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I Went Ice Fishing And I Hated It

I Went Ice Fishing And I Hated It

This weekend it was -6 degrees, with 30 MPH winds, and for some reason, I went outside and fished."Ice Fishing" as I'm told, is "fun" for Northerners. I grew up in California, where anything with the word ice in front of it was considered a punishment or a hassle. But, in the holiday spirit and with an extra layer of warm beefiness on me from all the holiday overeating, I decided to give it a try and see if ice fishing was any fun.Here I am having the time of my life in the great outdoors of Northern Illinois:

My face hurt, my fingers were frozen, and I was wearing one of almost every item of clothing I owned. Before I left the house I put on:

  • Undies
  • Long Johns
  • Sweat Pants
  • Jeans
  • Regular Socks
  • Wool Socks
  • Boots
  • Thermal shirt
  • T Shirt
  • Long sleeve T Shirt
  • Hoodie
  • Coat
  • Scarf
  • Mask
  • Beanie
  • Bibs

When I go fishing in the summer I put on:

  • Pants

Once we got to the lake, I chugged my coffee that was just handed to me scalding hot from a McDonald's drive thru in the 4 minute window before it was literally frozen. This coffee chug led to the inevitable bathroom break shortly after, and let's just say the logistics of a bathroom break in sub-zero temperatures were overwhelming.Besides going to the bathroom, the only other time I'd take my hand out of my gloves all day was to grab a fish, wipe my nose, or to put a new handwarmer in the glove. I regretted it every time, either way.I slipped on the snowy ice in the parking lot and dropped the bait bucket, the beverages froze over, the car barely started, the fishing was slow, the holes kept freezing back over, my body got stiff, my face got wind-burnt, and my eyes hurt. I'm pretty sure I had a sneeze freeze in mid-air.Why do people do this? Tying knots was impossible, grabbing a fish was painful, and my toes still haven't thawed. The fact you have to drill a hole to get to the water should be a sign to just go home. Fishing is supposed to be a chance to appreciate the great outdoors, not resent mother nature and call her by a different last name.I complained the whole time and was searching for a word worse than miserable, and hated every second of being outside.Butif we're being honest it was still fun in a weird way and I'll 100% go again the next time someone invites me because it's still fishing and we're all a little bit insane. Not having any fun but still doing it = the life of an ice fisherman I guess. Buy an ice fishing box while you still can right here:

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Updated January 2nd, 2018 at 5:21 PM CT