But Zenanko had a portal to the underwater world: He watched the action with an underwater television camera and monitor in a portable shelter as he jigged for fish. Underwater camera systems, invented in Minnesota a dozen years ago, have helped anglers catch more fish and provided hours of entertainment for thousands hunkered in ice fishing houses. "I don't think ice fishing would be where it is today without the camera. It's the greatest education tool to get kids involved."
He believes the cameras also have helped anglers better understand the seldom-seen world below the ice.
"It's almost beyond our comprehension," said Zenanko (53), of Shakopee, who helped develop a underwater camera for Bloomington-based Vexilar Inc, the famed maker of sonar fish-finders.
"The lake is literally alive; it's living, breathing life down there."
Jeff Zernov (58), of Brainerd, is considered the father of underwater TV cameras.
He recently sold his Nature Vision company but remains in the underwater camera industry. "Has the camera had any measurable or definable impact on the resource? The answer is probably yes and no," Zernov said.
"Some of the issues raised back then, like selectively harvesting only the biggest fish, is a fact.
"I know guys who do that [who] pull the bait away from smaller ones and target the larger fish."
But, he said, other technology has had a much greater impact on helping anglers catch fish, including GPS and mapping programs, which allow anglers to find fishing hot spots. ("It's turned everyone into a great fishing guide.") And sonar fish-finders likely help anglers catch fish more than underwater cameras do.
"If anything, the Vexilar [fish-finder] is the unfair advantage.
"It can help catch fish in any environment, at any depth, at any time of day."
Today's underwater camera systems are far superior to the early ones.
"A quantum leap in technology" allows them to be lighter, more compact and 10 times more energy efficient, Zernov said. Back at snow-covered Prior Lake, Zenanko watched a school of sunfish and crappies gather below at his tiny jig tipped with a maggot.
"You can see 'em, but the fish still have to bite."
