Apparently I misjudged my timing for late autumn fishing. Skeptical on how to approach the ice, I curl a small rock across the glass. It slides about 20 feet onto the lake before disappearing into the abyss... I choose life.

Minutes later I convince myself that since I drove all this way, I damn well better catch a splake. There's two other anglers fishing about 6 feet off the shore so I figure I'll do the same. I grab my auger, strap my ice fishing rod to my backpack, and hike out to a more "secluded spot." In retrospect, this is probably a stupid thing to do.