha Anderson.

Ice fishing participation is variable according to weather, ice conditions and travel time to water bodies, she said. Lake Wabamun and Pigeon Lake are two of the most popular lakes near the Edmonton area.

With ice fishing remaining a fringe activity, particularly for young people, Benson thinks many are missing the boat, so to speak.

"There's lots of today's generation, most of them are sitting behind computers and TVs and cellphones and what-not and it seems like nobody wants to enjoy what we really have [outdoors]," he says.

For Sawich, the appeal of ice fishing is as strong now as it was when, as a young boy, he yanked up his first floppy specimen.

"It just gets in your blood. You just can't wait for the ice to form and get out there," he says. "If I didn't fish in the winter time, I think I'd go crazy."