So, you’re not chasing after an Iditarod championship, you aren’t in a survival situation and you aren’t trying to perpetrate some chivalrous act. Why then, in the name of all that is good and right in this world, would you willingly venture out into the mercury-sucking cold, fully intent on sleeping under the stars in a snow bank with no goal higher than adventure and a rainbow trout?

These are the types of questions I would fire at myself if I could do a little trip back in time 20 years or so. Back then I was probably a lot like most youths when it took nothing but a suggestion or rumor to start a flurry of activity with little regard for things like weather, distance, risk assessment or probability of success.

One particular adventure started like this as I wandered through the local rod and tackle shop when I overheard a couple of grizzly old characters standing at the checkout counter. They were telling lies about catching monster rainbow trout at Ding Dong Lake (I don’t remember the real name) using Super Sizzler Swedish Pimple fishing lures or some such contraption. My immediate reaction was to locate the Super Sizzler Swedish Pimple fishing lure section of the store, grab six of them and head for the cash register.

As one of the old characters was bagging my treasures, which just happened to be the most expensive lures in the store, I nonchalantly asked, “So, where is Ding Dong Lake?” With a sly glance at his partner, the old man said, “Oh you just go all the way to the end of Dead Man’s Road, leave your truck and keep going west for another 20 miles or so. You can’t miss it.”

This is the point in time when common sense left because destination Ding Dong Lake was in my sights. All I can hope is that I provided those old geezers with a good chuckle as they sent another hapless victim into the wilderness. I’m sure they were glad to get rid of those Swedish Pimple things that had been hanging around the store for nigh on 10 years. I didn’t notice the dusty, yellowing packages until much later in the saga.

By night fall, which happened about 3:30 in the afternoon, I found myself swishing along a lonely trail on my cross-country skis halfway to nowhere with 18 hours or so of frigid darkness to survive before I could go after those monster rainbows.

I finally found Ding Dong Lake, at least I thought it was Ding Dong Lake, and commenced to set up camp. Camp consisted of nothing but my one and a half man, three-season tent (yes, winter was the season missing from the tent description).

It wasn’t until about midnight that the first tickle of regret entered my mind. You know how they rate sleeping bags by temperature range. Well, if the guy who put the tag on my bag would have been with me, he would have been in mortal danger of blunt force trauma in the form of a frozen ski boot. What was he thinking? The tags on the bags should bear a warning in large bold italic font and should say something like, “If you are dumb enough to sleep in this bag at -20 you will experience frostbite at least as high as your knees.” Or “If you are reading this tag in the middle of the night by candlelight because your flashlight batteries are frozen in a one and a half man tent anywhere near a lake named Ding Dong and the temperature is -20, ‘natural selection’ will occur shortly.”

Somehow, I survived the night, blundered out to the lake, chopped through about 27 feet of ice with my trusty Hudson Bay axe and somehow coaxed a suicidal 12-inch rainbow trout to bite one of those Swedish things and went home. All in the name of fun, right? I’ve come to the conclusion that winter camping in Alaska must be kind of like childbirth — if you accurately remembered the pain and consternation you would never, ever do it again.

On to ice fishing questions and such.

Question: While sport fish ice fishing, I have caught pike on tip-ups that have hooked themselves in the side of the face, not the mouth. Can I keep them, because there is no way I was trying to snag them?

Answer: In this situation, you must immediately release the pike. The offense of hooking a fish elsewhere than in the mouth (snagging) is a strict liability offense, which means in essence that it doesn’t matter what your intent was. If you retain a fish that is hooked elsewhere than in the mouth in fresh water, you are in violation of the law.

 

Question: If I put some set lines out for burbot, can I also fish for pike with a spinning rod at the same time? 

Answer: If you are fishing four burbot lines through the ice in an area with a bag limit of five burbot you can fish with one line for other fish. But you cannot fish with a number of lines that exceeds the bag limit of burbot. I am not sure if I am explaining this well. The Fish and Game regulation book states, “The maximum number of hooks and type of lines that may be deployed by a fisherman targeting all species of fish including burbot and/or northern pike is not cumulative and is equal to the maximum number of hooks allowed for burbot, northern pike or other species, whichever is greater, provided that the maximum number of lines and hooks used to target a species may not exceed the bag limit or legal hook limit allowed for that species.”

Question: How much does it cost if I get caught with more little stocked fish than I should have?

Answer: The penalty for taking an over limit of fish in the Yukon River drainage, which includes much of the Interior, does not take into account fish size or whether the fish is stocked. If you are found guilty of taking an over limit of fish other than king salmon in this area, the penalty is a $100 fine plus $20 per fish. As you can see, the fine adds up quickly. Wildlife troopers in this area have caught fishermen with several dozen 6-10 inch, stocked fish and have issued citations nearing $1,000. King salmon are worth $100 plus $150 per fish.

 

Question: How can I get a hunting or fishing regulation changed or add a new one?

Answer: The process for enacting regulations in Alaska is a public process. Any member of the public can submit proposals to the Board of Game or Board of Fish for consideration. The first step in the process for a member of the public is to fill out a proposal form describing the regulation to be changed or added. This is a link that will get you started: www.boards.adfg.state.ak.us/bbs/forms/propform.php. All proposals are reviewed by the local advisory committees; they are commented on by Fish and Game staff, published in a booklet of proposals and eventually make it to the Board of Game or Fish for discussion at their scheduled meetings.

If you have questions you would like to ask a wildlife trooper, please send them to Sgt. Scott Quist, Alaska State Troopers, 1979 Peger Road, Fairbanks, AK 99709. Or you can e-mail them to scott.quist@alaska.gov. If you have additional questions, please call our main number at 451-5350 or the Alaska Department of Fish and Game at 459-7200.