"KITIGAN ZIBI, Canada - Most winters, at least once a week, Mike Diabo will snowmobile to the shores of one of his local lakes in southern Quebec, carry his fishing gear across the frozen surface, and drill down through the ice to reveal the dark water beneath.

There he'll fish for northern pike, bass, trout, and whitefish to supplement his family's diet, continuing the traditions of his Anishinabe ancestors, part of the Algonquin First Nation of eastern Canada.

But this year ice-fishing season started late, delayed by a warm winter and fluctuating temperatures that left the ice on Bitobi and Cedar Lakes - his two favourite haunts - slushy and dangerously thin until a cold snap finally arrived in early February."

Blair Gable and Nia Williams report for Reuters February 27, 2023. [2]