What to do during the early new year?

By

Dan Ackerman
Rough Creek Productions

What to do this time of year?  For many folks in the “far north” reaches of our great country, it might be to stay indoors, watch a movie, play cards, or just hang out.  For me, this is one of my favorite times of the year to get outdoors and be enthralled in our winter.  I have such a list of options, the biggest problem is deciding which activity I wish to pursue.  Do I want to attempt calling coyotes, tromp through the Dakota prairies after rabbits, or step on a solid layer of ice and take a stab at northern pike, or angle for the wily walleye?   Such a problem it is to decide what I want to do.
While many friends of mine would rather sit inside and play video games or watch movies, another select group of friends try to find ourselves sitting atop a glorified slough chasing yellow perch, northern pike, walleyes, crappies, bluegills, and other fishy creatures!  Ice fishing is one of my all-around favorite outdoor endeavors.  It may be 20 below the donut for outside temperatures, but the inside of grandpa’s ice shanty is a balmy 80 degrees!  Once you get the holes drilled, lines down and the heater started, it’s time to sit and play a game of cards, have a couple ice cold adult beverages, and finally get the deer sausage in the pan and a cookin! 
Just the past weekend, a friend of mine and I were in such a dilemma, we didn’t know what we wanted to do…fish perch, pike, or walleyes.  We decided we would head to secret pike lake and give it our best.  We figured the pike are more of a mid-day kind of bite so we planned on being at the lake at 10 am with lines down by 10:15.  Once we picked our spot, after careful observation noticing that much of the lake had too much snow for a full-size pickup, we drilled our holes, set up tip-ups with smelt, plopped the portable house on the ice for a wind break and cracked a few tops off our favorite beverages.  The wait wasn’t long and the race was on to the first flag.  My buddy fought a nice 4 pound pike!  Now, after we caught the first fish, we prepared the pan for our favorite deer sausage.  The first person to catch a fish was to be head chef for the day so my buddy watched the sausage cooking as I watched the tip-ups hoping for a flag.  Finally, 30 minutes after the first flag another flew.  I raced to the hole and iced another nice 4 pounder.  Nice healthy fish.  After another 10 flags we pulled 4 more fish through the ice and missed the other 6 hits.  Still a great day of fishing! 
Hopefully, those folks who are glooming over the dark, short days that is winter, use the daylight, get outside and take a stroll through the trees or praires while looking for your favorite birds, throw on a set of skis and cruise down the nearest hill, or get out the ice rods and catch a few fish.  I promise you will not be disappointed and your soul will thank you.  Get out and enjoy are great North Dakota outdoors.