Cold Fish
So several of the my college mates had come into town this past weekend for a true Minnesota experience: Ice fishing. It is strange because none of us are what you would call avid fisherman, but it seemed like a good excuse to get together. There were ten of us total. The seven lads rented a shack out on the ice with all of the bells and whistles. The three ladies had a beach villa from which they could look out amusedly at those whose folly it was to spend the night on the lake.
The shack itself was pretty nifty. We had all the comforts, in a relative sense and though slightly cramped with seven guys milling about, we did manage pretty well. There were several holes cut into the floor, enough for each of us to put down a couple of lines. There was even one cut in the bathroom for the truly hardcore.
However, fishing was more of a distraction from the drinking and revelry and game playing. Someone had brought up a bottle of some exotic liquor from Cambodia which we all agreed tasted like a combination of piss and celery. In fact, I think that I am still trying to get the taste out of my mouth.
Another part of the experience was renting a snowmobile for a few hours and giving folks a turn, riding around on the glaze ice of the lake. It made for difficult steering, but it was still preferable to trying to navigate the patches of snow on the land trails.
But since the group is pretty much a bunch of gamers, there were always a few of us playing a game in one fashion or another. We had a rather lengthy game of hearts the first night. I got my French ass handed to me in Battle Lore. Squid brought up his PS2 that we hooked up to the small TV in the shack. About half the time there were a couple of guys cranking out songs on Guitar Hero. The other half of the time they were beating people with fire extinguishers and kicking people in the nuts in Bully.
We did manage to catch three fish. To be more specific... I caught three fish. Two perch and one walleye that would have made a nice snack had it not been a couple hours before our departure on Sunday.
It was a surprisingly good time, but then again, how can it not be when I am surrounded by company of such quality.
The shack itself was pretty nifty. We had all the comforts, in a relative sense and though slightly cramped with seven guys milling about, we did manage pretty well. There were several holes cut into the floor, enough for each of us to put down a couple of lines. There was even one cut in the bathroom for the truly hardcore.
However, fishing was more of a distraction from the drinking and revelry and game playing. Someone had brought up a bottle of some exotic liquor from Cambodia which we all agreed tasted like a combination of piss and celery. In fact, I think that I am still trying to get the taste out of my mouth.
Another part of the experience was renting a snowmobile for a few hours and giving folks a turn, riding around on the glaze ice of the lake. It made for difficult steering, but it was still preferable to trying to navigate the patches of snow on the land trails.
But since the group is pretty much a bunch of gamers, there were always a few of us playing a game in one fashion or another. We had a rather lengthy game of hearts the first night. I got my French ass handed to me in Battle Lore. Squid brought up his PS2 that we hooked up to the small TV in the shack. About half the time there were a couple of guys cranking out songs on Guitar Hero. The other half of the time they were beating people with fire extinguishers and kicking people in the nuts in Bully.
We did manage to catch three fish. To be more specific... I caught three fish. Two perch and one walleye that would have made a nice snack had it not been a couple hours before our departure on Sunday.
It was a surprisingly good time, but then again, how can it not be when I am surrounded by company of such quality.