One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish…

Looks like the wing of angel

Did you ever read that Dr. Seuss book as a child?  Or did you read it to your own children?  One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.  It’s so catchy that you remember the title 20 or 30 or 40 years later, don’t you?

It’s still so popular that you can Google those words and come 12,500,000 responses.  No kidding.  (This blog will now be 12,500,001.)

I am here to finish up the saga of our Ice Fishing Adventure on the Keweenaw Bay of Lake Superior on Wednesday. Please read yesterday’s post if you want more background information.  Today’s post shall answer the magic question of yesterday.

How many darn fish did we catch anyway?

What a day on the Keweenaw Bay

I won’t tease you any more.  Here is the answer.

Mike caught three keepers (one of ’em pretty big.  I can’t remember all the statistics about size and weight and my husband isn’t available at this moment with exact information, sorry to say.)  Nancy caught three keepers.

Barry pulled up one undersized runt and threw it back down the hole.  And Kathy…caught…nothing.

But that’s OK!

I had two or three nibbles.  Just haven’t mastered learning when to pull.  The fish never grabbed on to the bait with ferocity.  It was more like a tiny nibble.  Then a second tiny nibble.  I was supposed to jerk the wire (to set the hook) with the second nibble, but didn’t.  Alas.

An artistic moment on ice (Nancy in the bobbing stick)

Barry isn’t having the greatest year ice fishing.  The last two years have not been stellar for him.  Before the last two years, he was catching ’em like crazy.  Our freezer always held at least a dozen bags of lake trout, I swear.  Lately, we’re buying tilapia at the grocery store.

Mike's lake trout--it's a keeper

He did bring home one fish today.  Two fish tomorrow?  And red-meat fish are great–that means they are lean fish and not “fats”.  You don’t eat the white-meat lake trouts.  They are oily and not as appealing.  As for blue fish…hmmm….don’t know how that might fit in at all!

Fish tail

The fish are a bit bloody from the hook when they come up from 240-250 feet of water.  Not the greatest of photographic subjects.  I decided to focus on fins and tails.  Don’t they look pretty?

Lake trout fin

When you pull up a fish you throw your bobbing stick on the ice and pull up the wire in big loops.  The wire loops in a big pile.  After you take the hook out, you slowly send the wire (freshly baited) down the hole.  Down, down, down it goes.  If you don’t step on the wire, you’re safe.  It really doesn’t tangle.  The loops come off gracefully, almost in a rhythmic motion.

Fish wire on ice. It's really not tangled up, honest.

Barry invited me ice fishing again this morning but I really, really, wanted this weekend to catch up on all sorts of loose ends.  It was a lovely day.  He went off fishing and I now feel truly more relaxed and organized.  Shoveled most of the deck.  Caught up on bookwork.  Read.

And thoroughly enjoyed the 52 degree sunny day!  Can you believe it?  The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is experiencing a 52 degree day in March!!  I love it.  (The ice fishermen are grumbling…they know what the warm temps will do to their ice.  Goodbye Ice…)