I haven’t been able to get out on the ice in the past few weeks, so I haven’t had any ice fishing stories to tell. However, in talking with my buddy, Dan, he recalled an amazing story that happened to him and one of his friends while ice fishing in Northern Minnesota several years ago.

Dan and some buddies were up in the Boundary Waters ice fishing. (For you non-Minnesotans, the lakes on the border between Minnesota and Canada are often referred to as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA). Many Minnesotans shorten it to simply, “the Boundary Waters.”) They had several holes in the lake with poles and tip ups manning each.

One of the holes that had a pole propped in a snowbank got a bite while they were tending to one of the other holes. The fish was so big and so fast that before the two had a chance to react to the strike, the pole disappeared down the ice hole!

A few minutes later, about a 100 ft away one of the tip-up’s flags went up. They went to grab it and found a fishing line attached to the end of the line. They pulled up the line and found the fishing pole they had just lost. Better yet, the fish was still hooked to it. Dan’s buddy reeled in the waterlogged pole and found a 14-lb Northern Pike at the other end!

The hole they drilled was a hand auger hole, so it’s smaller than one created by a gas auger. They used some leather gloves to squeeze the monster out.

This story just goes to show that anything can happen when you’re out on the ice. Ice fishing isn’t just for panfish.