The bee. (Earlington, Ky.) 1889-19??, 1904-02-04
FISHING THROUGH THE ICE.
The Wind Must he from the Right
Quarter to Have the Pick
erel Bite.

IL would just as soon think of going
out to catch mess of cells at high noon, -
said an enthusiastic son of old Steuben,
who, relates the New York Sun, knows
all about all kinds of angling, las to
start out for a days winter fishing
through the ice when the wind is blow
ing from the west.
NOW, when you come to think of it,
you would hardly suppose that with a
foot or so of ice between them and the
outside world, to say nothing of the
depth of water they are lying in below
the ice, the direction of the wind would
make any difference to a pickerel in
taking the bait, but it makes all the diff
erence in the world. l can't begin to
tell you why, because don't know; but
do know that time and time again,
when l have been pickerel fishing
through the ice in strong east or moth
east wind and hauling the big fellows as
fast as could go from one tip-up to an
other, the wind has gradually shifted
until it got around in the west.
las the wind changed the pickerel fell
off in their attention 10 my bait, until by
the time the west was sweeping over the
ice not tip-up would be seen to tip.
And it was the same with change to
the south.
81 have always found that the fiercer
the wind blew from the east or north the
faster and fiercer the pickerel would
bite. And love to fish in the face of
bowling wind such as that. There is a
thrill and excitement about 1t that
doesn't come with any OF your calm
weather fishing.
II have fished on the high-up lakes of
old Steuben when they were swept by
regular billiards, and l only remember
one that had to surrender to-throw
up my hands and quit. That was on
Lake Lamoka, the best pickerel water,
either summer or winter, in the state of
New York; limpid sheet of water lying
on the summit of the divide between
Steuben and Schuyler counties, only
four miles from Lake Keuka, but 500
feet above it; and Lake Keuka is itself
500 feet above the sea.
When we got to the lake early that
morning we found that Old Boreas sSas
out on about as tempestuous a racket as
he had ever set himself to have We cut
our holes, though. and put in our tip
ups. l don't think ever saw the pick
erel bite so hard and so fast.
But the more they bit the sharper
the frost nipped and the fiercer the wind
blew. 1t was not a steady wind. 1t came
in fitful bursts of rage. 1t howled and
shrieked about us and among the naked
trees on the shore in a way had never
heard any wind take on before
"The curious part of it was that the
sun shone as brightly as it ever had in
July, but its rays seemed only to have
the effect Of cheering the wind up, and
squirting the frost on. to sharper duty
We stood out against the sunlit blizzard
in brave attempt to stay it out, but at
last we saw that the attempt would be
useless.
ut came to be all that we could do to
face it, and the constant work of one
man was required to keep the holes
open. so rapidly did they freeze around
our lines. Then we surrendered, gath
cred up our fish and fed to the shelter OF
the lower and warmer country about
Keuka
But that day with the pickerel and
the conquering blizzard on Lake La
moka was the most enjoyable one ever
experienced in fishing"