Fishin' For Frostbite!

I have always loved going fishing over the years and one of my favorite fishing buddies is my son in law, Shawn. He has become quite the fisherman. (almost as good as me!) Just kidding Shawn! Anyway... When he invited us to go ice fishing with him I jumped at the offer. I was pretty excited!!!

We arrived at Scofield Reservoir long before the sun came up and MAN WAS IT COLD! It was the kind of cold that just bites right through you. BURRRRRR! We had so many layers of clothing on it was kind of hard to even walk.

We loaded up the tobogan and off we went to find the perfect fishing hole. I realized at that time what a wimp I am and how out of shape I was. Shawn is a military man and he is in super shape. It was nearly impossible keeping up with his pace as we trudged through the snow across the lake. He was not even winded! We wanted to go way out to the island but he decided to stop closer to the shore and try it their first. I was so happy when he decided to stop because honestly if we went another step I would have probably gone into cardiac arrest.

Shawn using the ogger to dig down through the ice.

This is the first time I had been ice fishing so it was kind of fun at first watching the boys working so hard to find the perfect spot. They dug several different holes and checked them out with his fish finder. No fish in sight!

We each chose a different hole to fish in and went at it. Well things did not go well for me at all. First off my hook got stuck in my coat and I couldn't get it out. Then my line got tangled up so bad on the reel that it had to get re-strung. Next my glove fell into the hole and the fingertips got wet. Keep in mind that the temperature was sub zero degrees! NO KIDDING! I am talking minus 20* at least. There was no sun to warm us and I was frozen to the very core! My golves were so cold that they actually stiffened up and I could not get my hands inside. I had gone at least 30 minutes messing with my line and my hands were numb from the cold. They actually ached. My toes, my nose, my ears, my fingers, EVERYTHING was frozen solid and the worst part of it all is I needed to PEE!!!! Okay... now the men also had that problem but everywhere I looked men were "relieving" themselves. Including Steve and Shawn. NO FAIR!!! I have never seen so much yellow snow in one area before. So there I sat frozen solid with my back teeth floating (if you know what I mean). Pretty miserable. This was suppose to be fun..... And to top things off - not one single bite!!!

After several hours Shawn decided to move closer to the shore and put up the fishing tent which he had brought with us to keep us WARM! Hey Shawn.... I needed that tent the moment I stepped out of the truck!

It didn't take long to set up the tent ....BURRRRR

Hurry click the picture and lets go in!

Shawn was amazing because he spent the majority of the time without even gloves on. He would put his hand in the water and everything but I could not handle it. I guess I am just a wimp or something. I don't think I have ever been that cold in my entire life. NEVER!

Cozy warm in the tent. Aaahhh much better!

Now this is much better. Before long we were warmed up and the sun came out. It was quite the adventure and I will definately not forget my first ice fishing experience. It was something I don't want to ever experience again unless we put the tent up first. We did not catch anything that day but I totally enjoy spending time with Shawn and Howie. Shawn is such a good sport to invite an old lady like me to go fishing with him. I am not used to getting "skunked" when we go fishing. I probably would not have even noticed the cold had the fish been biting but I think they must have been in shock from the weather as well. I am looking forward to going fishing with him another time when the weather is not so brutal. Maybe in JULY at POWELL! Now that would be fun! Are you up for it Shawn?