"Terry's shack is a thing of beauty..."
The "shack" in question is the ice fishing house of Terry Frank of Sherwood, Wisconsin. His actual home is on the shores of Lake Winnebago, but each February with thousands of others he heads for his "shack" to try to spear the elusive sturgeon. "Try" is the operative word for as his niece says, "He has been spearing for a bazillion years." However, she continues on, "and has never even seen a sturgeon." Liz.
Lake Winnebago is the largest fresh water lake in Wisconsin. It is 30 miles long and 10 miles wide. Its depth averages 15.5 feet with a maximum of 21 feet. Before the ice fishing is allowed the thickness of the ice must be 20 inches. Roads from the boat landings to the ice shanties are marked with Christmas trees: 2 trees=1 mile out, 3 threes= 2 miles out, etc. There are bridges over large cracks. There are about 4000 ice fishing shacks and 10,000 fishermen. They come out to their shacks by ATV, snowmobile or snowshoes. (Notes from Liz.)
The " shack is built on wood blocks so it doesn't freeze to the ice then you pack snow around it for insulation and to keep any stray light from getting in. The only light in the shack comes up through the hole in the ice. It glows an eerie green. The shack is small; just wide enough to cover the hole and long enough for the door to open so two people can sit over the hole and maybe 3 people can stand behind them. Terry has a car radio hooked up to a battery, ad two tanks of propane strapped to the back wall for the heater. It was like a sauna inside..."Liz The actual hole is cut with a chain saw and in this shack it is 18 feet deep and is angled for better visibility. PVC is lowered down to the bottom of the lake to also aid in seeing the fish. Hand carved lead weighted decoys with copper fins are also lowered into the hole. A spear with a rope attached it is throw down the hole at any sign of the fish. (Notes from Liz.)
Sturgeon are caught. One of those caught this year was a 6 foot long pregnant female weighing 110 pounds. The head was almost the size of a humans and the fins were as big as a man's hands. (Described by Liz.)
"Ice fishing"
"Ice fishing is popular on Lake Winnebago. It is not uncommon for 10,000 cars parked on Lake Winnebago during the ice fishing season.[2] Expansion cracks on the ice are bridged. Many cities along east and west shores plow roads on the icy surface.[2] Saugerwhite bass catches.[2] and walleye predominate.
"The spear fishing season for sturgeon is in February. The first season of regulated sturgeon spearing was in 1903, when an eight-pound limit was introduced.[6] All sturgeon spearing was banned from 1915 until 1931. The lake had the largest population of sturgeon in the United States in 2003.[6] The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources regulates the number of fish taken each year." Link.
Thank you: To cousin Kay's daughter Liz who e mailed me about her adventure ice fishing with the family on Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin. As a child Suzanne Wilson visited with her cousin Kay at her parent's cottage on Lake Winnebago.
Photo: e mailed from cousin Kay's daughter Liz, then printed, photographed by SW, downloaded to computer, photo shopped, hence the "arty" look.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Winnebago
