Snow & ice

I'd been wondering what kind of affect the snow would have on the ice conditions on area lakes since this recent storm rolled through.

Since my last post, I'd been hearing good reports on ice conditions, with most anglers agreeing that the ice was roughly around a foot on area lakes.

As of Dec. 19, Lake Washington was anywhere from 9 to 12 inches. But what would a good foot of snow do to those lake conditions?

Well, for one, it is making travel on the lakes difficult. Free Press staffer John Cross reported Saturday that Washington still had good ice, but the snow was making it very difficult to get around on the lake.

So even moving 20 yards to a better spot becomes less enjoyable.

He said Scotch also had "good" ice but a lot of snow.

In Monday's print edition of The Free Press, Dan Neinaber interviewed Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Chris Howe.

Howe suggested what my gut was telling me: All this snow is going to be troublesome for continued ice making. What I mean is that the more snow we get to insulate the ice, the less we can count on good ice to keep forming even if the temps are cold enough for good ice.

Howe goes into more depth on other concerns heavy snow causes for ice conditions in the article.

This also tells me I worry for those who have to drive out on any of our area lakes.

And as the anglers I spoke to out on Washington said, you can go 40 yards and find a big difference in the depth of ice.

So what I'm trying to say, people, is wait to drive out with your trucks and SUVs (you'll be lucky to get a car through this deep of snow). And if you must, please, please practice safety.

Updates coming
I can't say they'll be good updates, but I'll be out Wednesday and Thursday this week. I'm not sure of the destination, but I'll make sure to snap a few photos, take a few measurements, and get back to you on the quality of fishing.

Hopefully, all goes well.

And then there was ice

Stopped out to Lake Washington before work today.

I figured there would be a few good ice-fishing communities scattered across the lake, which there was between first and second point.

The parking lot next to Westwood Marina Bar & Grill wasn't as full as we'll see it in coming weeks, but still, 30 to 40 vehicles were parked at the water's edge.

I estimated probably 90 percent of the houses on the lake were portables, but a few people were gearing up to move their permanent houses onto the lake.

Two guys gearing up for an afternoon of fishing were kind enough to give me a quick ice report.

They fished Friday on the lake and found ice as deep as 12 inches and as thin as 9 inches. One of them caught a five-pound northern and the other was a little more tight-lipped about the fishing.

I saw a few ATVs traveling on the lake, but no trucks or cars.

The two men I was talking with both recalled one person who drove a Ford Explorer out Friday, the ice cracking as he moved to a fishing spot.

I'm not sold on vehicles on the lake yet, especially SUV/truck type vehicles. But 9 to 12 inches of ice on Washington tells me most area lakes, especially the shallower bays, are good to go for fishing.

And if nothing else, you can always follow the Rule of 21. Find 20 houses and make it 21. Good luck.

My love hate with Christmas

I used to love Christmas. And then I hated it.

Now I love Christmas again.

My first love with the holiday, of course, was as a child. My family had enough, but we didn't have a lot. But somehow, on Christmas, my mom made sure we felt like the richest kids in the world.

Her love, of course, was all us children needed. But my mom had a knack for compiling loads of presents for her five children. And somehow, we never really stopped to think where all this once-a-year wealth came from.

In college, I worked at K-Mart. Let me say, if you've never worked in retail but you're an avid shopper, give those workers a break. Sure, every job has its less-than-productive workers, and those workers can be a headache for shoppers, but a lot of good people are just trying to make a wage, or put themselves through college.

Retail is ugly, and dealing with holidays could be painful. At the ol' Mart, we'd start receiving Christmas products as early as August. The shelves would often go up a day or two after Halloween, and then there was the working Black Friday thing.

For a deal, people are crazy. And often the holiday spirit seemed lost on shoppers — it was always about the deal, the deal, the DEAL.

So I hated Christmas for a very long time. Much longer than my time spent in retail. And I started to realize that other than a few items here and there, I don't need a whole lot. Gifts are nice, but only if they are useful.

And my mom, of course, still wants to spoil us within her means, which always makes me feel a bit guilty — I tell her to get me fishing lures, which makes us both feel better.

People, it seems, get greedy when Christmas rolls around. They aren't greedy because they are bad people; I think sometimes the holiday and knowing of potential gifts clouds why we celebrate the season.

My son is getting older now, and he's starting to fall into the Santa/present excitement. His excitement has become my excitement, and now I love Christmas again. Funny how that works.

And since my first outing on the ice usually doesn't come until after Christmas with my brother-in-laws, I'll just enjoy his anxiety as he counts down the days until Christmas.

"Is it Christmas yet, Daddy?"
"No, Ty, 11 more days."

Holding up six fingers, "This many, Daddy?"
"Close, Ty, close."

Merry Christmas!

Ice reports needed

Well, we were fortunate to stave off winter for quite some time, but boy did it roll in with a bitter reminder.

That should mean good things for ice, provided the snow blew off the lakes instead of piling on thin ice.

