SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. – You don’t have to go snowshoeing or skiing to enjoy Colorado this the winter. Better yet, you don’t have to spend a ton of money either if you’re looking for a day of family fun in the mountains.
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Big Ed’s Fishing Ventures in Summit County is just one of many fishing companies across the state, but it’s the longest running charter near Breckenridge.
“I don’t even remember when I fished for the first time,” recalls Big Ed’s Fishing Venturers owner Scott Boettcher. “I was always just really interested… and I knew that this what I wanted to do, I just wanted to be able to do it on my own terms.”
Boettcher said Big Ed’s was started by a gentleman named Eric more than 15 years ago. But it wasn’t until 2017 – ten years after being in the fishing industry - that he took over the business, following a life in the corporate world.
“Ice fishing is the most accessible form of fishing for somebody that just wants to get out there and give it a try,” Boettcher said, adding people have a lot of fun catching their own dinner. “I think it tastes significantly better in that you know the history of the fish, you know that it wasn’t like, sitting in some cargo hold for three weeks before it made it to the market.” But Boettcher says ice fishing isn’t really about casting a fishing rod into an icy pond.
“The older I get, the more I realize it’s never been about the fish – it’s about the people and the places that it takes you to.”