Judging from the numbers of people I see on the ice these days, it appears that ice-fishing is a growing winter activity. Not only is ice-fishing an enjoyable way to spend a day, but it is also, as the title of this story suggests, an opportunity to put some delicious food on the table. Now I know that a number of my friends see it differently since they would rather stop by the local grocery store and just pick up a package of haddock for dinner that night. Still, there’s something special about catching your own fresh panfish and filleting and preparing them. Panfish fillets rolled in egg batter and crackers and then fried in butter to a golden brown are awful hard to beat.
What I find interesting is that over the past couple of years, I have discovered that we ice-fishing humans are not the only ones who see fishing on a frozen lake as the source of some great dinner fare. I was reminded of this scenario just recently when a fishing friend, Bill Wilhelm, and I set up for a day of ice fishing on a local lake. As the day wore on, we noticed a Great Blue Heron standing on the ice nearby, and as we dropped our freshly caught fish next to us, the heron drew closer. At one point, the heron got within a few feet of Bill’s fish but backed off. I eventually tossed one of my bluegills to the eagerly awaiting heron; it gobbled the fish down, and minutes later, I saw it quietly sneaking up behind another unaware fisherman. The heron kept visiting anglers all afternoon, no doubt coming up with a pretty good day’s fish feast.
If you are familiar with Great Blue Herons, you no doubt expect to see them in the summer standing or slowly wading on their long legs in a stream, pond, or the edge of a lake in search of fish or frogs. While most herons migrate to the coast or south, some do stay here even during these cold winter days. No doubt what keeps them here is access to open water where they can find food or, in the situation described above, a frozen lake with ice fishermen who get too far from their catch when the winged burglar shows up.
Herons aren’t the only winged critters that have learned to feed off the ice-fishing dinner table. Bald Eagles have become a common sight while ice fishing. Several years ago, I began to notice eagles perched in trees near where my buddies and I were ice fishing. On occasion, an ice fisherman would leave the ice accidentally, leaving behind a fish, and it didn’t take long for the eagles to realize that some good eating could be had by hanging around that hard-water gang. On several occasions, I watched eagles swoop down and grab a fish flopping on the ice, sometimes only thirty yards from the fisherman who just caught it. I’ve seen this activity on a couple of lakes over the past few years. While eagles eat a variety of different animals, including carrion, fish actually constitute about 60-90 percent of their diet.
So it seems that the ice-fishing gang may be increasing in numbers, but along with that increase, there seems to also be an increase in the winged freeloaders. Can’t say that I blame them; after all, who wouldn’t want a free fish dinner?
