Dangerously cold temperatures weren't enough to keep ice fishers from taking to the outdoors Saturday for the first ever Fishing CT Ice Fishing Tournament at Wethersfield Cove on Saturday morning.
For the dedicated angler, ice fishing is a reason to get up early in the dark and brave the cold for a shot at a hard-water lunker. That's why Scott Garland, of Terryville, organized the tournament. The fishing group's Facebook page has almost 7,000 members devoted to angling and conservation in Connecticut.
"We are planning to do a few river cleanups, a few pond and lake cleanups this spring," Garland said.
Conditions Saturday were ideal for a day on the ice.
"We’re really lucky this year from an ice perspective," Stuart Fairbank, of Old Saybrook said. "I know a lot of people aren’t really happy about the cold, being shut up inside, but if you do ice fishing, you have something to do."
Bryan Desroches, of Berlin, said the ice was the thickets it's been so far this year and that "it's a lot of work to do it by hand."
"We did one hole with this and gave up, and did the rest of the holes with the gas auger," Desroches said.
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It also takes some effort and creativity to keep warm out there," Cody Lessard, of Burlington, said.
"It’s a little pop up shelter, and we got two Bunsen burners to put inside of it with propane, if that doesn’t heat us up I don’t know what will," Lessard said.
The fishermen enjoy the time on the ice even if they don't catch anything.
"If you love something, you gotta suck it up and do it," David Swanson said. "You can’t let anything stop you."
