Journal of a Minnesota Angler

I have one final post related to winter before daydreams of open water consume our thoughts. Earlier this week, the Basspastor pointed his readers toward a great blog post that explained why fish die in the winter. Obviously, fish die because they run out of oxygen. But there are many reasons why the oxygen level in a lake or pond can get too low. The author of the post, Nate Herman, does a great job explaining the causes of low oxygen and what you can do about it. He also explains what “turnover”... (more...)

With the memories of below zero (F) temperatures, 12 inch snowfalls, and 6 ft snow drifts quickly fading away, so go the stories of winter. But not before a few of us sneak in a couple more. My friend and colleague who caught his “Fish of a Lifetime” last summer sent me this video of an 18 lb walleye being pulled out of an ice hole in Manitoba. View the video on YouTube if you don’t see the embedded video below. Is it just me or does that walleye look fake? I have several problems... (more...)

With high temps firmly in the 40s degrees F since last Tuesday and my 2009 fishing license expired as of March 1, my inaugural season of ice fishing seems to have come to a end. Here’s a summary of the cold weather fun: Days fished: 7 Fish caught: 8 (1 perch, 7 crappie) Dec 19: First ice fishing outing Ice 6″ thick First ice fish (perch) Jan 24: First time driving on ice Ice 20″ thick Four of us landed 38 Crappie So other than the day Crappie were nearly jumping out of the holes,... (more...)

As a rookie ice fisherman, I’ve been deferring to my more experienced friends to know when to walk on the ice, use a four-wheeler on the ice, or drive on the ice. If I were to ever go out alone, I would make sure I see a lot of people doing something on the ice before I ever did it. A few days ago, I read an article titled “Extreme Ice Fishing” posted at the Minnesota Bound Outdoor Journal blog. Travis, one of the Minnesota Bound editors, recounted a story of ice fishing on Lake... (more...)

This week, the average daily temperature in Minnesota rises above 30 degrees F and signals the beginning of the end of ice fishing season. Ice thicknesses are still in the 2 ft range, but will start to thin and become dangerous in a matter of weeks. As the season winds down, I thought it might be a good idea to document some of the things I’ve learned about ice fishing equipment this season. I’m obviously just a rookie when it comes to ice fishing, but when it comes to equipment, temperatures... (more...)

Steve, Mark, and I went out to Lake Owasso this afternoon. The air temp wasn’t terribly cold, but it was window. And it started snowing by the time we packed it in. The fish didn’t like the weather either. We were out from about 2:30 to 5:30 with 9 holes in 3 different shelters and and we only caught two Crappie. One was about 6″ and reeled in by Steve’s 5 year-old daughter, so it was very exciting for her to catch her very first fish. Steve reeled in the other at about... (more...)

Species: Crappie Size: 9″, 8″, 8″ Lure used: yellow beaver flick with live minnow Date: 2/6/2010 Time: 8:00 -10:30am Body of water: An Iced Over Lake Location: Somewhere in the North Metro Weather Conditions: overcast and windy I went out this morning with my neighbors, Steve and Rob, and one of Rob’s buddies, Greg. Mark had family commitments and couldn’t make it. We headed out to the same lake we were on two weeks ago. We met at 7:30am and were on the lake with... (more...)

A friend of mine read my Fire on Ice post and clarified why it isn’t dangerous to have a fire on the ice. He explains that fires don’t actually burn that hot at the level of the ice because there isn’t as much air underneath the wood as above it. That coupled with the ash acting as an insulator against the heat keeps the fire from burning a hole in the ice. Thanx, BigSkyAngler, for explaining how/why it works. If you like this post, please subscribe to get notifications, or become... (more...)

As I was doing research for my last post, I came upon an article about ice safety. At the end of the article, a reader posted a comment that he’s seen people build fires out on the ice. The commenter couldn’t believe that they would do such a thing. Previous to my calculations, I would have thought the same thing. The calculations in my last post showed how a heater in an ice shelter is not a problem. However, it would seem to be a bit more dangerous to have a fire on the ice given... (more...)

Over the last few months, when I’ve been telling friends and family that I’ve been ice fishing, those that don’t ice fish themselves are astounded to hear that we have a heater in our shelter. Conventional wisdom would dictate that bringing a heater out on the ice would, as one of my friends put it, be grounds for a Darwinism award. After all ice + heat = water. So it would seem you are putting your life in your own hands when heating the shelter you’re ice fishing in. So... (more...)