My decidedly urban, flatlander upbringing is probably to blame for my failure to understand Wisconsin's appreciation for ice fishing.
Add in a long-standing phobia about getting trapped under water - like, say, the water of a lake covered by a layer of ice thin enough to fall through but too thick to let you back out - and I've usually considered ice fishing just a few degrees this side of crazy.
But then when I went down to Monona Bay last week to talk to a few of its practitioners about how thick the ice has to be to fish in a winter that so far has been unusually mild, I went by bike wearing wingtips, rubber bands on my ankles to keep my pants from getting caught in the chain, and a garment akin to panty hose on my head to keep my ears warm.
So maybe crazy is in the eye of the beholder.
The ice on the bay - one of the first places regionally to ice over - only got thick enough within the last week or so, or about two weeks later than usual, according to the anglers I spoke with.
"This is really out of the ordinary," said Brad Dietenberger of Fond du Lac, there with his 11-year-old son,Injection moulds Nathan.
As John Hakes of West Allis and I chatted about the northern he'd almost caught that morning, he measured the ice where we were standing at about 3 inches.
The Department of Natural Resources recommends a 4-inch minimum,China Porcelain tile but others I spoke with were comfortable with as little as 2, and judging by the 25 to 30 people on the bay, they weren't alone.
Even so, as I walked by various abandoned fishing holes, the water would swell and recede - a sign,Air purifier I was told, to watch out.
Dietenberger said he figures it's thick enough for him to fish "when I see other people walk on. ... I don't like to be the first person out there."
None of the fishermen I spoke with seemed reckless, and they certainly weren't inexperienced. All of them said they had been ice fishing for much, if not most, of their lives.
But why be out there in the first place, much less when the "experts" advise against it? Why sit for hours in the cold on a bucket or in a shanty waiting for the tip of your short fishing pole to dip with a possible catch?
I can't say I'll be purchasing an auger anytime soon, but I did get some sense of the draw for veteran ice fishermen.
Dan Wright of Beloit likes "being able to pull fish up out of the ice." Plus, he said,magic cube ice-fished fish seem to taste better.
Adam Griffin of Madison agreed with that. They're fresher, he said, or - making that common,offshore merchant account ironic compliment about seafood - "not as fishy."
Monona Bay apparently is a pretty good spot, too. That northern that bit through Hakes' line as he was reeling it in was probably 24 inches long, he said, and in the short time I was out there, two of the people I spoke with caught fish as I was interviewing them.
The appeal for Dietenberger's son, Nathan, who said he'd been doing it since he was about 3 (but didn't claim to remember that far back), was "trying to get really big fish."
But there are rewards other than the fish, said Wright, who likes the "peacefulness" and "being alone with your thoughts."
And I had to admit there was a certain peace out there on the bay. Cold, yes, but peace nonetheless.
The fishermen didn't seem to do much talking, and the mood was, if not necessarily somber, then contemplative. Bundled up in snowsuits and parkas, staring intently at their spring bobbers for the near imperceptible pull of the fish that Dietenberger says get slower and more finicky as the water gets colder.
All of this quiet deliberation on a sheet of near featureless ice, maybe as the sun's just coming up, with a view of the Capitol and the rest of Downtown Madison that's available for only a few months a year.
I've done just a bit of practice in meditation, and I can see how a couple of hours on the ice might qualify.
Quiet your mind with silence, invigorate your being with cold, catch a few fish to fry up when you get home.
Add in a long-standing phobia about getting trapped under water - like, say, the water of a lake covered by a layer of ice thin enough to fall through but too thick to let you back out - and I've usually considered ice fishing just a few degrees this side of crazy.
But then when I went down to Monona Bay last week to talk to a few of its practitioners about how thick the ice has to be to fish in a winter that so far has been unusually mild, I went by bike wearing wingtips, rubber bands on my ankles to keep my pants from getting caught in the chain, and a garment akin to panty hose on my head to keep my ears warm.
So maybe crazy is in the eye of the beholder.
The ice on the bay - one of the first places regionally to ice over - only got thick enough within the last week or so, or about two weeks later than usual, according to the anglers I spoke with.
"This is really out of the ordinary," said Brad Dietenberger of Fond du Lac, there with his 11-year-old son,Injection moulds Nathan.
As John Hakes of West Allis and I chatted about the northern he'd almost caught that morning, he measured the ice where we were standing at about 3 inches.
The Department of Natural Resources recommends a 4-inch minimum,China Porcelain tile but others I spoke with were comfortable with as little as 2, and judging by the 25 to 30 people on the bay, they weren't alone.
Even so, as I walked by various abandoned fishing holes, the water would swell and recede - a sign,Air purifier I was told, to watch out.
Dietenberger said he figures it's thick enough for him to fish "when I see other people walk on. ... I don't like to be the first person out there."
None of the fishermen I spoke with seemed reckless, and they certainly weren't inexperienced. All of them said they had been ice fishing for much, if not most, of their lives.
But why be out there in the first place, much less when the "experts" advise against it? Why sit for hours in the cold on a bucket or in a shanty waiting for the tip of your short fishing pole to dip with a possible catch?
I can't say I'll be purchasing an auger anytime soon, but I did get some sense of the draw for veteran ice fishermen.
Dan Wright of Beloit likes "being able to pull fish up out of the ice." Plus, he said,magic cube ice-fished fish seem to taste better.
Adam Griffin of Madison agreed with that. They're fresher, he said, or - making that common,offshore merchant account ironic compliment about seafood - "not as fishy."
Monona Bay apparently is a pretty good spot, too. That northern that bit through Hakes' line as he was reeling it in was probably 24 inches long, he said, and in the short time I was out there, two of the people I spoke with caught fish as I was interviewing them.
The appeal for Dietenberger's son, Nathan, who said he'd been doing it since he was about 3 (but didn't claim to remember that far back), was "trying to get really big fish."
But there are rewards other than the fish, said Wright, who likes the "peacefulness" and "being alone with your thoughts."
And I had to admit there was a certain peace out there on the bay. Cold, yes, but peace nonetheless.
The fishermen didn't seem to do much talking, and the mood was, if not necessarily somber, then contemplative. Bundled up in snowsuits and parkas, staring intently at their spring bobbers for the near imperceptible pull of the fish that Dietenberger says get slower and more finicky as the water gets colder.
All of this quiet deliberation on a sheet of near featureless ice, maybe as the sun's just coming up, with a view of the Capitol and the rest of Downtown Madison that's available for only a few months a year.
I've done just a bit of practice in meditation, and I can see how a couple of hours on the ice might qualify.
Quiet your mind with silence, invigorate your being with cold, catch a few fish to fry up when you get home.
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