Audio The mysteries of ice fishing revealed (story audio) Photos Home away from home The fish are biting It's not cold in here! View full slideshow (5 images) Resources Plymouth Playhouse, where "Guys on Ice" is now playing Brainerd Jaycees ice fishing extravaganza Respond to this story Talk about this story in the MPR News Forum Submit a commentary Help us cover this story

	E-mail this page			Print this page

The mysteries of ice fishing revealed
by Annie Baxter, Minnesota Public Radio
January 16, 2004

Jason Capes and Joe Heinen spend hours every weekend on Carnelian Lake. They've both been ice fishing all their lives. (MPR Photo/Annie Baxter)

The world's largest ice fishing extravaganza takes place this weekend in Brainerd. Thousands of anglers will descend on Gull Lake to participate. What is it about ice fishing that holds such allure? This is a question requiring much research, as well as much travel to lakes where ice fishermen are plying their craft. The search for answers begins on a lake just south of St. Cloud, on a chilly weekend afternoon.

Luxemburg, Minn. — The ice on Carnelian Lake groans and heaves under its own weight as I pound my way across it, and a fierce wind kicks up snow. I've come here, to the edge of civilization, in search of the spirit of the ice fisherman. Well, it's not really "the" edge of civilization. I just got in my car and drove a little and this was the first lake I came upon.

Anyway, it's here that I arrive at a little makeshift village of ice houses. Their red and blue colors stand out against the grey sky.

Two fishermen invite me into their ice house, and show me their humble setup.

"Not much luxury here," says Jason Capes, 28. "A bucket to sit on. Some warm coffee."

	The fish are biting

Capes is fishing with his friend Joe Heinen. They tell me they've been ice fishing all their lives. This must mean a glorious family tradition where generations of fathers and sons share rich customs and big fish tales.

I ask if this is the case.

"No, not my family," Capes says. "No, never."

"Not a tradition, no," remarks Heinen.

So it's not about family tradition for these guys. Instead, it must be about communing with nature and finding solace in the wintery hush.

Or maybe not.

"(It's about) Relaxing. Getting away. Free time. Drinking some beer. Catching some fish," Capes says with a shrug. "I do it to get away from the old lady."

Joe Heinen has one single motivation.

	It's not cold in here!

"I enjoy it," he says tersely.

In search of more, or at least longer answers to what makes these men tick, I continue on to the ice house next door. Eric Heinen, 19, says his tenure as an ice fishermen began simply.

"I started off with a five gallon pail with a fishing rod out on the ice," he says with a laugh. "It got a little cold and annoying after a while. Almost made me quit, but then, I'm like I'll just go out and buy a fishhouse."

And how long did it take before that happened?

"About seven years," Heinen notes earnestly. "I got really cold and really sick of it."

So I learn from Eric Heinen that patience is a crucial element in this sport. But am I really any closer to finding the true spirit of the ice fisherman?

Just as I stand shivering and perplexed, action breaks out.

"I got the man's auger here," someone shouts above the din of the auger.

The men are drilling a hole in the ice. This appears to be a major event, maybe the biggest thing that will happen today.

"Real men drill their own," yells someone else.

	Gathering around the fishing hole

As I gaze into the water gushing out of the hole, I realize where I need to go next to round out my picture of the ice fisherman. It's the arena in which so many of life's big questions are answered: musical theater.

The words of a character in the play "Guys on Ice" shed light on my examination of the love of ice fishing.

"There's a place that I go, when the world's deep in snow," he sings. "Buy some bait, grab my pole, head out to the wishing hole."

"Guys on Ice," now running at the Plymouth Playhouse just outside of Minneapolis, is all about ice fishing. Actor Terry Carlson says the most important thing about being an ice fisherman, or at least playing one, is figuring out what the fish are thinking.

"If you can get into the mind of a fish, then you really can understand everything that is important-- everything about compassion and humanity and morality," Carlson notes kiddingly. "Because the fish really understands. So when I'm playing an ice fisherman, that's what I'm thinking about."

I think I'm closer to figuring out the mystery of ice fishing. But my journey takes me one step farther to Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis. There, the tiniest fisherman I've encountered so far shares the biggest pearl of wisdom.

	The cast of "Guys on Ice"

Dante Sace, age 6, has strong opinions about ice fishing.

"It's about having fun," Dante says.

"What parts of it are fun?" I ask.

"I like to have some fun with the ice fishing," Dante says matter-of-factly.

A light snow has started to fall. I look off into the distance where dusk is settling onto the lake. I realize that Dante understands. He knows the meaning of ice fishing. It's simple; it's about the fun. I turn back to Dante, and he's already scampered away-- off to have more fun at the fishing hole.

News Headlines

Related Subjects