Gone fishing

Saturday morning showed up bright and beautiful with temperatures in the mid 40s and a couple feet of ice on Keyhole Reservoir, a perfect start to the fourth annual Family Fishing day. Set up began at 7 a.m. and within the first hour numerous fishing huts and holes were in place.

As the day progressed, hundreds of people joined the fun from Wyoming and beyond as territory was claimed, holes drilled and lines dropped with favored bait.

Joey Kruse of the YouTube channel “On Fish TV” had four holes drilled and had dropped lines to various depths in his effort to catch his quarry, the Northern Pike. He explained that his chosen method for hooking the large pike is called the “Arctic Warrior”, using the larger frozen smelt as bait.

“You put that on there, put it down and, hopefully, a northern pike comes by and picks it up. It all depends on the lake and what they’re eating on this time of the year,” he says. On his channel, Kruse teaches “kids and the community what types of fisheries are out there”.

Also from On Fish TV were David McGuirk and Chase Roessing, who were fishing at about 28 feet, McGuirk saying, “There are usually walleye, perch or pike; we’re just trying to snag whatever.” This was their first time at the Family Fun Day: “We’re die hard fishermen. We kind of like it.” They noted that many of the enthusiasts on the ice Saturday share their passion for the sport on the YouTube channel.

For first-time ice fisherman Tina Hill, the calm, relatively warm day was the perfect introduction to the sport. The family was using minnows at about 30 feet, according to husband Mike and stepson Ken.

A crowd began to gather around the food tent around noon as volunteers served barbecued pork, chili and sides and those who share a love of fishing below the ice came together for a time to enjoy talking to other enthusiasts before taking their catches home with stories to last until next year.