Modern Living: The Izaaks of Ice

Once it was solely an occupation to for Eskimos and masochists. Hunkering down beside holes in icebound rivers and lakes, in temperatures that would give a seal the sniffles, the Izaak Waltons of midwinter would spend hours shivering and waiting for the tug on a line that told them a pike or a perch had been hooked.

Today, althogh ice-fishing is one of the fastest-growing sports in the U.S., the old bundled-up fisherman is fast becoming an imperiled species. At lakes from Maine to Michigan, most winter anglers now dangle their bait from inside...