In Upper Michigan, some of the best meals are served on ice!

Right now, on the ice-capped Little Bay de Noc, gourmet meals are being gobbled up in fish shacks all around the Bay.

Folks who ice fish most often spend the day on the Bay.

Lunch is served. Coffee is brewed. Everything from sandwiches to homemade soup is packed up, carried out by sled, warmed up and enjoyed on the “hard water” or in the comfort of the ice shanty.

Ye olde fish shack and 12-year-old Bob. (Photo courtesy of Karen Wils)

One of the best meals that I ever remember was prepared on a tiny, little propane heater by my then-12-year-old son, Bob.

This fine dining took place several years ago out on Escanaba’s frozen hatch harbor. My husband had a fish shack safely established on the ice. He and Bob loved to fish for perch.

On no-school days, Bob would beg for a ride to the park. David would deliver him to the ice and Bob would hike to the shack, minnow bucket in hand. His provisions for the day were in a bag, too.

Before my boy left for the ice, he called me at work from home (this was before everyone had cell phones). “Hey Ma, meet me at the fish shack on your lunch hour. I’ll fix you lunch and we can fish.

This was a treat I couldn’t pass up!

Karen Rose Wils

I left the library where I worked only a few blocks from the ice. I parked in Ludington Park, pulled on my boots and walked to my son’s shack.

There was Bob beaming with joy and a yellow perch dangling from his line. He even cleaned off the well-worn wooden bench of fishing paraphernalia so I could sit down.

On the little heater, a nice golden-brown grilled cheese sandwich was waiting for me. A tiny kettle of tomato soup simmered on the heater as well, filling the shack with an awesome aroma of food and freshly caught fish.

Atmosphere, elegant, peaceful and with the finest view of Little Bay de Noc ever is what made the meal so special. And the fact that it was all prepared and served by my very own young man made that lunch date a grand memory!

I watched my bobber and we talked. I reminded Bob to do his homework as soon as he got home and suggested that he clean out his locker at school.

Looking down into an icy hole in the lake is very relaxing, especially when you see perch drift by.

Bob caught another fish and soon it was time for me to go back to work. The lunch on ice was wonderful!

Through the years, family and friends have hauled all kinds of treats out to the fish shack to eat. The Scout Troop often had an ice fishing day, complete with a big pot of chili.

Many fishermen set up a wire rack to cook hot dogs on shanty stoves. In my aunt Sandy’s fish shack, if you caught a keeper fish you were rewarded with a kiss … a Hersey’s chocolate kiss!

Eating on the ice is sometimes referred to as a “polar bear picnic.” Ice camping is getting popular now, too!

Be careful out there, clean up after yourselves, have fun and bon appetit!