A busy day at Hauser Lake

It was a busy day on the ice.

About 350 adults and children turned out at the "Take me ICE fishing" clinic at Hauser Lake on Saturday.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game reported that it loaned out 80 ice fishing rods prior to the scheduled 11 a.m. starting time, and people were waiting in line.

"At one point, all 176 rods we had were loaned out," wrote Phil Cooper, IDFG conservation officer.

The ice was eight-plus inches thick, with temperatures in the 20s.

"One man stopped as he was leaving and said he had a blast and had never ice fished before because he had always been afraid to walk on the ice," Cooper wrote. "I asked him how old he was and he said he will turn 70 in a week. So, for him this event helped him overcome 70 years of reluctance to go ice fishing. He said he was heading from the event to Cabela's to buy an ice auger!"

All that fishing made people hungry.

Cooper said they served 496 hot dogs/buns, 216 hamburgers/buns, 150 bags chips and 23 gallons of hot chocolate.

"The fish were not as cooperative as we would have liked, however, there were some yellow perch, bluegills and one large largemouth bass caught," Cooper wrote.

He said the high turnout could be attributed to the fact that Hauser Lake is close to the Washington line and no license was required.