ICEFISHAPALOOZA!

Open water in the backdrop of this photo!!!!!!

ICEFISHAPALOOZA A GLEAMING SUCCESS!

Saturday February 24,2006 starting bright and early on the questionable ice of GUN LAKE....The morning started with a trip to Gillets's Bait Shop after whipping up a nice fresh breakfast for me of eggs, bacon on the "George Foreman" grill, and a pot of fresh coffee.

I arrived at the lake at 06:15 a.m. and to my surprise much of the ice was gone! Oh man...The first 10 foot from shore was open water and I noticed that the area we were to fish was only 120 yards from a large bay of whitecapped open water......

I made a carefully navigated journey out onto the ice prior to the arrival of the ICEFISHAPALOOZA participants showed up...I had my ice auger, a hand-held air horn, and ice picks tied around my waist as I slowly and carefully walked checking the ice........A solid 5.5" of ice even within 80 yards of the open water. All was well. The normal area I walk onto the ice had open water at the shore so I knocked and gained permission from a lady in a cottage.....and then they came:

Later we fired up the grill and had some hot-spicy cheese dip heated on the grill then divied out and teamed with some chips.......Thanks to the wife TeamT Mama for this added delight.....With 24+mph wind gusts, anything hot was nice.....

After most of them orning and only a couple perch on the ice, the first annual ICEFISHAPALOOZA board voted to move to Payne Lake....

Much less wind...and much more ice! We then sat up camp ICEFISHAPALOOZA!

Ol' Merle got the first and only flag on the tip-ups all day...

An almost keeper pike...

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Lunch time was hot dogs with grill fired sauce, onions, and chips.......Fun was had by all......

The night ended with hot Au Jaus sandwiches at Daisy Mae's and Karaoke.

and a side note, the guy who came along who told people at Karaoke he worked at MERCO meat packing plant/slaughterhouse kept taking his shirt off during Karaoke......