ICE-FISHING

If you drive north from Toronto for three hours, you come to Lake Nipissing. In winter, the lake becomes ice, and thousands of Canadian fishermen travel there each weekend. They build little houses of wood on the ice and paint them in bright colours. Then they sit inside to catch the fish that swim under the ice.

Bob Marvisch has come here at this time of year for twenty-five years. 'You need clothes that are light but warm: two pairs of socks and gloves, several thin sweaters and a snow suit on top. Catching the fish is easy,' he says. 'First you break the ice and make a small round hole in it. Next you take a fishing line and put some bread on it. Then you put the line through the hole and into the water. You pull the line up when the fish eat the bread. They are between ten and twenty centimetres long. Some people like to eat them, but when I have caught three or four fish, I prefer to have some chocolate or other snack! Today I have caught twenty-five! It's a great sport and you can meet some nice people here!'