Summer 2025

BONKER’S WORLD (CONT.) SUMMER ISSUE

I was going to be able to test my minimalist approach to ice fishing. I parked and put on my boots with ice cleats, grabbed my gear and headed to the ice. I had looked up this particular lake on the Iowa DNR online lake maps and had decided ahead of time where I would try. I headed that direction, this lake isn’t very big so I didn’t need to walk far and the best part about ice is no hills to climb. I got to the spot, looked around to confirm what I had seen on the map and started drilling holes. I drilled holes for tip ups, for bait I used the wiggliest minnows ever and the third hole was for me and my jigging rod. I set my bucket up so the wind would be at my back and my tip ups would be in sight. I put a couple of big ‘ole butter worms on a jig that was probably too big. I sat down on the surprisingly comfy bucket lid and started watching fish finder TV. About an hour later I looked up from fish finder TV to see one of the flags was up. I get a kick from YouTube ice fishing videos that have young guys running to flags and sliding on the ice like they are sliding into home plate. Not me boy. I put my jigging rod down, stood up, stretched and slowly walked in that direction. Why wasn’t I in a big hurry? I’ve been fooled before by errant flags. I got to the tip up, the spool was not spinning. I gently picked up

the frame until I could grab the line. I didn’t feel anything but I pulled the line up anyway. Just as I thought, the minnow was still doing minnowy things so I just dropped the line back down and reset the tip up. I think I had made a rookie mistake with the tip up and set it so the wind could actually make the flag fly. I adjusted the tip up and I returned to my comfy cushion covered five gallon bucket. I was still warm, my new merino wool socks were worth their weight in gold, not to mention I felt like I had paid that much when I bought them. Soon, I was visited by the Park Ranger. He was a very nice guy, we stood and chatted for about 15 minutes. I mentioned my minimalist approach this year so he gave me several ice fishing tips. I said the one thing I hadn’t figured out yet was how to carry any keeper sized fish I might catch. He kind of gave me an odd look and just tapped his boot against my five gallon bucket. The odd look and the boot tapping on the bucket had the same effect as hitting me with a rock. I’ve never claimed to have a grasp of the obvious. I had been watching my fish finder TV for about three hours when I decided it was time to head home. Funny thing about fish finder TV, the screen never changed, sure I could see my jig but I didn’t mark any fish. Or perhaps I didn’t know what I was looking at. I gathered my minimal gear and headed home.

I was leaving just about sunset when the bite was probably about ready to start. All and all it was a successful first attempt at minimal gear hard water fishing. The temp stayed steady at 29 the whole time I was there, the wind stayed at 12 mph from the southwest and my comfy factor was high enough that I’ll do it again. As it turned out I didn’t get another chance to go ice fishing. A week or so after my minimalist ice fishing trip my wife had knee surgery. She had suffered from a bum knee for several years that I think she got from kicking me in the bum, or may be just kicking me “the bum” hence the term “bum knee”. During her recovery I felt my place was to be constantly by her side. Day after day and night after night I was there, taking care of her every want and need and even some wants and needs she didn’t know she had. I had her meds planned out, I had made med sheets to record when her meds were taken, I had spread sheets for when and which exercises she needed to do, I measured how far she walked every time she walked, I kept track of everything, and I do mean everything. After the first day of her recovery she started urging me to go ice fishing. No matter how often she urged me to go, and it was quite often, I stayed by her side. After the first week her tone changed to more demanding

www.iowabowhunters.org

IOWA BOWHUNTERS ASSOCIATION

11