The chaotic beauty of ice fishing adventures in Idaho — from a lost rod to ‘Ted Lasso’

Fishing has taught me many valuable lessons through the years. Patience. Persistence. The importance of keeping a knowledge tackle box. I appreciate that on top of all the fun and excitement, fishing is a never-ending learning experience.

Nature has also taught me to expect the unexpected, and do your best to be ready for anything. Because seemingly once-in-a-lifetime stuff happens with crazy regularity. Ice fishing, in particular, seems to have a knack for the uncanny. Here are some of my wildest stories from the hardwater:

Lost (and found!) rods

Early in my ice fishing career, a fish pulled one of my rods through the ice at Lake Cascade. I was sure I’d never see that rod again, but some 15 minutes later, I caught the same fish on a different rod and recovered my beloved, white and blue “R2” rod. I wrote a column about the experience and made some adjustments to my setup to prevent future rod thievery.

Since then, I’ve witnessed several friends lose rods — and on one of those occasions, the exact same thing happened and we got it back. I would have thought once was a long shot. But twice!? I’ve heard other anglers recount similar stories, so I guess it’s a thing. The lesson learned? If you lose a rod while ice fishing, stick around for a couple hours and you might get it back!

P.S. I still have R2. That trusty little rod helped me land my Henrys Lake trophy, Walter.

Hand over hand

A few weeks ago, I was fishing Magic Reservoir with some friends. My buddy Jon got a bite, set the hook and immediately heard a sickening SNAP! Jon stayed focused, though, and noticed the line had broken at the reel—and that the loose end was skittering across the ice. He grabbed it, and a few minutes later, he hand-lined a nice rainbow through the ice. It was crazy to watch, but not unfamiliar. I’ve done the same thing twice, hand-lining would-be breakoffs at Cascade and Henrys. Never give up!

Fool me once…

During this year’s ice kickoff trip at Henrys, my buddy Randal caught a 20-inch, colored up male cutthroat that was a near-perfect specimen but for one thing — he had no pectoral fins. We jokingly nicknamed him Finley, and Randal borrowed my pliers to remove the hook. He then released Finley into the nearest hole, which was one of mine.

A few minutes later, I got a bite on that rod, ran over and hooked up. As I pulled a colorful trout topside, I immediately threw Randal a suspicious look. Had he secretly hooked Finley onto my lure? No, he couldn’t have. I watched him throw it back, and some time elapsed between the release and the bite on my line. We concluded Finley was just extra aggressive to make up for his missing fins.

Ted Lasso

Fish sometimes get hooked in unplanned ways. I once caught two catfish that were connected at the lip, courtesy of breaking off a previous angler. I’ve accidentally snagged carp on crankbaits. I’ve had bass get one hook in the mouth and the other in the tail on big topwater lures. But nothing compares to the story of Ted Lasso.

On a relatively slow day of ice fishing, I hustled over to a bite on one of my dead sticks. It felt like the fish had the bait and was swimming with it, so I set the hook. A long fight with what felt like a big trout ensued. But when I finally landed it, I found the fish wasn’t hooked at all — it was lassoed by the tail! How that happened is anyone’s guess. Surely it came by to munch on the bait, and somehow got roped instead. It was only a two-pounder (tail-hooked fish feel much bigger). We laughed and released it, since it wasn’t technically a legal catch.

What crazy fish stories await you on the ice this winter? There’s only one way to find out. Tight lines!

Want to up your trout game? Come to class on Feb. 15

Trout are the most popular species in Idaho’s fisheries, and my next fishing class, Trout of This World, is designed to give anglers the tools and knowledge they need to catch more and bigger trout year-round. Trout of This World is set for Thursday, Feb. 15, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Idaho Rod & Reel tackle shop. We will cover lures, techniques and strategies that will help anglers enjoy their best season of trout fishing yet. For details and registration, visit www.tightlines208.com. I hope to see you there!

Jordan Rodriguez has been fishing Idaho waters since he was a teen. Share your fish stories, adventures and questions with him at tightlinesboise@gmail.com, or visit www.tightlines208.com for the latest local fishing reports and upcoming class offerings.