Hole Hopping
Sometimes I wonder who the first person was to try fishing on a frozen lake. Was it a hungry settler looking for something to fill a growling belly in the heart of a long, cold winter? Probably. Or was it simply someone who was too impatient to wait for the spring thaw to do what they love to do most? Maybe.
Either way, we know one thing for sure. For some of us, without ice fishing, it would definitely be a long, cold winter here in Wisconsin.
Indeed, Wisconsin offers plenty of other outdoor winter activities, but if you’re an angler, nothing comes close to the satisfaction of dropping a line in the water, the rush you feel with “fish on,” and finally, reeling in a keeper. So, why wouldn’t we take our favorite summer pastime to the frozen lakes of central Wisconsin?
But why do it alone? Why not turn it into a competition – with activities for all ages and abilities? Like a party on ice, and everyone’s invited. With food and beverages. Yes, plenty of beverages! And, of course, prize money. Sounds like a pretty good idea, doesn’t it?
Turns out this kind of thing happens all the time here in Wisconsin. On any given weekend, on any of our awesome lakes, chances are you’ll see swarms of well-equipped men, women, boys, and girls hauling their sleds with augers, buckets, and tip-ups, to that one spot on the ice where they know, without a doubt, the fish are biting. And if by chance they aren’t biting, that’s ok. They’ll drill a couple more holes and start hole hopping until, BOOM! They land that one beautiful lunker that might just be the one that secures that sweet, sweet prize money.
These ever-popular events are called “fisherees.” A perfect name for a perfect winter celebration.
But, if you’re not from these parts, you may not have heard of fisherees. You won’t find it in any dictionary (in fact, autocorrect yelled at me more than once to change the spelling), yet we Wisconsinites know exactly what it means. It means fishing, fun, family, and friends.
And it’s no surprise that Wisconsin ranks among the top states nationally in fishing popularity, and that holds true even when Old Man Winter caps our lakes with two feet of solid ice. And that’s why central Wisconsin plays host to so many fisherees, each and every winter.
Because we just can’t get enough.
Recently, here in Rome, Wisconsin, fishers of all ages bundled up to take part in the Lake Sherwood Fisheree & Raffle, the Port Edwards Lions Club Fisheree held at Nepco Lake Park, and are eagerly awaiting the fisheree on Lake Camelot which is scheduled, as always, for the third Saturday of February.
That’s just a few of the fisherees that’ll be remembered for years to come. But you’ll find other memory makers on virtually every lake throughout the state.
But you may want to hurry, because as February comes to a close and we roll into March, ice fishing starts to wind down. Temperatures rise and the shanties, shelters, and ATVs that have dotted the frozen landscape for the last couple of months start to disappear - just in time for the ice to melt and give way to open water, and just in time to, you guessed it, go fishing!
Interested in participating in an upcoming fisheree? Check out the calendar of events on visitromewi.com.
Written by: Lydell Capritta
