Friday morning's early morning sun reflects against the tops of the trees

January 3, 2015 - Saturday morning

18 degrees/cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It appears this is the calm before the storm in the temperature department. Today is to be relatively mild, highs in the mid-twenties, then tonight the bottom drops out for the next ten days or so. Supposedly, lows are forecast to approach -20 beginning Sunday accompanied by strong winds. That must be why its called winter.

Friday morning was spent moving the fish shack to the lake. After two nights of temperatures in the negative teens, charging the battery in the Man Truck was the first order of business.

It didn't take long before the old truck was running, somewhat in protest, but none-the-less, running.

Fearful that I may not get the truck started if I turned it off at the lake, I unloaded the shack, left it on the shore, then came home and returned driving the Blazer loaded with the rest of the equipment.

I'm not going to pretend that pulling the fish shack almost a quarter of a mile to its final destination was a piece of cake. There was almost a foot of snow with several inches of slush underneath. I took my time pulling it for twenty or thirty yards, would pause to catch my breath, then begin again. It took around forty-five minutes to complete the trek.

Halfway

Once there, I had to walk back to the boat landing and load a small toboggan with fishing equipment, the auger, shovel, and anything else needed to get the shack ready for it's permanent winter resting place.  

I cleared the ice then lifted the building six inches onto four pieces of fire wood placed under each corner to prevent the bottom and skis from freezing to the ice. Next came drilling holes in the ice on either side of the building so ropes could be attached with opposite ends dangling several inches into the water. Once frozen, the ropes will prevent the shack from blowing away in a strong wind. Finally, snow was banked around all four sides to insulate the shack from the bottom. I was ready to fish.

The official fishing season began with a bang when a northern pike hit my small bluegill jig. It took a while, but I finally wrestled him through the hole.

The next two hours was spent listening to the radio. I could see fish on the sonar, but was unable to get them to bite. Other than one very small perch, fishing was uneventful.

I hustled off the ice early in the afternoon, came home, and took a quick shower before driving to Iron Mountain to meet Sargie. We grabbed a burger last night and drove back home together.

A rampaging herd of wild turkeys in the back yard.

Sargie works early today. I'll ride over to get the Blazer and fill the gas tank plus a couple of five-gallon jugs. It's almost twenty cents a gallon cheaper in Iron Mountain than locally.

I need to run an errand or two in town then after, I hope to spend most the day on the ice. Sooner or later, the bluegills and crappies will begin to bite. I want to be there when they do.

But first, it's time for a cup of coffee, read the news, and think some mighty deep thoughts.

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...