The ice huts are back, along with the hardy anglers who embrace the bitter cold.
Brandon King is one of them.
The Barrie resident has been fishing Kempenfelt Bay for about 15 years and doesn’t miss any opportunity to head out.
But safety is always top-of-mind, he tells BarrieToday.
“We’ve got about 7.5 or eight inches out there, depending where you are,” King says after hauling in a sled from the ice at Minet’s Point with a buddy.
“We’d have more ice with all the cold weather but with the snow, it really insulated it and the ice grew really, really slow. With this kind of weather, normally we’d have over a foot," he says.
What possesses someone to endure the frigid cold to catch the elusive prize?
“I didn’t say I was sane. I like catching a lot of fish and now is the best time to do it,” King says with a laugh.
“If you find the right spot, you can get into the double-digit days (for number of fish caught). I can get 15 or 20 fish out there on a good day,” he adds. "But I only keep my two.”
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry stocks Lake Simcoe for whitefish and lake trout, King says.
“And this year, I’ve been catching a lot of natural whitefish — I caught six today — that aren’t stocked, the ones that have been reproducing,” he says happily. “So I’ve been releasing those ones. Those are the fish you need to bring back the population.”
That’s good news to Tourism Barrie executive director Kathleen Trainor, who says ice fishing, along with other winter activities, is another draw for the city.
“Ice fishing is a great recreation to do with your family,” she tells BarrieToday. “It’s inexpensive and it introduces some winter activities to new Canadians. People from different backgrounds really like fishing and this is a different fishing sport out on the ice.”
Despite the recent deep freeze and being mindful of pandemic restrictions, many people are eager to get out of the house, Trainor says.
“More and more Canadians are going outside to get some fresh air these days. And ice fishing is a great social-distancing activity,” she says, adding the sport has always been held near and dear to visitors and locals alike.
“Barrie’s got a natural shoal that is good for ice fishing and Lake Simcoe has more freshwater species than any other lake in Ontario so it is a popular destination,” says Trainor, adding local hotels are welcoming lots of visitors.
“We’re at more than 50 per cent occupancy at city hotels. We’re doing really well,” she says, “We call Barrie a drive-to city. People are coming north to experience the outdoors and trails, which is a great opportunity for Barrie.”
