Bassmasters Chill Out

On February 5, the Loyola Fishing Club hosted its 8th annual ice fishing event. Joining the fishing club were sixteen Ramblers from all grade levels. This year’s event took place on Liberty Lake, in Libertyville, a private lake owned by Bob Hicks and his son, Loyola grad, John Hicks.

Josh Zaker holds up a big catch after a successful day of ice fishing with fellow group members.

Photo Courtesy of Katie Nugent

The day began at 7:00 am with overcast skies and slight wind. Coach Nugent, a.k.a Bass Master Nuge, got right to work. Senior and co-president Ryan Nugent, with the help of Susie Driscoll, class of ‘18, grabbed the power auger and began drilling holes in the ice. Coach Nugent followed behind with freshman, Jake Carr and began setting up tip ups, a device used to catch larger fish such as northern and bass. Meanwhile, Coach Zaker and son, Josh, class of ‘19, began setting up ice shacks. They had to secure these shacks to the ice due to the gusty winds. Almost immediately, the tips ups began to pop, orange flags everywhere! First it was Jake Carr with a 13 inch bass. Then it was freshman Joey Urbanczyk with a monster 12 inch crappie. Soon freshman Ryan Weigand got into the action with a bass of his own. After putting heaters in the shacks, Josh Zaker caught a jumbo perch.

As the day progressed the flags continued to pop. Junior Katherine LeStingi had a bass on the ice within minutes of arriving. A group of junior girls as well as a group of senior boys went to their respective shacks and were vertical jigging for panfish. This involves an ice fishing rod rigged with a jig and bobber, with the jig tipped with a wax worm. Both groups used a fish finding device, known as a Vexlar, to adjust their bait to the depth of the fish. The girls also decided to try using a minnow under their bobber. When all else failed they threw a cheddar cheese goldfish cracker down the hole. Unfortunately, the panfish were not hungry for cheese.

As the fishing picked up, Kelly Littau, class of ‘17, put on her ice skates to have the advantage of speed. She zipped from flag to flag and helped bring Coach Nugent distribute minnows as needed. Soon the other girls wanted in on the action, and Kelly found herself skating them around the ice in a sled.

Later in the day, as the action slowed down, several groups of boys walked to Culver’s for milkshakes and cheese curds. At the end of the day, all sixteen participants caught at least one bass and several had multiple fish. The largest bass weighed in at three and half pounds. The species caught included largemouth bass, crappie, perch, bluegill, and bullhead. Twice, the line of the tip up was bit off by the sharp teeth of a Northern.

In the end, as the winds increased and people got tired of running for flags, they decided to call it a day. Because of warming temperatures, the group will not have a second outing, but all are encouraged to come outnext year to this amazinglake. The group would liketo thank the Hicks familyfor their generosity and providingLoyola students withthis wonderful opportunity.