Is bigger really better?
One of our most memorable days on the ice was at what is now called Murphy Lake, back when it was called Schweigert Lake after one of the first homesteaders to own land on the lake. Today this land is known as Christe Developments, a small lake side community. The next quarter-section west was the Murphy land, also on the lake. As the district grew, the post office ended up on this quarter so perhaps this is why more notability was given to the Murphy name. The shoreline along Murphy Lake is dotted with spruce and tamarack trees. After the lake was frozen over we would access the shore line from the ice and cut the dead trees for fire wood, occasionally we would combine a day of ice fishing. On one occasion in January during a mild spell, some friends were down from Edmonton so we made a day of ice fi shing and collecting firewood. Pat and I had shared the cost of a hand auger; neither of us knew much about ice augers – bigger is usually better, right? We must have gotten a great deal because we ended up with a six or eight-inch auger. As you may well imagine the larger the surface the more material to cut through, the longer it takes to make a hole, also the more amount of effort it takes, hence fewer holes would be drilled. On this day our shiny new auger was not performing well, although we managed to drill a few holes. Each hole was interrupted by re-shimming the blades trying to improve the cutting action. It was a good thing I used to smoke, as the cigarette package was great for shimming. With all the problems out of the way, serious fishing was underway and did we catch fish. Everyone was pulling up nice sized perch – real keepers. By the end of the day, between all of us we harvested over 50 perch. Back at Johnson’s on Fowler Lake we cleaned up the fish and Thelma, my wife’s mother, started cooking the fish along with thinly sliced potatoes. We all enjoyed the feast consuming all we caught. The saying, out of the water and into the pan, really holds true. There is no better flavour to be enjoyed than a fish freshly caught and cooked. Today with power ice augers you are able to drill one hole after the other, then install your underwater video camera and watch the fish around your hole on your lap top from your insulated ice fishing shack. If you are really technologically driven, you set a satellite link interfaced with your camera, so you can broadcast the fishing activity live on YouTube or some similar site. Virtual Fishing. |
