On a bitter cold day when most people would rather be inside, Ryan Parker of Hempfield not only wants to be in the elements, but he patiently sits out in it
Parker is one of that breed of fisherman who do not put away their rod and reel when winter arrives, but who sits or stands over a little hole they’ve bored into the ice of a frozen pond or lake, holding a short rod and letting the baited line sink into the water in hopes of getting a fish to bite.
“Ice fishing is weird. You can get addicted,” to it, said Parker, as he was fishing on the upper lake of Twin Lakes Park in Hempfield.
Parker, 38, who has been ice been fishing for the past 17 years, said he does not mind walking out on the ice, armed with a hand-held drill and dragging a sled holding his gear. Looking for a good spot to fish, he checks where he can walk — keeping away from runoff that weakens the ice or heat-retaining docks could weaken ice around the pylons — so he stays above the water and not in it. The faint crack of ice heard while walking along, did not spook Parker, saying it was not a sign of danger.
“Hearing it crack on a cold day is good,” Parker said. “New ice is good.”
And about that ice, David Shallenberger, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Moon, said it will increase in thickness from the bottom, where is is up against the water. Light winds tend to allow the ice to become thicker, Shallenberger said, while brisk winds would hamper increasing its depth. The less current the better for thickening the ice, Shallenberger said.
As for good temperatures for creating a thick sheet of ice, Shallenberger said temperatures at 20 degrees or below, are ideal.
“Prolonged cold makes it better,” Shallenberger said.
Parker offers a word of caution to anyone pondering fishing on ice. A fisherman could be standing on 10 inches of ice and if there had been rain, “you could go through it (ice).”
“If you are going to come out here and risk your life, you’ve got to pay attention,” Parker said.
With ice five inches thick, Parker was drilling holes in a few spots some 15-to-20-yards offshore, dropping a probe from his hand-held sonar device that measures the depth of the water and detects movement of the fish. He does not bring a shelter to keep warm, preferring to sit on an overturned bucket out in the open.
Parker said he throws back about almost all of the trout and pan fish he might catch, keeping only a few. Unlike in the summer, when a cooler or a line in the water might be needed to keep the fish fresh, all he has to do now is to place them atop the ice and he can take home a frozen trout.
Ice fishing, just like fishing the other three seasons of the year, has its good days and bad ones. There have been times —no fish story here — that when drops a line in the water, he might catch “20 fish in a matter of minutes.”
Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at 724-836-5252, jnapsha@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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