Drilling holes, and catching fish is nothing new for senior Michael Strong, in fact, he’s been doing since he was just a year old.

Despite being young, Strong tagged along and learned how to prepare for ice fishing. Since his first cold day on the ice, he has been hooked.

Although Strong dreams of ice fishing in Alaska one day, for now, his favorite place to ice fish is McClure’s Landing on the St. Louis River He sets up by bringing himself out on the ice either using a truck, four wheeler or walking.

After he is on the ice, Strong finds a spot and starts drilling 8-inch holes with his auger. Once he has the holes drilled, he uses an ice scoop to get extra ice out. Next, he pop-ups his ice house puts his heater on and plays his favorite, and Upchurch.

Long ago on a freezing Wisconsin, day Strong’s father decided to go ice fishing. They picked their spot near the Nemadji Bridge and started jigging. Strong thought he heard a train in the distance. Strong looked down and saw a crack under the ice house.

”My dad grabbed me by the shoulder and sat me down because I wanted to jump out and go back to shore,” Strong said.

When Strong’s father passed away 5 years ago he received all of his ice fishing equipment. Since then Strong has had an emotional connection to the sport.

For about 6 years Strong has now decided to fish competitively. Recently he competed in a contest in Cumberland. Strong caught 4 walleyes, 3 crappies, and 2 perch.

Strong has a growing collection of tip-ups, auger bits, poles, and ice houses. He even plans to build an ice castle, which is an ice house with a set of four wheels that can be hooked up to a truck and taken on the ice.

Strong also jumps on ice fishing gear when it is on sale. Recently Strong purchased a four-man ice house. He saw the price had a reduced price of $150, recently marked down from $175.

“When I see deals like that I’ll just go for it,” Strong said.

Strong estimates that he has spent $1,000 in the past three months on his hobby.