It’s that time of year again. The DMZ of fishing seasons, if you will. You can’t be on the ice to ice fish and you can’t be on the lakes because there isn’t enough open water.
This year is a little more unusual than previous years. We’ve broken 6 record highs in the last eight days and are on track to break records today and tomorrow. And we didn’t just barely break the records, we’ve been shattering them. Earlier this week, the metro area broke a record high by 7 degrees, and yesterday, International Falls broke their record high for the day by 22 degrees! Yesterday was also the earliest 80 degree day on record for the metro.
In looking back at my previous Ice Out Watch posts, I had guessed that they started later than this one. Well, they didn’t. But the difference is that most lakes around me are already 10-20% open water. In previous years, I would just be seeing open water near the shores.
Surprisingly, as of this writing the DNR hasn’t started their usual ice out status page listing the various lakes around the state. They have, however, begun updating the main ice out page. Much of the Southern part of the state is already iced out. I wouldn’t be surprised if we break some of the records for earliest ice out.
Spring panfishers will probably get their earliest opportunity in a long time to start fishing. There is already enough open water near shore to toss out a line. Boaters will be out within a matter of weeks. That will make us game fisherman antsier than ever by the time fishing opener comes around.
Looks like I’ll have to go after some crappie this Spring to stem the anxiousness.
[…] last 11 days, we’ve broken 8 record highs and 6 maximum lows. The metro lakes have already iced out and Northern Minnesota lakes aren’t far […]
[…] With ice out having already occurred on many nearby lakes, you’d think I’d be out on the water […]
Was a short and strange ice season this year for us.