Just plain fun on the ice

JP (that stands for Just Plain) and his wife were finishing dinner when the phone rang. Gnarly Dan was on the line and wanted to know if the ice fishing trip was still on for the next day. JP confirmed the trip, and then, cautiously, asked Gnarly if anything extra was needed for the excursion. JP was cautious because he had learned from experience that Gnarly can pose some unusual requests, especially if asked.

Gnarly mentioned needing an extension for his ice auger and bait, specifically salmon eggs. JP breathed a sigh of relief that the items were “mainline” and that Gnarly hadn’t asked for some off-the-wall item. JP thought he still had some old bait left over from the prior silver salmon season. He had an auger extension already packed in his ice fishing gear box. A time and meeting place were agreed upon and the conversation ended.

Later that evening, JP gathered his gear and found the old bait. He was looking forward to the trip because it had been at least a couple of years since he had been out on the ice in pursuit of the wily winter dolly varden, or any other species of fish for that matter.

JP pulled his truck into the agreed upon meeting location at the exact time decided the evening before. Gnarly was already there, pacing around the parking lot. Greetings were exchanged and gear was moved into Gnarly’s truck. The two intrepid anglers hopped in and headed down the highway to the lake of choice that day.

Gnarly might march to a different drummer, but he has a good head about things outdoors and actually makes an excellent choice as a hunting and fishing partner. JP appreciated that aspect of Gnarly’s personality and, over time, had learned to deal with his eccentricities. The two had a lively conversation about the things that ail the world as they drove to the lake.

After pulling off the highway and following the cleared vehicle trail to the lake’s edge, Gnarly stopped the truck. A large, freshly frozen-over hole lay right in the middle of the ice road perhaps 10 feet from the shore’s edge. A quick walk-around confirmed the ice was still plenty thick and Gnarly could drive the truck around the hole and out onto the ice. The two headed for Gnarly’s preferred spot about halfway down the lake.

Gnarly parked the truck to offer some protection from the slight breeze blowing down the lake and immediately began unloading ice fishing gear. The auger was gassed up and assembled with the extension. JP steadied the unit while Gnarly set the choke, turned on the switch and pulled the start cord. Over and over and over and over.

The auger refused to even sputter. That was odd, since it had worked just fine the last time it was called into action. With no wrenches or screwdrivers that fit anything on the auger, Gnarly began a systematic inspection of the unit. Using his Leatherman, he was able to remove the old spark plug and substitute a new one — remarkably, the two guys had brought a spare plug, but no tools to change it. Still nothing. Gnarly’s next thought was to check for spark. There was none. The two guys agreed that they might have figured out why the auger wouldn’t run — no spark. Neither person would qualify as a NASCAR mechanic, but Gnarly did pretty well if he was working under a shady tree (or in this case, out on the ice of a lake).

Again using the only tool available, the Leatherman, Gnarly tore down the powerhead and quickly determined the magneto gap was excessive and tried bumping it closer to its correct position. After a couple of attempts at adjusting the sparking mechanism with no success, the two nimrods accepted the fact that they had just taken a nice drive. With ice around 4 feet thick and a non-functional power auger, they knew fishing was not an option.

After loading everything in the truck, the two headed back toward the highway. About halfway back, Gnarly had an idea and pulled over. He knew this spot was a good fishing location and went looking to see if any previously drilled holes could be easily opened with the ice spud JP had amongst his gear. As luck would have it, about a half-dozen holes were available to be chiseled open.

After unpacking gear and reopening the holes, the two quickly got lines in the water. JP got the first bite and reeled a small dolly to the surface. Most folks would probably had let that fish go, but JP was determined to keep it just to prove he had finally gotten back out ice fishing.

Over the course of a couple of hours, JP limited out with his five dolly varden while Gnarly had caught two fish. While JP excelled in quantity, Gnarly had the quality, having landed the two biggest fish of the day — the largest being maybe 10 to 11 inches long.

The day was a success after all. Gnarly took the auger home and in just a few minutes, using the proper tools, made the necessary adjustments and had the auger running better than ever before.

Like I said, Gnarly Dan is a good man to have around, usually!

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. You can leave him a message by e-mailing sports@frontiersman.com.