Ice fishing

We love to ice fish.  Before we moved to Montana, I thought I would hate it...  in my mind it entailed sitting in a little hut, in the freezing cold with a miniature fishing pole, trying to catch a fish.  Did I mention that you literally are sitting on an iceberg?  Sounds crazy right?  Well, it's not at all like I imagined.

We don't sit in an ice house.  I start to question that decision when it is subzero, but we don't like to just sit there and don't usually fish with rods, we fish with tip ups.  They are genius little things that you set, then you can go sledding or do whatever while they wait for the bite.  When the fish bites a flag "tips up" and you go running over to set the hook.  You do miss a few more fish that way, but it allows us to move around, stay warm, and enjoy the other fun things a winter day has to offer.  

Of course our little man loves to ice fish.  In fact he got a "scooper" for Christmas and couldn't wait to use it. On a side note, it was almost 3 years ago that Dane dropped a scooper through the ice at the exact same spot.  Remember this?

Noah and Kaylee joined us for the trip and Amy was kind enough to watch Kimber for the day.  When I checked, it said that about the time we arrived the temperature was -10 (with the wind chill). Kimber would not have had a good time and I probably would have been stuck in the truck with her for most of the time, so it was really sweet of Amy to keep her.  Fortunately, the wind dropped after that and it warmed up into the teens!  Here are Kaylee and Noah with a really nice trout that they caught.  They are such a great family and really seems to share the same values as us.  We truly enjoy spending time with all of them!

Clint is amazing! It was so cold that my hands hurt if they were out of the gloves for a couple minutes.  But, he baits all of the hooks, take fish off the line, and does all kinds other things with bare hands.  Occasionally, he will comment on the fact that his fingers aren't working really well and will stick his hands in his pockets for a moment, but holy crap I'm whining after no time at all!  I am very lucky to have such a wonderful man who takes such good care of us out there, and helps make sure we are a success!  :) Here is Clint and Dane with another nice fish.

I even got to pull in a beautiful trout as well!  

Dane is four and I'm pretty sure he is tougher than I am.  (It must be a thing with the Houston guys!)  Here is a picture of his gloves with a solid layer of ice on them.  Despite the cold, the only time that Dane went back to the truck was when he wanted to eat his lunch.  Besides that he was out playing, fishing, and just having a wonderful time!  

Noah also caught this really beautiful trout!  Great job!  

Of course we can't wait to make it out again, and hopefully the weather will be a little warmer.