Al Cowperthwaite is a lifelong Houlton resident whose ties to the lake run deep. His parents ran the Pavilion at Crescent Park from about 1950 to 1964. He’s been spending time regularly at the lake since 1977, when he married his wife Linda, whose family owned a seasonal camp. They built a new home of their own at the lake in 2008.
One of Al’s favorite lake activities is ice-fishing. Al’s first exposure to ice-fishing was with his grandfather at Pleasant Lake in Island Falls. “I would drive down from Houlton to meet him…he would fly up from the southern part of the state with a relative who owned a plane. The plane had skis on it and they landed right on the lake, and we went ice-fishing.”
In college, Al continued to hone his ice-fishing skills. “When I went to school in Orono, I went ice-fishing all the time. I’d finish classes and go out and fish on the local lakes.”
Al walks us through the basics of ice-fishing: you need an auger or chisel to make your holes, some traps, and some bait. You can buy bait at the store – smelts, shiners, chub – or you can use artificial lures. Then, you put the bait on a hook, lower it down the holes and wait until the flags start to pop up.
Ever since he’s spent time on Nickerson Lake, ice-fishing has been a major part of the winter.