Antero Ice Fishing for the First Time

My first 'iced' rainbow trout.

     A guy from Wisconsin, a Jayhawker, and two South Africans step onto Antero Ice for the first time.  Stop me if you’ve already heard this one.

     Hiemal fishing has never been my forte, and my first time ice fishing started out on the chilly side, but by the end of the day I warmed to the prospect.

     A friend asked me if I could take her brother and nephew fishing during his visit to Colorado.  I was going to take them to the Dream Stream or 11-mile Canyon because I know he can fly fish, but instead, I called another friend who knows his ice fishing to see if he was available.  I had never ice fished before and surmised that it might be a unique experience for someone from South Africa.  So it was that on the Friday before Christmas Steve T. and his twelve year old son Bruce from South Africa, Steve E. (lives in Denver but is from Wisconsin) and I (originally from Kansas,) arrived at Antero Lake Friday morning with the truck registering a blistering -40.

Arriving at Antero the temp was a brisk -40!



Colorado's South Park Valley.



     At first I thought Steve E. might have switched the readout to Celsius for the visitor’s benefit, but coming down from Wilkerson Pass we commented and watched the temperature steadily fall.  The whole of the South Park Valley was blanketed with fog and the ring of peaks surrounding the valley rose above in a crisp and unreal vista.  When we reached the turn-off for Antero the fog was breaking up and the temp readout hit -40.  By the time we parked the temp readout only said “OC,” which we decided meant “Oh, Crap,” “Off Chart,” or maybe, “Outrageously Cold.”  I was beginning to doubt the wisdom of this excursion. 



Bruce on his first ever ice fishing trip!



     Parking and exiting the truck we quickly donned snow gear and then packed the sled and started for the ice, Steve E. had been to Antero a few times already this year and had a spot in mind.  He drilled several holes and we set up two tents.  Within fifteen minutes, Bruce caught his first ice trout.

Steve E. helping Bruce land a fish.

     We only moved once and the new spot produced three more rainbows and one sucker.  Twelve year old Bruce really showed the rest of us up; I caught one ‘bow while Bruce caught the other three and the sucker.  Bruce had on a small pink tube with a waxie and my fish hit an orange body jig with yellow feather-tail and a white Gulp! Alive wiggler.  All fish were between 15-17 inches.  We all got some hits, but those were the only catches.  Still, not too bad compared to the people we talked to on the way back to the truck, which had one bite all freezing day long.



Ice rig.  There was about 10-inches of ice
under 12-inches of snow.



     Ice fishing was as new to me as it was for the two from South Africa.  I never thought that sitting on a bucket and watching and waiting for a slight twitch on two incredibly short rods would be much fun, but it really was.  The trout hit was light and sudden.  If you didn’t get the rod up quickly then you didn’t get the fish.

     The sucker was actually a lot of fun to watch.  The graph was in Bruce’s hole and we were watching his rod tip bob slightly but each time he lifted it there was nothing on.  Bouncing the tube we could see a fish on the graph as it circled for what seemed like ten minutes.  Finally, on the lift, the persistent sucker was hooked.

     Lesson learned: ice fishing IS fun, even at temperatures that I would not have gotten out of bed for had known (it never rose above 0-degrees.)  Bring what you need, but not too much!  Taking turns pulling the sled was rough on me and made me realize how out of shape I am; 10 inches of ice under 12 inches of fresh snow to plow through.

We were not the only ones braving the extreme temp.

     Our new friends were a blast.  I felt like we were accompanying a younger version of Marlin Perkins of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom fame, (if you don’t know this show, you’re obviously too young!)  Steve T. runs a private wild game preserve and raises buffalo.  Not our seemingly half-tame (but still dangerous) American Bison, but massive and ill-tempered Cape Buffalo.  During the drive Steve T. and Bruce told us about raising game in South Africa, warding off poachers, and other wild-to-us but everyday-life stories for them: Bouncing around in a Game Warden’s version of an African Jeep while a Cape Buffalo chased and battered the rear, throwing riders off the vehicle to be tossed and crushed by its horns; how the illicit trade in rhino horns can be as lucrative as N.Y. drug dealing and the problems that it creates for game preserves; scuba diving with Great White sharks; taking tribesmen up in a helicopter for their first bird’s eye view of the world.  I was amazed by our guests and so thankful to have met them.

Bruce and Steve T. at home in South Africa.

     I believe I’ll go ice fishing again, too.  Thanks Steve, and Steve, and Bruce, for a great time on the ice.