Ice Fishing at Petrie Island

In the summer of 2002, Big Al salvaged an abandoned ice fishing hut from the banks of the Ottawa River. He fixed it up, added a stove and some furniture and made it his own. In the winter of 2002/2003, he set up his hut in the ice fishing community of Petrie Island near Orleans, Ontario and invited all his friends.

That same year, there was a rash of thefts on the ice at Petrie Island. After one of the thefts, a group of ice fishermen came together to decide what to do. It was decided at that time to come together and combat the problem as a group. That same evening, our pal, Big Al was elected President of the newly formed Petrie Island Ice Fishermen's Association (PIIFA), and several weeks later, the PIIFA website was conceived. To this day, Big Al remains as president and PIIFA has expanded to much more where they now organize on-ice activities and charity events and for the people who ice fish at Petrie Island. Because of the PIIFA and the website, vandalism and theft are no longer an issue at Petrie Island and Big Al has become a local celebrity.