It seems we are finally going to get an arctic blast of cold air coming through to give us what meteorologists call a “real winter”and what the rest of us call “real @#!$@ lousy weather.”

On the bright side, in many ways colder weather is good for ice anglers. First, it makes the ice safer. More than that, however, it justifies all the purchases of power augers, ice fishing shelters, rods, lures, heaters, sleds and flotation suits.

On a side note, it also teaches you about the importance of the lowly ladle. I think this is crucial because the lowly ladle does not get enough credit for the value it brings to the hole-maintenance process. Yet, without one, our ice fishing holes would constantly freeze right over.

The angler who is proficient in ladle use is also a valuable addition to the fishing party. He or she is only second in importance to the angler you get to drill holes for you. Without either of those, ice fishing would be no fun at all.

There are two kinds of ladlers though – the good ones and the bad ones.

And the difference between the two comes down to grip strength.

A good ladler is one who never lets go of the ladle when slushing out the holes. A bad ladler is a person who looks guilty and sheepish, when you ask the question, “Where is the ladle?”

Sometimes, he or she might shrug. But if you watch closely, their eyes shift occasionally to look at the hole they just dropped the ladle down.

Ice anglers don’t talk about this much but, if my experience is any indication, the bottoms of our ice fishing lakes are littered with ladles. So much so that if I were ever to give financial advice to my kids, I would tell them to buy stocks in December in a company that manufactures ice fishing ladles – and dump them in March.

How bad is this issue?

I personally believe that archaeologists in the distant future, after recovering artifacts from the bottom of our lakes, will deduce that we were a soup eating culture, based solely on all the ladles they find. And they will also conclude that our soup-eating civilization failed because all of our ladles had holes in them.

Over the years, I have witnessed at least 10 ice fishing ladles dropped through holes in the ice, sometimes in water so shallow that you are tempted to try jigging for them. Or at least marking the spot so you can return for them after ice out, which we never do.

As far as I can ascertain the only way around this is to fish with a person who spent a lot of time working in soup kitchens. Or at the very least, find a fellow ice angler whose handshake crushes your own.

I happen to plan my ice fishing adventures based on the amount of ladles I have at the time. If Jenn asks me how long I am going to be on the ice, I will answer with something like, “I just have three ladles, so probably an hour or two.”

I am not known for my iron grip.

I know this is not really groundbreaking news for experienced ice anglers, but I feel it is important information for those new to the sport. Someone needs to give them the scoop.