At the time, our family owned about multiple hundred acres worth of farmland in the southeastern edge of IL, but since then the land has been divided up & sold off in parcels, however at the time it was a crucial swath of corn & soybeans… About numerous miles away from the farmhouse, through a long & winding trail through the crops, was a small pond! During the summers the two of us could fish or go swimming, & in the Wintertide the two of us could set up the rickety seasoned shack & go ice fishing, then in this area of IL, ice fishing was an annual event. All of us even had neighbors from other farms who came over to go ice fishing in our pond. If you have never experienced an IL winter, then consider yourself lucky! There were times when the snow was so thick on the ground, piled up multiple feet high, & the two of us couldn’t even make it to the frozen pond! But when the two of us could, it was an amazing time! Ice fishing in IL is 1 of the best memories I have of being a teenager. All of us would smuggle out a few cases of beer, & a few ounces of locally grown IL cannabis, & spend a few afternoons in the fishing shack on the pond. If the two of us caught any fish the two of us would usually cook them up & eat them on the spot, because the two of us had consumed too much beer & cannabis to safely get ourselves back home. Although it’s best to avoid Wintertide in IL, I highly suggest trying out ice fishing there.