Breaking Ice to go Trout Fishing - ft. Eric Haataja - 4K

I just landed in Milwaukee and it is cold. The second I stepped out of the plane, I could see my breath. I haven't seen my breath in years, so... Oh my gosh. It's so cold that my nose is already starting to freeze and I've only been on here for like 5 seconds. It's so cold that this camera is going to shut off in a matter of minutes because the operating temperature is far above the current temperature right now. He brought his boat to the airport. What a hero. Yo! Dude. Yo, please tell me you got the heat blasting, bro. I've got the heat rolling, the tubes rocking. Let's do it, bro. My hand warmers. Oh my god. Got them all busted out for you, man. Alright. Welcome to Milwaukee. I'm frozen right now, dude. Come on in, man. Current temperature is about 10 degrees right now. What's the current temperature with the wind chill on the water? Oh boy, it's going to be... It's going to be the negative. It's going to be really cold, but sometimes fishing is really good. I've just got to make sure we don't smack anyone behind us here in the airport. Not too many times I bring the boat to the airport. We're good. You know, this is the first time I've ever seen someone bring a boat to an airport before. You know what? We only have so much time and it's all about getting it done and working hard. Hey, dude. You know? You've got to put your time in, right? Yeah. I'm wearing about 15 times more layers than I was before I went in there. And I feel a lot better. Not 100% yet, though. Eric still got some more stuff for me. So once I get fully laid up... We're going fishing now, by the way. We'll see. It's still pretty cold out here. But I feel... I feel better. I feel way better. It's warming up. The sun is hitting me. The sun is out. Yeah, this is good. The sun is out. Let's go catch some trout. Are we going to catch some fish, dude? We're going to get hooked up. Josh is hooked up. I've never caught a freshwater trout before. Let's do it. Seriously, I can't wait. Look at that snow. We have to break ice just to get the boat in the water. If we can launch the boat. We're going to try. We're going to try to launch the boat here. It may not even be possible. Is that correct? Yes, sir. We're going to try. That's all we can do. I'm going to put the waders on and hop in the water. Start breaking up some ice. Thirty-eight. Thirty-five. What? Iceberg riding? No. That's what we do for fun up here. Oh, I believe it. We got two inches of ice. I've never done this before. We're backing the boat down, and we're going to use the propeller to break up the ice. This is pretty nuts. I mean, you know, we do some extreme stuff in Florida, but this is as crazy as it gets that I've ever seen when it comes to trying to catch fish in the winter. The shovel's a little jacked up there, man. Boy, I should have brought an ice bud. Why didn't you? Didn't know there'd be this much ice. That's what happens. It's that cold. Hey, tomorrow there's going to be more ice here, right? Hey, tomorrow it's going to be minus 25, so. It's chilly. It's going to be chilly. We've got to get out today while we can. We don't have a lot of time. I know. Let's make the best of it. Let's see if we can get one in an hour or two. Hey, what are the odds of us catching fish right now? Seriously. We're going to catch some. I just don't know how big or how many. We will catch some. That's all I want to hear. If we're going to catch a fish, it's all worth it. And right now we're about to drive through a bunch of ice. Look at this. Can we just ride over top of it? Yeah, you can. But you've got to go real slow. If we can make it. Oh, we can make it. If we can make it. Oh, we're making it, dude. Get out of the way, iceberg. And there she is. The big blue right in front of you. Attention, passengers. I'm going to need you to have a seat because we're going to approximately travel 35 miles an hour. Are you serious right now? In minus 57 degree temperatures. Hang on. Be prepared for frostbite. Roger that. In a matter of seconds, there is now ice on the windshield. That's all it took. That's a big fish right there, huh? Not big. Reels don't want to work. Nothing wants to work when it's cold. Not even people. There are fish here. It was worth it. That's a cool fish, man. Look at the spots. Number one. So sparkly, too. That's what we call winter brown right there. Lots of those around. That's the first brown trout I've ever seen, and that is a really, really cool fish. I'd like to catch one here, too, like Eric. I know he's the expert, but I had one on earlier, first cast, but he got off. They've got soft mouths. You've got to really be gentle when you're fighting these fish. They've got a six-pound line on here. Oh, my goodness. I got a fish. It's worth it. Yeah. Yes. Dude, I'm not even cold anymore. This is beautiful, guys. Oh, there he is. Is that a little coho? Yeah, it's a little brown. There's a lot of little ones like this you've got to go through to get at the big ones sometimes. It's a start, though. Your first one. Look at that, guys. That's my first ever brown trout. That is wild to bait. We'll have to keep that one. He's going to die. We'll give him away to someone. Hey, you know what? Are they good eating? They're OK. Some people like to eat them. I've got some neighbors that'll eat them. Because he ate it so deep, he's got his gills sticking out. Oh, yeah. He's got blood all over me. All right. Well, here. I'll give you this fish back. Everything is frozen. But we're catching fish. Look at that. Right? Probably