Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/53603
roadside Meditation on Ice by Kevin Brooker >> photograph by Chris Prefontaine Arctic winds hammer mercilessly across Gull Lake's frozen fl atness. You could die out here. Drag out a plywood shack, however, then auger a hole through nearly a metre of ice, and suddenly you've got yourself a microscopic palace of iconic Canadian recreation. Now you're living. Unfold the camp chairs, light a propane furnace and hook a smelt on your rod. With the lake fl oor no more than eight metres down, it's a quick drop to where the wintering fi sh hunt for sustenance. This 80-square-kilometre lake, halfway between Calgary and Edmonton, is a so-so fi shery in summer, but frozen it piques the appetite of pike, perch, walleye, whitefi sh and freshwater ling cod or, as the locals around here call it, "poor man's lobster." Pour something invigorating from a Thermos and peer down that hole. There's an undeniable Zen to ice fi shing, even when, as is the current fashion, a submerged video camera reveals the comings and goings of future catches. Alas, city slicker, the want of a shack and an ice drill normally prevents you from joining this rural communion. It needn't, though. One local outfi tter offers the entire rigmarole for daily and even overnight use. Fish on, Johnny Canuck. 54 WESTWORLD >> FEBRUARY 2012