There is no shortage of ice fishing huts on the icy waters of Petrie Island in Orléans. Ice fishing enthusiasts take advantage of the coldest months of the year to go fishing.
Yannick Loranger owns a fishing cabin rental business in the east end and he rents them out to ice fisherman who set them up on the ice covered Ottawa River beside Oziles Bait and Tackle Shop.

Unlike last year when unseasoinably warm weather shortend the ice fishing season considerably, Loranger is very busy this winter and is seeing an increase in rental requests.

“Last year was by far my worst rental year in 10 years,” he recalls. “This year, at the moment, I have cabins rented every day until mid-February,” reports the delighted entrepreneur.

According to Loranger, the cold temper-atures this winter, combined with the open-ing of the Rideau Canal, are helping to spark enthusiasm among ice fishing enthusiasts.

“Because the Rideau Canal is open, it makes people want to do outdoor, winter activities, more than last year or the year before,” he says.

Loranger recalls that there was almost no huts on the frozen waters of Petrie Island last year.

“It really wasn’t a good year,” says Loranger. “There was a perception that the ice was unsafe, which was not the case. But we can’t blame people for being wary of ice when there is a winter where there is no extreme cold, like last year. It’s true that when there are less cold winters, people are less inclined to be on the ice. That is very, very understandable.”

Loranger also notes that Ottawa winters are a lot more mild than they were 10 or 15 years ago.

The latter does not hide the fact that the future of ice fishing seems uncertain to him, with changing temperatures and unpredictable winters. He is, however, keeping his fingers crossed that the curent winter seasons will be good for his business.

Sherif Awad is a fishing guide and leader of a group that offers guided fishing services in the region. He also believes that the ice fishing season is getting shorter every year.

According to Awad, the quality and quantity of ice leaves more and more to be desired.

“It worries me about the survival (of ice fishing) if the current trend continues or intensifies,” he says. “I remember four or five years ago I was fishing through 50 inches of solid ice. Today, I’m lucky if I can find as pot with more than eight inches of ice."

Awad has gone ice fishing on Petrie Island once so far this winter. He enjoys exploring other ice surfaces in the Federal Capital Region during the cold season.