blue tents on blue ice

blue tents on blue ice --

two cold fishermen waiting

for hungry fish to bite

It's a cold, windy Saturday in January. Temperatures fluctuated quite a lot this month, from frigid to spring-like, but even so the ice on the farm ponds has stayed thick enough (at least 4 inches) to support ice fishing. When I pass by Osage Pond, I spot a couple of bright blue tents set up in the middle of the pond. These are portable fishing shelters for protection from the weather, but at least two of the fishermen are outside. Inside the ice house, ice anglers can sit on two padded swivel seats with backrests to watch their fishing lines, dropped through a hole in the ice about the size of two fists, for signs of a nibble. On Iowa farm ponds the fish are bluegills, which tend to congregate near the bottom, but when they do take the bait, the fishing action is fast.

          I call out the usual question, "Any luck?"

         "Not yet!"