I see in the Wednesday edition of The Free Press, we ran an Associated Press brief from the DNR warning of thin ice. I always love these reminders, because you know it won't be long and you'll hear about some goofball who just had to drive his truck/car on the lake and went in.

Anyhow, the brief basically said as of Monday, Dec. 7, there was no place in the state with good ice, which, according to the DNR, is 4 inches for walking weight.

This is all funny to me because Free Press photographer and outdoor guru John Cross was telling me that people were fishing Lake Elysian with portables. Mind you, he told me this on Monday, a full day before — to steal a bit from KFAN — the "snownami" hit Minnesota and the same day that the DNR lists in its release.

There you have it. Have ice, will fish.

For the record, I need good ice before I'll travel out on a lake. Once the ice is thick enough, I'm more than willing to travel out lightly on the lake, but I need a good 6 inches for walking weight, maybe more.

So send this chicken your ice reports. It doesn't have to be special. You don't have to give up what you're catching, just what lake you were fishing and how much ice you were fishing on. Simple enough.

Score one for Minnesota

I just spent a good deal of time looking around the Web for something to write about.

Yeah, the lack of ice is making me look hard for ideas.

Anyhow, when searching around for topics, I tend to stay away from anything that is a Google ad. You know, these are the items that appear on the side rails of your search engine or in the shaded boxes above your search results.

For this search, I was trying to find something new in the world of ice fishing I could share with you, my valued readers. Instead, I ended up clicking on the "Evening Secret," which, let me tell you, is still somewhat of a secret.

I'm always skeptical when a site selling something is full of testimonials but never really shows the product or explains exactly how it works. Even on this site, the author tells us he has spoken with researchers at the University of Michigan, and they agree that it works, but he doesn't really go into detail on how it works, just that the researchers noted the attraction of zooplankton, which in turn attract bait fish, which eventually attract trophy fish.

If you're adventurous enough — or bored enough — to read to the bottom of the site, you'll probably draw the same conclusion that I did — the Evening Secret somehow sends impulses into the water that attract the zooplankton, which attract the bait fish and eventually the trophy fish.

You'll also learn that two states, Wyoming and Minnesota, have banned the Evening Secret. Last year, I also wrote about two other products, the Bite Lite and the Walking Worm, both by NGC Sports. These two lures were said to produce at ridiculous rates, and in the Bite Lite's case, Wyoming had banned it, too.

This begs the question, is it right for these states to ban such items, when indeed those items can make fishing more enjoyable for a good many people? My first inclination, especially when talking about the lures, is to go ahead and let them be used. Seriously, unless people are fishing in a tournament, what's the big deal? Our DNR puts restrictions into place on the size and amount of fish people can catch, so what's the harm if they are aided by gimmicks or not?

Having said that, after I read the Evening Secret testimonials, I'm not too upset that Minnesota has a ban on this gadget. For all the hoopla this site tries to drum up, something about taking away the hunt leaves me less interested in the catch. I like to target pools of bait fish, and then go to work for a lunker sitting in wait.

The reward is always so much better after the hunt. But maybe that's the old-school fisherman in me talking. Either way, I'll take my chances doing the hunting rather than letting the fish come to me.

Well, so much for the weather

Relatively speaking, November has been one of the nicer months of 2009. Still, there is little to be desired on the fishing forefront.

Dare I say it? We need ice.

I had a few days off last week and hit up Buckmaster Bridge on Madison Lake. The conditions were right, but other than losing one to a slow bite and even slower reactions, there were few bites to be had.

I saw three other anglers on my multiple outings. They didn't catch anything either, though one guy had a follow. From what I gathered between the three of them, Buckmaster wasn't faring well in November.

The north side of Elysian however, sounded like it was drawing a crowd.

I took the above picture with my phone as the sun was going down on my first outing It's nothing special, and there is a reason I'm not a photographer, but at least it is something sunny on a rainy day.

Normally I reserve my camera for a big catch, but as I said, November has been a slow month.

At least the Vikings are winning

I wonder how many ice fishermen are sitting around in the garage after a hard day's work, knocking back a cold one or two, and just staring at their gear?

Hello? Winter, you out there?

I'm happy that winter is staying away ... for now. I'm not sure I ever want the cold months to come. I guess winter is inevitable, and knowing this makes me accept my fishing habits will turn to the ice sooner than later.

But seriously, have you checked out the 10-day forecast lately? Lots of 40s and 50s folks. We're seeing freezing temps more at night, but we're above freezing during the day, and that doesn't make for a whole lot of ice.

I'm wondering if we should start an ice watch, although I'm guessing a good many of you are soaking up the hunting in the various seasons. Perhaps a few of you are still chasing walleye (which is what I plan to do with all these warm temps in the near future).

At least my favorite purple team continues to roll, even if Favre and Co. looked a little rusty coming off a bye week.

A few good chances yet on the water, and a winning football team ... I'll take both over ice any day.