The Motley Crew on Ice
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| Al's Crow Lake snow storm picture |
In my last post I touched on the challenges of ice fishing with grandchildren. I hypothesised that winter must soon be over because the trumpeter swans were flying overhead looking for open water on Black Lake. I hope they found somewhere to land that wasn't frozen.
Another half an hour down the road and five days later, Mother Nature had other ideas about an early spring, as the Motley Crew, our group of old guys ranging in age from early sixties to mid-seventies-ish, gathered for an ice fishing junket, the first one for us since the Covid-19 outbreak in 2019 put the world on hold.
Gary, the youngest member of the crew, invited us out to his beautiful residence set among the evergreens along the shoreline of Crow Lake, for a day of ice fishing followed by an overnight stay. His wife had flown out to Vancouver to visit their daughter, so the lonely bachelor opened up his place to our rag-tag band of retirees.
Another half an hour down the road and five days later, Mother Nature had other ideas about an early spring, as the Motley Crew, our group of old guys ranging in age from early sixties to mid-seventies-ish, gathered for an ice fishing junket, the first one for us since the Covid-19 outbreak in 2019 put the world on hold.
Gary, the youngest member of the crew, invited us out to his beautiful residence set among the evergreens along the shoreline of Crow Lake, for a day of ice fishing followed by an overnight stay. His wife had flown out to Vancouver to visit their daughter, so the lonely bachelor opened up his place to our rag-tag band of retirees.
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| Gary took this pic on his IPad |
Travelling from Kanata, I arrived 15 minutes earlier than the rest of the guys who had to drive from the east end of Ottawa. With Gary’s help, the two of us humped the auger, tip-ups and other assorted gear down the snowy slope to the frozen lake as the freezing rain set in. When the other five guys showed up, Al and I worked together drilling through 18 inches of ice using my gas-powered auger, while the other guys scooped slush from the holes and rigged tip-ups with live minnows.
At this point the freezing rain had turned to lashing ice pellets that stung our faces. By the time we had baited eight holes, the wind shifted to the west and a full-on snow storm pelted us with wet snow.
Discretion being the better part of valour, we retreated back up the hill to the warmth of Gary’s spacious chalet-style cottage and Al passed around the bottle of Yukon Jack left over from last spring’s trip. Gary’s wife Kelly had left us with a tasty chilli for lunch. In the comfortable surroundings of the living room, the wood stove glowed and the snow storm swirled outside. We kept an eye on the tip-ups by staring out the big picture window which had a commanding view of the lake below.
Al took this picture of Gary's place
Every now and then one of the guys would trudge down to the lake to clear the holes of ice and check for bites. Seven of our eight-man group showed up for this winter event. Normally we confine our activities to an annual camping\fishing trip in late spring somewhere in the wilds of eastern Ontario.
At this point the freezing rain had turned to lashing ice pellets that stung our faces. By the time we had baited eight holes, the wind shifted to the west and a full-on snow storm pelted us with wet snow.
Discretion being the better part of valour, we retreated back up the hill to the warmth of Gary’s spacious chalet-style cottage and Al passed around the bottle of Yukon Jack left over from last spring’s trip. Gary’s wife Kelly had left us with a tasty chilli for lunch. In the comfortable surroundings of the living room, the wood stove glowed and the snow storm swirled outside. We kept an eye on the tip-ups by staring out the big picture window which had a commanding view of the lake below.
Al took this picture of Gary's place
Every now and then one of the guys would trudge down to the lake to clear the holes of ice and check for bites. Seven of our eight-man group showed up for this winter event. Normally we confine our activities to an annual camping\fishing trip in late spring somewhere in the wilds of eastern Ontario.
Our group is no stranger to unpredictable weather. In the more than twenty years we have been tripping together, bad weather seems to follow us around regardless of the time of year we have planned these excursions.
Last June for example, we boated out of Opeongo Lake in a cold nor’easter rain storm, following three beautiful days of warm summer-like temperatures. Two days later that part of Algonquin Park was closed after being ravaged by a line of severe thunder storms featuring hurricane force winds that snapped trees like match sticks and destroyed several camp sites, stranding and injuring some campers, including the son of one of our group who had his leg broken by a falling tree while camping at a site on the other side of the park.
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| Stew's small perch, the catch of the day |
This June we are going back to Crotch Lake in eastern Ontario, about three hours west of Ottawa. This large lake is carved into the Precambrian rock of the Frontenac Axis, offering a wonderful wilderness environment close to home. Most of our group members have been visiting this special place on numerous trips over the past 50 years. Al and I first experienced this beautiful lake on a Mississippi River canoe trip in the early 1970s. We were junior leaders for a Anglican youth group canoe trip.
Beautiful cottage, great you guys still get together for adventure. Keep the stories coming!
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