Ice Fishing

Large sections of the Kennebec River are frozen over with ice thick enough to welcome ice shacks. On our ride to Augusta today we saw various sizes, colors and shapes dotting the river’s edge. Some are privately owned, like this one, but many belong to businesses available for rent • It’s a winter tradition locally for family and friends to pile inside one of these rented shacks, sit around an opening in the ice, warmed by a warm wood fire, and fish for a small silver fish called a smelt. They average 4-5 inches, and often referred to as the french fry of the fish world. Of course there may be some imbibing happening over the four hour allotted time too ;) • Neither MrsP or I have gone smelting but I did grow up on Scott Pond in NH and fished all four seasons with my father. One vivid memory is ice fishing together during a heavy snowstorm. I was 8-10 years old. The snow was so thick we couldn’t see the red flags on the wooden tackles signal we caught a fish. By the end of the afternoon we had over 60 white perch! A big fish fry was planned for the next day with my grandparents • Peace & Love