Ice fishing 101

Last Saturday morning my day started at 4 a.m. Yep, 4 a.m. occurs very early in the morning!  

I was chairman of the 53rd annual Sunriser Lions Ice Fishing derby. I’ve been its chairman for the last 25 years or so. This is the longest running ice fishing tournament in Montana. While the official tournament doesn’t start until 7 a.m., I have to get up to turn on the big 100-cup coffee pots. It takes about an hour to perk good coffee. I start a second big coffee pot with just plain water for the kids’ hot chocolate. It also takes time for me to load all the food supplies for our food sales. The hamburger and hot dogs can be loaded the night before. They keep well in our 20-degree nights in the back of my truck. But the buns need to be kept warmer, so they can’t be loaded until the morning.  

As tournament chairman, I feel it is my duty to sample all the food to be served. So, my early morning breakfast consisted of a couple of our donuts. I’m not sure my doctor would not agree this was a healthy breakfast. But, hey, this is America! I was finally loaded by 6 a.m. and headed west to Smith Lake, the site of our ice derby.