two men pulling a fish out of the ice

See the vibrant ice fishing culture under threat in the Great Lakes

For anglers across the northern reaches of the U.S., winter is "what we've been waiting for."

Bryant Dault and Jordan Millette fish on Lake Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula’s Escanaba. Ice fishing is a way of life for the two friends and for the surrounding community. Usually, Dault and Milette head out on the ice a few times a week, leaving at around 5:30 in the morning and fishing until just after sunrise, when the fish are most apt to bite. Then, they’ll head back to a local diner for some breakfast.
Photograph by Amy Sacka
This story was produced in partnership with the National Geographic Society.

The icy Michigan morning was pitch black when photographer Amy Sacka climbed onto the back of a snowmobile at 5 a.m. She was bundled in layers of fleece and Gore-Tex, wrapped so thoroughly that only her eyes were exposed. In the frigid darkness, the snowmobile’s engine shuddered on and charged across the frozen expanse of Lake Michigan.

Her guides, Jordan Millette and Bryant Dault, were expert ice anglers. As they took off across the ice, they navigated by the dim light of a GPS screen toward a frozen Valhalla: A prime fishing spot, miles out across the frozen lake. Here they would post up for the day, drill an eight-inch-wide hole through the thick slab of ice, set their tip-ups,

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