Summer 2025

As some of you may recall from my past ramblings I restarted ice fishing a few years ago. I think I’ve caught maybe six fish in six years. I’m not exactly setting the ice fishing world on fire, but it is still fun to head to the ice even if it is just to get out of the house for awhile and do something that not everyone wants to do. I tried something new this year, something that is the total opposite of my normal routine; I went the minimalist route. What actually triggered my move towards ice fishing minimalism? It was the thin ice we have been experiencing in southeast Iowa in recent years. The guidelines dictate a minimum of four inches of good ice to fish. Just to be safe, with all the stuff I drag along, I need a minimum of eight inches of good ice. With the warmer winters lately I figured if I want to go ice fishing I better cut down on the comfy factor and reduce the gear load. The challenge, however, was to reduce my gear load without decreasing my comfy factor and not increasing the suck factor to the point where I would be reluctant to go. Usually I take a large sled full of gear on the ice in an effort to be comfy while ice fishing. I have a pop up shelter, a nice chair and a heater. I have several layers of warm clothes that are wind proof and even float. I have movies downloaded on my tablet, I have my phone and I have a system to keep them all charged. I have a fish finder, an underwater camera and a drill powered ice auger. I have rods, reels and tip ups. I have waxies, spikes and butter worms. I have spoons, jigs and minnows. I have sodas, sammiches and chips. I have everything I need to stay comfy, entertained and catch fish. What I lack is the skill to find the fish, the skill to get the fish to bite and the skill to get the fish on the ice. I took a look at my gear list and thought maybe I needed Elon to help me reduce the waste fraud and abuse on my list. Elon is a little busy these days and I realized that all I really needed was a Bonker Office of Excess Gear Reduction, or BONKER’S WORLD SUMMER ISSUE

BOEGR. I tried to assemble a team that would be called the BOEGR Eaters because they would eat through my list and help me reduce my gear load but maintain a level of comfy that was acceptable. I canned up My Personal Guide, My Personal Guide’s Assistant and My Personal Guide’s Apprentice to see if they would help me cut the gear. They all refused. We may have had a bad connection on the tight string and cans communication system they insist on using. When I asked if they wanted to be on my BOEGR Eaters team they all said they weren’t nose pickers and disrespectfully declined. I’m still not sure what nose picking and being on the BOEGR Eaters team have in common. So I tasked myself with doing the work of BOEGR. The thought of cutting down on my gear was about as foreign to me as cutting wasteful spending is to a Bureaucrat, but I started going over the list item by item. First cut was the pop up shelter, nice chair and heater. I shouldn’t need the shelter and heater if I utilize my layers of warm and windproof clothes that float. The chair will take some further thought. Second cut was the tablet to watch movies and the charging system. I’ll just keep my head up and look at all the natural scenery. I’ll still need my phone so I can confirm how cold I should be. Third cut was the under water camera. The camera is a fun thing to watch, but without the shelter the sun makes the screen unseeable. Fourth cut was to only take one rod and reel and two tip ups. I can only have three lines in the water at once so the rest were redundant. Fifth cut was sodas, sammiches and chips. I eat good enough when I’m home, no sense piling on the calories while I’m ice fishing. So that leaves me with my phone, a fish finder, an auger, one rod and reel, two tip ups, waxes, spikes, butter worms, minnows, jigs and spoons. What I haven’t solved yet was a way to carry the gear and a comfy way to sit.

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