By Heather McDonald

The kids separated into small groups and barely started crouching when the call came.

Point of Discovery School (PoDS) students lay on the snow-covered ice of McDill Pond Tuesday, watching and waiting for a tip-up to indicate they’ve caught a fish.
(Portage County Gazette photo)

“Tip-up.”

Teacher Tom Drohner’s head turned mid-word. Students stood and looked.

“Tip-up, tip-up,” the words carried louder and faster as Drohner, followed by 25 other students, scurried down the ice to the fishing hole.

The student already had pulled the line up, revealing a mis-catch: it seems the hooked minnow used as bait was large enough that it caused false tip-ups.

“Sometimes that will happen,” Drohner said as the kids slunk back to their holes, hoping that the next tip-up would result in a bass or a northern.

Drohner took the 28 sixth- and seventh-grade students out on McDill Pond Tuesday, Jan. 9, and other classes as well all week, as part of the Point of Discovery School’s (PoDS) Adventure Education program.

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PoDs teacher Tom Drohner puts a minnow on a hook before dropping it into an ice fishing hole during the school’s Adventure Education program.
(Portage County Gazette photo)

A student clears a fishing hole before putting in a tip-up on McDill Pond Tuesday, Jan. 9.
(Portage County Gazette photo)