By
toxicfur (Sun Feb 07, 2010 at 02:04:22 PM EST) (
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"Ice fishers," said ana, gesturing at the shapes gathered around distant holes on Horn Pond as we drove past on the way to the grocery store.
"Yeah," I said. "Also knows as 'idiots,' as far as I can tell. I just don't get it."
And I don't, seriously. I mean, you go out onto this frozen pond, and how the hell do you know whether it's frozen all the way through? We have enough above-freezing temperatures, and enough thaws and freezes that I'd be skeptical first of all. Second, while I love ocean fish, I'm skeptical of freshwater fish, especially lake fish. These fish swim around in their own excrement all the time! And it's muddy! And third, you're fishing on the fucking ice! It's cold out there, and even this winter when I've decided not to feel the cold, I bet I'd think the wind whipping across the icy pond would be a little brisk.
But let's get this straight. While I'm certainly anti-ice-fishing, I'm not anti-fishing in general. I liked surf-fishing on the coast of North Carolina, even when all I caught were spots (which many people throw back, but which I always found to be delicious when battered and fried crisp). And, for a brief period of time, I tried very hard to learn to enjoy fly fishing.
Until I broke a rib.
(10 comments, 1556 words in story)
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