The idea for this challenge came about while recalling with a friend a rather harsh winter session where temperatures were descending very low, with a freezing wind and a polar feeling.
Until a few years ago, the seasons were marked. Autumn and winter had a certain harshness and a long period of expression. This is less and less true with this damn global warming! Today, we are witnessing more and more a succession of climatic windows that characterize either the current season, or the one before or after. In short, we all see that the weather has been in perpetual yo-yo mode for quite a few years. Our objective will therefore depend in part on the will of the weather, without which our challenge will not see the day when it will be cold! We really hope to break some ice!
To do this, it will be necessary to prepare things in advance, to be vigilant and tenacious. Let me explain ..
Objective
With my buddy Steph, we each want to make a carp under the ice, that's two fish in total.
Constraints, conditions and approach
The constraints for this challenge will be almost exclusively meteorological. Both in the possibility of this challenge taking place and in its execution.
We knew that our execution window might be limited in the very event that she would do us the honor of appearing! This for two reasons. Firstly because of the unstable weather conditions and secondly because of the technical side. Indeed, if the freezing conditions were to persist, it would be impossible for us to place rods or even break the ice. Because of the thickness of the ice, which would increase with time. So it's almost in "one shot" mode that we risk operating. Being aware of this problem, we had to put all the chances on our side. First of all, we had to choose a place that we knew well both in terms of its reaction to the frost and the behaviour of the fish.
Knowing which areas were going to freeze first and knowing the areas where the fish were active made it easier for us to set up a precise approach. On this site, it is quite possible to catch fish when the water is cold. This is rather important because this is not the case everywhere! We therefore defined a very precise zone, which we thought would freeze as soon as the thermometer dropped below -5°C. The water has been cold for some time. This zone was located on the border of another one which was slower to freeze and which is a holding zone. So we wanted, as soon as big frosts were forecast, to stretch our rods in this area. The ice thickness should be rather thin there and could be broken simply by using our boat and our oars. In order to keep the fishes active despite the cold weather, we chose to bait average quantities of micro-bait regularly since the fall (since roughly mid-November). This is in order to maintain a sustained feeding activity despite the drastic drop in temperature as winter approaches. It is important to specify that we were baiting at reasonable distances in order to be able to get through the ice. There is no question of fishing at 100 m. Imagine taking the boat to break tens and tens of metres of ice to tighten the lines ... It would be a big hassle!
The long-awaited climatic window ..
It's decided, in view of the weather forecast, we decide to try our luck from Thursday, December 13th. The thermometer must go down to -5°C during the night. When we arrive on the scene with Steph, the pond is absolutely not taken by the ice since the previous days, it hardly froze. On the other hand, the water is not warm! What lets hope for a catch by the freezing in the next few days. If the predicted temperatures check out, of course. We stretch our rods on the pre-primed zone. On the technical side, we use small baits (Pop-Top with Dopper), short socks and paste-coated "paste" leads. All this combined with a small PVA net filled with pellets.
We are therefore counting on a strong stimulation and hope that the conditioning of the last few weeks has worked. We make several fish and this until the beginning of the night.
This bodes well for the future as the fish seem to be in full feeding activity despite the growing cold. Our baiting strategy seems to be working. However, for the moment, no fish caught under the ice and for good reason ... (no ice yet). During the night, we have no more fish. The night seems very cold! The thermometer will go down to -8°C. Our plan is going perfectly. At dawn, our area is completely frozen. All our rods are caught by the frost. Top! On Friday, the rods will remain trapped by the ice without us noticing the slightest pull or beep.
We're attacking Friday night through Saturday. A priori, the thermometer should go down less low. Our lines are still tight. Although they are still trapped by "this glacier", one of them beeps from time to time. Around 10pm we decide to try to free it to see what happens. I leave by boat holding the wire to break the ice until it dives. I arrive above the mount and break the last ice cubes. I grab the line in my hand and quickly feel a pull. I pull lightly and see a commune coming up under the ice, at the nose of my boat and within range of light. Steph in anticipation of this scenario had dived the scion underwater. He finishes the fight safely. Once the edge is regained, I deplete the fish. We're like kids! One down! Note that the fish are not very energetic. This explains, with the elasticity of the nylon, why this common hasn't broken anything.
By the glow of my forehead and after a few beeps, we notice that one of my canes seems to be out of place. We proceed in the same way, but when we arrive above the line, Steph doesn't notice anything. We put our rods back on the two thawed parts, without that it doesn't count right away, if a hit came (and yes the rule says: "under the ice"!). We still have four rods under the mirror. Another one of my rods beeps a few times. With practice now, we pull the cane out of the ice. Again! Another one looks trapped according to Steph! I'm fighting scion in the water as well to avoid the ice knives. Steph slips it into the net. Challenge validated! It's the second fish over ten kilos caught under the ice. Oh, that's great.
In the night we will make two more fish, one of which will not count.
We'll have to wait until Saturday morning to see another fish. The beeps are repeated on the rods, but the ice has resumed, so it counts! The pond will have refrozen over the whole area but the temperature will only have dropped to -2°C. So on Saturday morning we made two last fish under the ice. Unbelievable !
And this climatic window will disappear completely over the course of Saturday, gradually giving way to rain on Sunday morning. The pond, meanwhile, was still partly ice-bound.
Our goal has been achieved. We will make six fish under the ice, two of which will be unaccounted for (under 10 kilos). Catching fish in such conditions puts you in a euphoric state! We were confronted with real winter conditions where catching fish is a real challenge. But with determination and a good approach, there is always a way to trigger a few hits. And that's for memories that aren't about to melt away.
Safety point for the fish and for the fisherman
First of all, it is important not to keep the fish in the bag when the temperature drops below 0°C. Also, it is very important to water all the receiving equipment caught by the ice so as not to put the fish directly on the frost. Be prompt while continuously watering the fish.
And we can never say it enough, even in winter with your big coats on, always put on your life jacket! And don't forget that it's always safer when you're together. You never know what can happen, especially in winter conditions.
