Surviving Winter

It's good to get out out of the house, even just to go ice-fishing with my sweetie, like this past Friday on Eagle Lake in Acadia National Park.  

A close-up of drilling the first hole through the ice.  Each license holder is allowed 5 holes a piece.  It was so blustery though, that we only did 3 and then sat in the car to watch for flags to pop up -- an indicator that you may have caught something.

For reference this is the kind of fish we were hoping to catch.  Here's Henri posing with a brook trout caught in a much warmer month in Acadia.

Our picnic lunch during ice fishing was a salad of baby spinach and blackened salmon.  Turns out it was the only fish we laid eyes on for all of our efforts out on the ice.

The next day I made eclairs for us.

From scratch.  Sometimes I even surprise myself.

I will leave you with a peek of the napkins I sewed up from a few yards of fabric a few weeks ago.

It was during a particularly brutal part of the polar vortex we all seem to be experiencing around the country this year. So tell me, how are you surviving winter?

Hooked

Today we had another fun day of ice fishing in Acadia. This is a close up of a brook trout. Pretty, aren't they?

It being President's Day, there was a little more activity here.

There were ATVs and snowmobiles for playing on the ice.

We took a little hike on the trail after fishing.

We ran into people snow shoeing and x-country skiing.

There are lots of trails here that you can head out on.

One of Acadia's arched bridges.

I adore these massive works of art.

While I was in my stained glass class this evening, Henri took a trip to buy some more of these.

At Walmart.

That's right, around here Walmart sells worms. Yeah, we're hooked.

A Day of Ice Fishing in Acadia

We were the first to arrive at Eagle Lake in Acadia National Park this morning to begin a day of ice fishing. This was our first trip of the season. We decided to forego the lure of the free fishing that begins tomorrow, remembering it is always more serene on a week day.

I must have taken several hundred pictures here today, enjoying all the subtle changes in the light as the day progressed.

But I will show restraint in my post.

Eventually we got a little hungry.











Good thing I packed us a picnic basket.









Before we left, we took a walk on the trail that circles around the lake.

Except we did not circle around the lake, because it would have been dark before we even made it half way around. But that was okay, because I got to spend the entire day here with my favorite guy in a place that I truly love.

GROUNDHOG DAY

3 days later, back on Eagle Lake

Drill more holes

Something is about to happen...

A moment of enlightenment

Ahhh. . . this is how it's done

A day worth repeating! Happy Groundhog Day!

THE LURE OF THE BASKET

Ice Fishing on Eagle Lake in Acadia National Park

The ice is about 1.5 feet thick where my husband drills the first hole. It is early afternoon and a brief snow squall has just passed over. The ice auger, traps and authentic ice fishing basket were a gift to my husband from my stepfather a few years ago.

The Plan: drill 5 holes in the ice, bait and set the traps, wait for the red flag to pop up.

The sun has come out and we decide to snow shoe on the trail while we wait for the flags.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the lake are found....

A snowmobiler having fun on his sled.

A couple standing outside their ice shack. In the distance two cross country skiers glide by, one clad in shorts. Mainers are a hardy lot.

Later, as we head back to our traps, we pass

a pair of ice shacks dwarfed by the backdrop of a nearby mountain,

and a fisherman headed home.

What tales will be told at the end of a day?

A splendid day of ice fishing is not always about what you bring home in your basket. And now you know why.