THE WINTER WARRIORS
Several years ago, some friends and I started a New Year’s Day tradition. We do not sit in the warmth of our homes watching football. We go crappie fishing. Our wives and people who know us call us crazy and a few other things. That doesn’t stop us. Nothing stops us. We call ourselves the Winter Warriors.
We do not have frozen lakes where we live. We are not talking about sitting on the ice in a heated shelter, out of the wind, dropping our baits down a hole in the ice. We are a lot tougher than that.
The three of us spent most of November and December outdoors in the cold and wind. We hunted deer out of treestands and ducks out of a blind. That prepares our bodies for our New Year’s Day tradition.
One of our group is a fishing guide. His boat has all the latest electronics. When I was a younger crappie fisherman, they did not have all the technology. I used to think that was cheating. I have since grown to love it. I just wish I could talk him into putting a heater in his boat.
I am sure at least 99 percent of our New Year’s Day fishing adventures have been in below-freezing weather with a wind chill. We all wear our Bass Pro Shops 100 mph rain suits with our warmest hunting gear underneath them.
I have rechargeable hand warmers in all my pockets. Foot warmers are inside my snow boots. Disposable hand warmers are all over the rest of my body. On my head and over my ears is a mountain man fur hat. I am old and do not like being cold.
When we motor away from the dock, and he starts out across the lake to where he says the crappie are, the wind chill must be 40 to 50 below. Through blue lips and chattering teeth, I tell him there has to be crappie closer to the dock. My other buddy doesn’t say anything. He is curled up in the bottom of the boat to stay out of the wind. Our diabolical boat captain laughs and guns the motor like he is in a boat race. He is a sick man.
When he finally slows down and cuts off the motor, I look to the heavens through frozen eyeballs and say, “Thank you.”
He turns on his Garmin LiveScope and Garmin Force trolling motor. Usually, we are all catching crappie in a matter of minutes. That helps get our body heat back close to normal. That is until we all have our limits and fly back across the water to the boat ramp.
The suffering is always worth it. Nothing is better than a fresh, fried winter crappie with friends and family on a New Year’s Day afternoon. If the good Lord is willing, we will be crappie fishing again on New Year’s Day 2025. We are crazy, and we are the Winter Warriors.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
“Show me a man who fishes in winter, and I will show you a fanatic. Actually, a fanatic doesn’t hold a candle to a man that fishes in winter.” ~ Patrick McManus, Author
