Fire on the Ice

[Countryman]

I've been very lucky this January to spend some time in the colder climes with the Czechs and Canucks.

We have just driven back from Lake Nosbonsing in Ontario where I and my buddies spent a weekend ice fishing.

These guys are all outdoorsmen- hunting, shooting and fishing types. I'd always imagined them having a reasonable understanding of bushcraft.

Someone had bought a fire pit and it was dutifully dragged out onto the ice on the sled attached to the back of the Snowmobile, along with some logs provided by our hosts at Birch Hill Camp.

They had already tried and failed to get it going using damp cardboard from one of our many beer crates. I arrived just as they were considering going back for a can of petrol but we were a long way out on the frozen lake and so I bet I could get it going before they returned.

So here I am in the snow on a frozen lake in Ontario under pressure to get a fire going - living the dream! First problem was the wood which was seasoned but superficially wet. Second was it was some kind of oak which is great for a long burning fuel but not great to get going. I'd hoped to find some nice resinous pine but no luck.

I didn't have a knife on me but one guy had an assisted opener with a reasonable edge and in the ice fishing hut nearby there was a very blunt fixed blade.

I battoned a log to find a dry centre with the fixed blade and then took a stave and feather sticked it with the sharper knife. By this time I had a fascinated audience watching me "Going old school on this"

I carved off some match thick pieces out of the heart and then some pencil thick pieces.

I soon had a teepee of dry wood arranged on the damp card out of the icy fire pit bottom, we got the feather stick lit placed in the heart of my match sized slivers which caught without much blowing. By the time the Snowmobile guy came back the kindling was going and would have made a decent tea brewing campfire.

The bigger logs took a lot of air to get going and so I went for a lattice stack. Within 15 minutes the fire was blazing and apparently I am "The ultimate Boy Scout"

A simple set of skills earned a lot of respect from the locals.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[crosslandkelly]

Great report and pics, looks like you all enjoyed yourselves. Lucky bugger.

 

[Pepper16]

Looks a great trip - and it's nice to see our skills being used!

 

[Mesquite]

That's the way to do it

 

[Robson Valley]

What an event. Top notch fire, takes the chill off any day. Hope those guys were taking notes.

 

[mr dazzler]

I made a stove pretty much like that from a wheel rim off a very old truck when I was in Canada in 1980. Freshwater bass caught on froggie lures under the overhanging tree branches and in among the shallows and reeds, stuffed with bread, onions, butter and pepper. 3 for breakfast before 7 am. Unforgettable! Bass are very much like perch, will attack anything and fight like a fish twice their size. You nearly fill your pants when they roar up, turn over in mid air, then grab the frog and take it down into the water. Even better when you are in a canoe

 

[Robson Valley]

Pic #3 is a Walleye, one of the sweetest white-meat fish there is in North America (burbot is #1 if you can catch them.)
I see that nobody is wearing mitts or gloves and some bare-headed so must have been a fine day.

countryman: how thick was the ice? Good viz in the water?

 

[Toddy]

Good skills put to good use
Nicely done. Your trip looks like it's been a good one too !
Thank you for the photos; our rather dreich and sodden wet Winter looks nothing like that.

M

 

[punkrockcaveman]

Brilliant. A set of skills that would have been well known back in the day, hopefully a few will remember this lesson and pass it on.

Sad to think the modern world removes our independence.

 

[Countryman]

Pic #3 is a Walleye, one of the sweetest white-meat fish there is in North America (burbot is #1 if you can catch them.)
I see that nobody is wearing mitts or gloves and some bare-headed so must have been a fine day.

countryman: how thick was the ice? Good viz in the water?

No mitts because they were eating but as I recall it was only -8c and the wind was kind.

Ice on Nosbonsing was 12" and I could see the bait dropping down a good 6-8 feet when the light was strong.

Was a fab trip. Kicking a snowmobile across the ice at 120+ was pretty awesome too.

Have to wait til November 2018 now for my next Canadian fix. My liver will need that long to recover!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Robson Valley]

Thanks, Countryman. Now you understand where the expression "Drink Canada Dry" really comes from!
Reads like the locals will turn you into a sled-head. I saw the trailer boggan with the wood so guessed there was at least one around.
In trade shows, McBride is usually rated in the top 3 for the best snowmobile destination in all of North America.
But only 2 little lakes within 50km of the village.

For others, "Canada Dry" ginger ale is a popular Canadian brand best diluted with enormous quantities of Canadian rye whiskey.
I'll recommend Alberta Premium rye.

 

[Countryman]

Thanks, Countryman. Now you understand where the expression "Drink Canada Dry" really comes from!
Reads like the locals will turn you into a sled-head. I saw the trailer boggan with the wood so guessed there was at least one around.
In trade shows, McBride is usually rated in the top 3 for the best snowmobile destination in all of North America.
But only 2 little lakes within 50km of the village.

For others, "Canada Dry" ginger ale is a popular Canadian brand best diluted with enormous quantities of Canadian rye whiskey.
I'll recommend Alberta Premium rye.

I was introduced to Rye last time and much to my surprise really liked it (I'm a malt scotch kind of guy)

Developed a fondness for Gibsons Finest but the half bottle of Copper Pot I had just after breakfast on the Saturday was pretty good too!

I'm a social drinker but blimey those Canucks are sociable!

Both too good to mix with anything.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Arya]

Lovely read! Looks like a wonderful time out

 

[Luafcm]

I can tell it's Ontario Canada just by the walleye, dixie plates, and beer in cozys(needed regardless of outdoor temp).