Tuesday, February 3, 2026

Ice Fishing – Feb. 1966

The past few years have been a little tough for ice fishermen, what with all the mild winters and the lake not freezing like it used to. But I'm sure that's not the case this year with all the sub-zero temperatures and Lake Erie being mostly frozen now for weeks.

And February 1966 was also a great year for the 'ice anglers,' as noted in this article by the great Journal Staff Writer Hank Kozloski, which ran in the paper on Feb. 2, 1966. He provides a nice snapshot of the favorite locations for 'shanty towns,' including the islands, as well as Bay View, Crystal Rock and White's Landing. 

Near the end of the article, Kozloski provides a roll call of Lorain area fishermen "making their regular trek to the islands for their ice fishing," including the paper's outdoors news contributor Rudy Ebinger and himself.

What's neat is that the very next day on Feb. 3, 1966, this terrific full-page photo feature appeared in which Kozloski writes about his ice fishing trip with Ebinger. Great photos by Norm Bergsma help tell the story.



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2 comments:

  1. Don HiltonFebruary 3, 2026 at 10:02 AM

    How interesting... The Pennsyltucky lake I grew up near always had (and still has) shanties on it when it freezes hard. Rules are a little different, though. Maximum hole size is 10-inches in any direction, and one fisher is allowed a maximum of five, single-line devices (poles, tip-ups, etc.)

    We used to walk out and visit them, see how big the frozen / freezing fish were if placed on the ice. I always felt sorry for the poor creatures, gasping for oxygen while slowly turning to a solid. Dad used to say nobody would fish, if fish could scream. He also called shanty fishing "a good excuse to get away from the wife and drink beer."

    I remember one old man, when asked how the fishing was, replied, "Fishing is great. The catching is not so good."

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  2. BusterFebruary 3, 2026 at 11:19 AM

    Thanks, Dan - fascinating article!

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