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After having been abandoned as a two-year-old
in Chequamegon National Forest, Dick
Baker grew up with a passion for the outdoors. Baker hosts
"Baker's Dozin'" on the Camping Network and is Sportalicous!
outdoor correspondent. Email your questions to outdoordick@sportalicious.com.
Dear Dick:
I'm going ice fishing for the first time ever at Izaty's Resort
just north of Minneapolis, and I can't wait! I know the ice houses
are pretty sophisticated now, but any extra tips on keeping warm?
- Chad Grbenz
Chad:
I know that lake well - Lake Mille Lacs - I won my first Basstastic
Champions Fish-off there in '91! Fond memories. Good Indian Casino,
too. Okay Chad let's get down to beeswax.
You're right on one front - ice-fishing shelter has gone from
'shack' to 'shed' to 'shantys' to full-on 'houses', now completely
rigged with power heating, kitchens and even satellite TV! It's
downright comfy, and it's bringing droves of good folk to the
sport...
...of course, you're still out on an exposed sheet of ice in the
middle of a frozen lake, heh heh! High Canadian winds - chinooks
- can come barrelling down from Manitoba during the winter months
and divebomb the temperature thirty or forty degrees in ten minutes.
That'll change propane tanks from 'Man's Friend' to 'Dangerous
Metal Bombs' - hoses freeze solid, nozzles jam, and with every
dropping degree that gas gets as unstable as a Middle East regime.
Often you'll wind up with no heat or power, and after the thrill
of adventure wears off in about two hours, you'll start to freeze.
To death. Rookies make the mistake of attempting to walk to the
safety of shore, but what looks so close is so, so far. Best to
start a fire and burn all your perishables including food supplies;
it will create menial warmth and also serve as a signal for anyone
on shore who can still see out their windows. Of course, if one
of those unpredictable propane tanks blows, well, the ice cracks
and your little comfy doll house drops through. You'll be in for
a freezing, deadly bath - kerplunk! They'll find you next April
when the lake thaws and the sturgeon fishermen drag the bottom
with five-pound hooks. But stay calm - let yourself 'float', and
with some luck you can build a makeshift 'igloo' from the carcasses
of your frozen buddies and maybe by morning the storm will break
and someone from shore will take you out of this icy hell and
back to what will now only be a hollow shell of the comfortable
reality you used to know.
So check them weather reports, Chad, and use a light walleye jig
on ten-pound test line for some dee-licious fish dinners!
- Dick
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