The strong and sustained Arctic blasts across Indiana brought a unique opportunity to get out on safe ice on many calm areas of Hoosier rivers and streams.

I remember such a blast of Arctic weather back when I was a boy. The wintry blast froze over the larger calm stretches and large holes of water on Big Flatrock. With safe ice, we headed out with axes and spud bars to make the cuts needed to “drive” and “snare” suckers.

Two or three holes about 2 feet by 1½ feet would be cut through the ice across the lower part of the hole of water. These would be the “snaring holes.”

From the top of the hole to the middle would be small holes cut across with a spud bar to be used as “driver holes.”

The snarers would position themselves downstream of a snaring hole and armed with three or four branches tipped with 2½ or 3 feet of fine copper wire. The copper wire on each branch was firmly attached and would have a loop of four or five inches formed at the end. The loop would be loose and capable of sliding freely.

Snarers kneeled very quietly downstream of the hole with a snare in the water and patiently wait for a few fish of the school of suckers to pass underneath them. As the fish came into sight, the snarer would carefully move the loop of copper wire so a sucker would start to pass through the loop. Once the fish’s head passed through the loop, the snarer gave the branch a sharp snap which tightened the copper wire firmly around the fish; and he hoisted it from the water. The best comparison of this is to try to picture a tight rubber band around a hot dog.

Once the fish was on the ice, the snarer grabbed another snare and positioned it in hopes of snaring another fish.

Once the school of suckers had all passed and moved upstream, the drivers took sticks and shoved them through the driver holes cut on the upstream side. Working from the top and side to side, they drove the school to the lower part of the hole of water where the fish swam under the snarers again.

The fish weighed from ½ pound to 2 pounds each and were delicious table fare.

The white suckers were scaled, beheaded and gutted before they were “scored.” Each sucker was cut down to the main rib bones every ¼ inch, then scored from top to bottom in the same way. The cuts sliced through the multitude of fine bones in the fish and allowed the hot grease of deep frying to penetrate and virtually dissolve the fine bones.

Breaded and deep fried, white suckers caught through the ice are absolutely delicious! As a kid, and even now, I dearly love eating the crispy tails which are like a crunchy fish potato chip.

2025 fishing licenses

On March 31, general Indiana fishing licenses expire. It’s time to begin planning your 2025 fishing trips, with fishing licenses available to purchase for this year’s adventures on the water. Licenses valid April 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026, can be purchased through the new DNR Fish & Wildlife Activity Hub at GoOutdoorsIN.com, via the mail, or thorough in-person retailers listed at on.IN.gov/HuntFishLicenseRetailers.

With your 2025 fishing license, you can aim for a new state record, as was recently confirmed for Lafayette angler Isaac Switzer. Switzer’s shortnose gar weighed 2 pounds, 15.9 ounces, beating the previous record by more than 10 ounces.

Switzer caught the fish on June 17, 2024, while using a Carolina rig and cut baitfish. It’s the second time in less than four years the species’ record has been broken, both times by catches on the Wabash River.

“I was fishing with my older brother on the Wabash River at night as we had done a hundred times before, targeting gar and catfish,” Switzer said of his record catch.

He said he instantly knew the fish was a shortnose gar record, having researched the record and catching similar size fish of the species previously. Switzer considers gar one of the best Hoosier fish and hopes the recent broken records raise awareness about them.

Gar are common throughout Indiana in rivers, streams, creeks, inland lakes, reservoirs, sloughs and marshes. Anglers who want to target the species or another Indiana sport fish can use DNR’s Fisheries Status & Trends dashboard to find lakes and reservoirs where they are most abundant.

The previous shortnose gar record was set by Kyle Hammond with a 2-pound, 5.6-ounce fish caught in Wabash County in 2021. Hammond also holds the spotted gar state record, which he caught in 2024.

Two die in snowmobile accident

Indiana Conservation Officers were investigating a snowmobile accident, occurring at 11:45 p.m. on Feb. 14 on Blue Lake, resulting in the death of two people.

At 12:20 a.m., the Whitley County Sheriff Department dispatched responders to the area on a report of a serious snowmobile accident with injuries. An initial investigation revealed Robert Baker, 44, and a juvenile passenger were traveling on a snowmobile when they crashed into brush along the shoreline.

The collision caused both occupants to be thrown from the machine. Lifesaving efforts were rendered on scene, but both were pronounced dead. The investigation into the accident is still ongoing.

Assisting agencies include the Whitely County Sheriff’s Department, the Churubusco Police Department, Smith Township Fire Department, Indiana State Police, and the Whitley County Coroner’s Office.

‘till next time,  

Jack

Readers can contact the author by writing to this publication or e-mail Jack at jackspaulding1971@outlook.com

Spaulding’s books, “The Best Of Spaulding Outdoors” and “The Coon Hunter And The Kid,” are available from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle download.