like a small one. Oh! This is the biggest one of the day so far. Yeah. This is fun. I could do this all day long. There we go. There you go. Chunky one, man. The key with these trout, when you can, you want to try to hold them by the tail. Yeah. And then support them right here by the belly, under here. Yeah. So you don't bang your head. Oh, he's making noises. Can you guys hear him? Yeah. There you go. Got his tail. There you go. I'll get a picture for you. All right. Look how fat that fish is, dude. All right. Let him go. Boom. That's a big splash. You warming up, man? Warming up. My hands are getting a little cold. They're wet. But we're good. That's the one thing that'll get cold is the hands from handling too many fish. That's a good problem. Hey, that's not a bad problem. It's not a bad problem at all. Oh, that hot broth, though. I'll tell you what. That is. It's a beautiful thing. It warms you right back up again. I like that we're doubled up. We are doubled up. What do you got on there? You got a brownie? Hey, I'm brown trout. That's the way we like our brown trout. The way we like our women. Nice and thick here in Wisconsin. Look at this. Hey, is that a brown, dude? What is that? Dude. What is that? It's a baby brown. Look at those spots. Okay. Look at that. I mean, this one's so small. This one could be a baby. The big one could eat it. Aggressive, man. I love it. They feed like a saltwater fish. Not your typical freshwater. They will. Yeah. They fight hard. You know what they're called? I mean, they fight. Like a jack or what? They feed exactly like the speckled trout in the Indian River, but I'd say they fight a little bit like a snook, man. Sure. They fight. If I had to compare them, they got that paddle tail. They jump. It's like a snook. Doubled up. Switch rods and boom. This is big, dude. I don't know, man. Looks like the biggest one of the day. I got a little guy. I got a junior scout. I'll flip mine in. Let me sneak by here. All right. Oh, yeah. Oh, look at the net. I'm getting a net. It's the biggest one of the day by far. Not a bad start. Coming out in the afternoon, we had to get a license, break up the ice, stay warm, but we're getting her done. We just took out all the line again. Oh, yeah. Look at that weight, dude. Oh, yeah. Oh, he's screaming drag. Got to go through 10, 15, 20 little ones to get at the big ones. That's okay. They're good practice. Oh, yeah. He doesn't look like he's hooked very good. We got to be gentle. Here he comes. Come here, buddy. Big German brown right there. Dude, they fight forever, man. They got a lot of strength. They're strong. I always keep feeling like he's going to get eaten by a shark or something, you know? It's just built into me now. Yeah. You just think something's going to happen. Yeah. Whenever you get a good fish on you, you're like, oh, you got to get him so fast. If you don't get it in really fast, you're going to get eaten by a shark. Here, you can take your time. You can relax. Have a cup of coffee. Fight the fish. Here he comes. Oh, yeah. Oh. And there you go. Rod low. Yep. Just lift straight up. Hold on. Yeah. We got him. Dude. We got a job. Oh, yeah. Oh, man. Yes, you did. You guys ready? Oh. Oh, yeah. Ready? There's a big one. Look at that one. Oh. Jigging. That's a giant. Dude, he inhaled the bait. Look at that. Oh, my God. Just got it down. Oh, man. And boom. Awesome. Swims away. Nice job. Dude. Awesome. That's a giant, dude. Yes. All right. So I'm fighting two trout at the same time. I got one right here. I got one out there. I got a right hand and a left hand rod. Okay. Oh, yeah. Not a bad one, dude. That's a good one. Nice one, dude. All right. Here. Hold him there. All right. There's one. Woo. It's chilly. It's cold. Black tip hooked up. Oh. Oh, man. Guys, I don't know if you can tell. Eric's got a great personality. I love him. Chill it. You got plenty of line. Look at that. Just peeling line. That should be the one you came for right there. That's a big fish. Oh, I just saw his tail. He's a big one. This is the biggest one so far. You think so? Yeah. Eric's caught the biggest one so far. What you're going to want to do is pull him to the left out of that current, so swing him. There you go. Oh, yeah. That's a good one. Oh, man. Where is he? Oh, yeah. There he is. It's a rainbow? It's a rainbow. It's a rainbow? Beautiful. It's my first rainbow trout ever. There you go. Look at that. Is that awesome or what? Look at that, dude. Look at that, guys. Here. Can we get a quick pic? Woo. Hold on. First rainbow trout. Nice. Another nice brown. Nice work. There goes the brown. There goes the rainbow. This time off real strong. That's awesome. I got up this morning at 3 a.m. I flew from Florida to North Carolina and then to Milwaukee. It's like, what is it, zero degrees right now? It's insane. Oh, man. It's like two degrees outside and windy and about as cold as it can be. But we caught so many fish. We caught two rainbow trouts. We caught two salmon. And we caught, like, 50 browns. That was epic. Eric, you're the man now. In an afternoon, yes, sir. Guys, this guy, I'm telling you, he's the man, dude. I mean, he exceeded my expectations. He convinced me to leave the Sunshine State, come up to a frozen wasteland where we had to break through ice just to get the boat in the water, which I've never done before. I thought he was a madman with his shovel there, you know? So, big thanks to Eric. Check out his YouTube channel. The link's in the description. Hope you guys enjoyed this video, and we'll see you next time.