George Mathewson
It’s a grey day on Sarnia Bay and groups of people are standing around staring into holes.
Quiet reigns out here on the ice, and the snow falls softly. But all eyes are locked on the black portals drilled to an unseen world.
Mark Osment has left his heated ice-fishing hut at home on purpose to better enjoy the weather, which is a chill -6 C.
“It’s a beautiful day,” says Osment, who’s quietly angling with buddies Jared and Josh Storr.
“This is my favourite type of fishing. And when you do catch something, you don’t know what it is until you get it up to the hole.
“It’s like a surprise, like a Christmas present.”
There are no fish to be seen this day, at least above the ice. But anglers have been pulling up some nice brown and rainbow trout recently, as well as perch and an occasional pickerel.
That bodes well for the Bluewater Anglers Ice Fishing Derby, which happens Feb. 14, barring a major thaw.
“If it gets too cold you can’t do anything anyway other than go ice-fishing,” says Jerad Storr, a laid-off seasonal Chemical Valley worker from Kettle Point.
“It’s a great way to kill some time, and if you like fishing it’s a lot of fun.”
Just down the Bay Sarnia’s Shelby Sim and Brian Sereres are also fishing without a hut. They too are getting skunked, and seem equally oblivious to the cold.
“I grew up ice fishing in southern Saskatchewan and it’s really cold on the ice there,” says Sim.
“This is sunny Sardineia,” adds Sereres, originally from Northern Ontario.
“And were both boilermakers,” says Sim, “so we’re used to being outside in the cold.”
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: Bluewater Anglers Ice Fishing Derby
WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 14, 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.
WHERE: Sarnia Bay
COST: $5
LICENCE: No. It’s a licence-free weekend.
OTHER: Register at Centennial Park Boat Ramp, Seaway Road. Tickets also available at Bucks’ Bait and The Outdoorsman. Prizes for largest panfish, pike and trout. For more, contact Dick at [email protected]
