SOUTH STORMONT – For three winters, Jean Joyal has found an angler’s paradise within the small confines of his toasty ice hut on the frozen surface of Hoople Creek in Ingleside.
The Long Sault resident and his fellow Union Gas retiree Jim Whaley, of St. Andrews West, reeled in perch-after-perch as the pair enjoyed the outdoors, mostly indoors, on Saturday (Jan. 30).
“What more can you ask for?” said Joyal.
But a late start to the winter season has kept him away from his favourite pastime. That was until a recent spate of cold weather added several more inches of new ice.
“Before we used to come out on Christmas Day, but we just got it set up last week,” he said.
As Joyal and Whaley dipped their lines inside the row of fishing holes, Claude Collette from Collette Ice Hut Rentals climbed in the portable ice shelter with the “biggest catch of the day,” and a grin to match.
“He knows all the sweet spots around here,” laughed Joyal.
And that’s no joke.
Collette has been operating his fishing shack business at the creek since the mid-’90s.
“It’s slower than last year, but there is still 12-14 inches so that’s good for the shacks, and for the people to travel back and forth on the ice at their discretion,” said Collette.
He noted at this time last year the creek had 20-24 inches of ice.
Collete is also the organizer of the annual Lost Villages Ice Fishing Fun Tournament, which is taking place at Hoople Creek on Saturday, Feb. 13, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
In its ninth year, the tournament has become a signature event in South Stormont.
Rewards include a $500 early bird registration, door prizes, and cash prizes for catching the biggest perch ($500), pike ($1,000), and pickerel ($1,000).
To register, pick up a form at Fence Depot, Brunet’s Boathouse Bait Shop, Bite Me, and through Collette.
Entry is $40 a person.
For more information, call Claude Collette at 613-330-5764.
