When the lakes of Northern Ontario freeze over, avid fishers switch things up a bit and go ice fishing.
Manager Therese Wylie of Dumoulin Fishing Tackle in Timmins says it doesn’t take any special equipment.
“You can go with stick and rope if you want, with a hook,” she says, “but people tend to be a little more active, in they like to jig on the rod and have a little bit of action on the minnow.”
Wylie comments that people who love to fish also love snow, but not the cold too much.
“They have ice huts they can go in, to keep warm. Some of them stay overnight, actually.”
A standard outdoors card and fishing licence are all you need. Wylie says that the province is switching over to a paper licence instead of a waterproof plastic one. Fishers don’t like that change very much.
“But also, you could take a copy of the paper and it on your phone,” remarks Wylie, “and present that to the MNR.”