BY JENNIFER LEHMAN
David Nazeri of Longmont learned to ice fish the hard way while living in South Dakota.
Unfamiliar with the sport, but eager to learn, 
he fashioned a handmade chisel by attaching a screwdriver to a dowel, spending hours drilling through four feet of ice before reaching water.
“It was a practice in digging more than fish catching,” says Nazeri, who’s been ice fishing now for more than
25 years. But those long hours on the ice are at the core of the sport.
“I think ice fishermen are seeking solitude, I think that’s the heart of it. I’ve thought about this many times. Why is it that you go sit in the middle of no-man’s land?” It’s quiet, peaceful and provides a sense of freedom, he says. “It’s so fun.”
Eventually Nazeri moved from his handmade chisel to a hand auger, an ice fishing tool that looks like a giant corkscrew, then later invested in a power auger and sonar equipment when he moved to Minnesota.
Nazeri taught his kids to ice fish and goes on trips each year with friends and family, introducing new people to the sport.
“I enjoy it because it’s so much different than during the summer,” says Tim Sauer, of Longmont, who has been ice fishing for the past 65 years, continuing a tradition that started with his father. “It seems to be a different group of people, more comradery, less, I don’t know, me-for-me attitude. On a nice sunny day sitting out on the lake on the ice, it’s pretty quiet, pretty isolated.”
Sauer has fished throughout over Colorado and now mainly fishes at Foothills Reservoir, west of Hygiene. He is the president of the Foothills Fish and Game Club, a private recreation club, which leases the reservoir from the Highlands Ditch Company.
The club stocks the reservoir with fish each year, and Sauer estimates a third of the club’s core 75 members ice fish there at least once each winter.
Ice fishers get close to their fishing, Sauer says, with shorter fishing rods and a seat looking right over their fishing hole. Shorter rods make it easier to detect a bite as fish are generally slower that of the winter and less aggressive.
Ice fishing equipment is lighter than in summer fishing, Nazeri says. Winter water is clearer requiring a thin line so the fish won’t see it and a lighter sinker (the weight that drops the line) because the water is calmer.
“Once you get to know how to fish in winter, you are a lot better in summer, because you get to know the habitat. You get to know the finesse involved with catching fish. Fly fisherman are very good at that. They know that colors have a direct impact on fish biting. So they change color, they change the pattern. It’s the same with ice fishing.”
The Colorado Department of Wildlife holds ice fishing clinics in various locations each winter, including St. Vrain State Park in Firestone. Times and locations have yet to be scheduled; check the Upcoming Events calendar at www.fws.gov/letsgooutside/ for updates.
St. Vrain State Park is full all winter long with ice fishers, says Linda Richards, the park’s administrative assistant. Park improvements in recent years have upped the number of summer visitors, and with them, more ice fishers each winter. Some regulars get pretty competitive, she says, bragging about how fast they hit their limit on online forums like FishExplorer.com, which Richards likes to follow. The park is stocked with trout each year in the fall and, depending on the cold, stocked again in winter.
Ice conditions on Front Range lakes like St. Vrain State Park can change quickly, especially in the spring. Ice fishers should be aware of currents that can change the ice and leave a pond or lake partially frozen over and partially ice free, Richards says.
Four inches of good ice is the Department of Wildlife’s rule of thumb for walking on the surface, if less than two inches, stay off. They caution that ice is never safe and an ability to identify strong ice and various risk factors is ideal.
Visit http://wildlife.state.co.us and search for “ice fishing” to find ice safety information, stock reports and ice fishing opportunities, or call the main customer service line at 303-297-1192.
Fishing licenses are required for individuals 16 and older and can be purchased at Wal-Mart and sporting goods stores for $35.
