DEER CREEK RESERVOIR — Scott Naillon has just hauled in a rainbow, 15 inches if it's an inch, and he already has it on ice.
Just one of the many virtues of fishing on a frozen lake.
It's midmorning and Scott and his buddy, Dave Dielmann, are about a quarter of a mile from the Deer Creek marina, where they parked their car at 7:30 this morning.
Then they walked on water out to here.
Why do they do it?
Two reasons, really.
One is obvious. Because the lake is frozen. Otherwise it would be impossible.
The other is less obvious but just as simple. Because fishing's fishing.
Who cares if it's freezing cold and there's 8 inches of ice separating you from the water?
Below that ice the very same fish you spent all summer trying to outsmart are down there doing the same things they did all summer, basically swimming and eating.
"There's really not much difference. Winter or summer, fishing gets you outside, enjoying the great outdoors, that's the bottom line for me," says Scott, who then adds, looking at the beautiful rainbow at his feet, "And when you catch one it gets your blood warm."
He's sitting on a Sit-N-Fish bucket staring into the 10-inch hole he drilled into the ice. Next to him is Dielmann, his fishing buddy.
Both work for L3 Communications, a defense contractor in Salt Lake City.
But not today. Today's their day off, and that meant no time to waste. They were up at the crack of dawn — before the crack of dawn, actually — and made their way from the Salt Lake Valley to this little slice of below-zero paradise in the corner of the Heber Valley.
All so they could sit here, kick back and relax.
They dragged their ice-fishing gear onto the frozen lake in a sled, which is one of the first essential items necessary to be a bona fide ice fisherperson.
You'll also want: a drill (Scott's is gas-powered), a big thermos with plenty of food and beverage, a propane heater, a chair or bucket to sit on, hand and body warmers, very warm clothes, and a lightweight pop-up shed or shanty that will shelter you if it should decide to snow or the wind blows.
And poles and bait.
The first question most non-ice-fishermen ask is how to know if the ice is strong enough to hold you.
It's the first question I ask.
Scott and Dave explain that the ice should be at least 3 inches thick.
And the easiest way to check that out?
Look out on the lake and see if others are out there standing up.
When you're not catching fish, you can talk "on whatever subject you want to talk about."
Or, adds Scott, "you can just listen to the nice quiet nothing."
Every once in a while, especially if the fishing is slow, you'll probably want to move around — just like summer fishing.
"You want to think like a fish," says Dave, which is also just like summer fishing.
"Some people, they're like, 'You guys are crazy. You're going to walk on the ice and drill through it?' " says Scott.
But they're the same people who have never done it.
"Basically it's a blast," he says.
I tell him the temperature gauge in my car said it's 20 degrees.
Both Scott and Dave shoot me an astonished look.
"Sure doesn't feel that cold," they say.
And then they return to the nice quiet nothing.
Lee Benson's column runs Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com