There has been a lot of chatter about early ice-out dates this week as lakes – especially those to our south – lose their ice.
In the Monday, March 11, weekly update from the Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Enforcement, DNR officials in many parts of Minnesota offered warnings about rapidly changing ice conditions.
“There is no ice fishing activity remaining around Douglas County,” reported DNR conservation officer Mitch Lawler of Alexandria, Minnesota. “Many lakes are more than half open, with very weak pockets of ice floating around.”
And that was before a few sunny days with high temperatures in the 50s.
Even Lake of the Woods, where legal fish houses can be on the ice until March 31 and walleye season is open until April 14, is suspending its ice fishing season as some resorts begin to pull out their rental houses back to the beach.
“There is still ice fishing going on and available,” Joe Henry, executive director of Lake of the Woods Tourism, wrote Tuesday, March 12, in his weekly fishing report. “Fish houses are available at some resorts. At other resorts, they only allow guests to bring collapsible fish houses. Check social media or call your favorite resort ahead of time for details.”
That’s good advice.
A friend who lives in that neck of the woods texted me a couple of video clips Wednesday afternoon, showing a resort’s fish houses pulled into the lake near Wheelers Point and lined up in orderly fashion for storage until next winter (which hopefully will be more. of a winter than this one turned out to be).
Another clip he shared, this one near Morris Point, showed the large lake almost empty of fish houses, though there were still a few fishermen driving there.
For March 13, the lake looks quiet.
“It’s a safe bet people won’t be ice fishing here in the walleye opener this year,” he said, referring to 1996, the year a half-dozen of us walked out of Graceton Beach on the south coast of Lake of the Woods and spent a warm and sunny day catching a mixed bag of walleyes, saugers, perch and tullibees ice fishing with the consistency of a giant snow cone. “I fished in the lake this winter. This has been one of the best years of ice fishing I’ve had since coming up here. Keep up the good work – and good fish.
“And we’ve had good ice the whole season we’ve been fishing. There must be few people. That’s probably a good thing for this lake.”
On that last count, I would definitely agree.
Many backcountry anglers will now shift their focus to the Rainy River, where the Nelson Park boat landing in Birchdale, Minnesota, was de-iced earlier in the week by crews from Koochiching County. The border country’s weather outlook isn’t exactly conducive to boat fishing over the next few days, however, with highs in the upper 20s to mid-30s and north-northwest winds in the forecast. at least until Wednesday, March 20, according to the National Weather Service.
Despite the weather, I’m sure the lines at the boat ramp will still be a mile long or more as anglers from all over the region come together to launch their boats for a taste of walleye fishing that can border on amazing when – and if – conditions. is correct
The earliest recorded ice release date on Lake of the Woods was April 8, 2012, a year in which a friend and I enjoyed some fantastic fishing in his boat out of Lighthouse Gap during the latter part of week of the spring walleye season.
Will that record be broken this year?
My guess is no, but we’ll find out soon enough.
One thing is for sure – the lake was definitely ice free before May 21st, the latest ice out date on record on Lake of the Woods, in 2014. In 1996, the year we ice fished Lake of the Woods for in the walleye opener, ice fell on the lake on May 16.
North Dakota doesn’t keep a database of ice release dates like the Minnesota DNR maintains on its website, but Greg Power, chief fisheries officer for the Game and Fish Department, said the ice is definitely bad for mid-March in many parts of the state. At the same time, however, Power said he heard vehicles on multiple lakes in central North Dakota earlier this week.
Because of the difficult conditions, North Dakota anglers looking to venture out for a last excursion or two on the ice should exercise caution or – perhaps the better option – stay inshore until the ice clears.
The way things are going, the wait won’t be long.
