Ice Fishing in Grand Marais

Yesterday I was invited by friend, Bob Stocking, to visit him in his beloved ice shanty that he shares with his friend, John Barney.  I have not been in an ice shanty since the 1970s when I spent time with my father in Irv Olli's ice shanty. 

I parked at the marina and walked out the boat ramp, which of course is frozen this time of year.

The dredging equipment is still in the bay -- waiting for spring.

There are four shanties near the marina and others scattered around the bay.

The blocks of ice they cut out have a translucent blue color.

 

 As I walked up, Bob was outside talking with Bill Nyman, who owns the next shanty down.

The fishing hole....

I asked Bob if the top of the hole freezes over.  Of course it does so they use the heavy duty spud to break the ice.  They then net the ice chunks and throw them out the door.

Bob was using various types of bait and lures.  Below you can see the blue minnow-like lure.

I was only in the shanty for an hour, but did see one fish.  Since the zoom is not working on my camera -- I could not get a good picture of the fish.  

Thanks to Bob for catching me up with the culture of Grand Marais ice fishing.

Later yesterday I took a few more pictures with my old camera, some of which I'll post tomorrow.  The good news is that my new camera did arrive yesterday.  I am looking forward to using the camera.