Ice operators ..... hardest working folks of the winter

5am, sun is still making its rotation towards the eastern horizon, and while most of the world is asleep and the other half is packing their vehicles for a fun filled day of ice fishing the operators of the dozens of outfits on Lake Simcoe are busy gasing up vehicles, checking minnow supplies and getting accurate weather predictions for the day. Ice operators are the hardest working and most under appreciated individuals of the winter sports here in Ontario. These men and women spend countless hours networking for new spots to put their clients on so that your day may be memorable or moving huts sometimes up to 10 km one way to increase your opportunity for a lunker. Yesterday while on Lake Simcoe, with a reputable operator, I had experienced one of the toughest days of ice fishing the fish would ever give me. Now I do not consider my self an expert in ice fishing but with being an avid perch fisherman all year long I know when a bite is hot and when it is light and yesterday was the latter. Although we ended up with 20 decent keepers and several more bigger perch dropped due to the fact the fish were just putting the minnow in their mouth almost waiting for the minnow to swim down their throats. While on our way back to land we had another group with us from a hut just 200 feet from where we were and their attitude towards the day got to me. The first thing these individuals did was start to bash the operator because "last time they caught 20 keepers and today only 3". This comment gave me a chuckle as the amount of keepers should never be reliant on who operates the huts but instead who operates the rod to catch the fish. Operators will put you onto the grounds and give you a chance to catch fish but they can not hold your rod and catch them for you, that is the anglers duty and the reason we call it fishing and not catching. Did these folks catch fish? oh ya they caught over a hundred just not what they were expecting. To give you an idea the water was down to a haze of visibility, the weather was -47 (with the windchill) 2 days earlier and there was 3 pike roaming the grounds for most of the day keeping the perch at bay. While back at the operator house I had a chance to talk to the owner, as I always do before I leave to build a working relationship with the guy who is doing all this work so that I can take my friends and family out on the ice for the day. The operator ended up with 6 of the 8 huts giving him attitude and grief because they didn't catch any big ones. Ice fishing is a sport as much as any other type of fishing is and when you go out for the day go out for the experience with expectations of catching fish. If you happen to hook into a 14" perch cherish the memory as everyday is a new day on the ice and that opportunity may never happen again. Next time your out with an operator give them a Thank you as they are working countless hours to help you create a memory that will last a lifetime.