I viewed the morning with alarm...

Was there a lake out there? Or would I find the British museum? And where was our expert guide? Would I find him or was I the only one who got out of bed for this?

A grim morning on the lake

What's the point of having red flags when you can't even see that far? Visability was poor in all directions as the wind, snow and cold challenged our stamina.

a fish has been caught!

The Hand Crafted Hole

Although modern battery powered augers were provided by the guide service, many of us shunned the modern convenience for the pleasure of hand crafting a hole the old fashioned way. We were ridiculed and warned that the ice was beyond penetration at THIRTY INCHES but we knew there be a reason beyond tradition for the workout of chopping a hole: it was a means of getting warm.

MARCH MADNESS

A thoughtful judge ponders IPA decisions while waiting for the next pairing to arrive. The entries were judged by panels of three; a west coast representative and a woman were on each.

Ice fishing was put on hold at 11 am for the judging of the first round of the HOPS NOT HOOPS MARCH MADNESS competition of 64 IPA entries from around the country.

Follow the madness here:
http://brackets.brewingnews.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=306230

I was grateful to get inside from the misery of the cold, wind and snow.

Visability was much better after a few beers

Shelter was provided by our guide service

This custom made shelter was flipped on it's side and converted to a giant sled trailer to haul all the gear off the ice when day was done. Our expert guide Bill was given a special award - a growler of Black Hole Stout - in recognition of INNOVATION IN ICE FISHING TECHNOLOGY.

It's always good to check your gear

Fashion on ice

His fishing time was limited by the demands of judging IPA's, but Dick Cantwell was the obvious winner of the coveted MOST STYLISHLY DRESSED ICE FISHERMAN AWARD.

Some came to watch

After the HOPS NOT HOOPS MARCH MADNESS first round ended, event coordinator Bill Metzger and our host Teri came out to check out the action. Teri would be working hard as head chef in a few hours.

TWO AT ONCE!

Abe, a rookie from Portland, Oregon (where they don't even have ice!) pulled in TWO on one line. Things are different in Syracuse. I wonder if having two hooks on one line is legal.

Fishes on ice

From fillets to frying pan to dinner plate

A BUCKET OF TWENTY ONE YELLOW PERCH DEMONSTRATES VICTORY.

The yellow perch were the biggest I've ever seen. Any one of these would have been a trophy at Buffinville Damn or Queen Lake. Dad would have been pleased with this.

Equipment check complete

I checked over the tilts and all of the flags are working properly. Four of them have killer double hooks on wire leaders that Dad bought for his last ice fishing adventure at Sodus Bay in 2003. One of them has no hook at all. The jigging stick seems fine but could surely use a new line. I'm not going to change it. We'll give the perch a fighting chance in our comeback tour. The chisel is covered in rust but should be ok. It was expertly crafted at some machine shop in Worcester, by a friend named Lefty or Shorty or somebody like that. We have three of them and I remember the Christmas when I received mine.