Ice holds Tres Holes in thrall, and they spread the appeal
Kyle ‘‘Spoon Man’’ Lamm delivered truth on kids and ice fishing.
‘‘First rule of ice fishing with kids is don’t get your gloves wet; the second rule of ice fishing with kids is, ‘Don’t get your gloves wet,’ ’’ he emailed. ‘‘For some reason, children just get their gloves soaking wet, and then wet hands become cold hands.’’
That was a central tenet of the Tres Holes Ice Fishing School in northern Wisconsin around the new year.
Tres Holes is a unique ice-fishing group founded by Lamm of Geneva, Chris Heider of Batavia and Pat Patel of Oak Lawn in 2020, inspired by Jameson Black Barrel and a late night of fishing on Moose Lake.
‘‘We were kind of jealous of how snowmobile riders rode in groups like a biker gang, and we completely hated how these snowmobile riders had zero respect for ice fishermen, whether on the ice or in the bars of the North Woods,’’ they declared on their website (tresholes.com).
Well, their fishing with kids turned out well for two of Heider’s sons, Justin and Ben, who caught big crappie, and for two of Lamm’s nephews, Ben Tate (Slim Creek Flowage) and Tate Erickson (Flambeau River), who caught their first northern pike. The Heider boys had ice-fished before, but it was the first time for Lamm’s nephews.
Lamm makes no bones about his fishing.
‘‘Forming Tres Holes has helped tremendously with my fishing skills because I am the worst fisherman of the group; I am not sure how Pat and Chris would answer that question,’’ he emailed. ‘‘The best part about fishing with Tres Holes is that we fish as a group. We are just as happy to watch someone else catch a nice fish as we are catching one ourselves. Additionally, we have been out so many times together that we each kinda have our roles in an outing and don’t have to ask, ‘What should we do next?’ or, ‘Did someone remember to bring some hand-warmers?’ ’’
Lamm’s nickname comes from his penchant for fishing spoons and a reticent crappie. How he got into ice fishing surprised me.
‘‘I started with a hand auger and cheap combo,’’ he emailed. ‘‘Times have changed in the past two decades! What really got me hooked was ice-fishing the harbors of Chicago. At the time, I don’t think I was aware that the harbors locked up. It was visually stunning to be ice fishing with the skyline in the background.’’
Ice fishing truly has changed in the last 20 years.
‘‘In closing, we generally just have fun out there on the ice, and our group band is Seven Mary Three,’’ Lamm emailed. ‘‘They are a three-hit wonder from our teenage years and just fit our theme of threes.’’
I had to look up Seven Mary Three, too.
Recast
Gregg Thomas is speaking at the Chicagoland Muskie Hunters chapter of Muskies Inc. at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the North Branch Pizza & Burger Co. in Glenview. The wrong date was listed Sunday.
Illinois hunting
Canada goose season ends Thursday in the north zone. . . . The second part of late-winter, antlerless-only/CWD deer season is Friday through Sunday. . . . Archery deer and turkey seasons end Sunday.
Wild things
As usual with the new year, retired naturalist Carl Strang released his updated guide to ‘‘Singing Insects of the Chicago Region.’’ This one includes interesting reading about cicadas and a group emerging in an odd pattern. To receive a copy as a text or PDF, email wildlifer@aol.com.
Stray cast
The coming week makes me think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his times and Rachel Carson and her times.