It Has Happened To All Of Us
Back in November, we were getting the first skims of ice on our smaller bodies of water and everyone was talking about ICE, ICE, ICE.
We were walking out on 2.5 inches and couldn’t wait to peer at our Vexilars into the watery world below. Anticipation for Walleyes and Perch through the ice was high and we were gung-ho to drill, drill, drill.
Long cold winter, 100’s of used hand warmers, and 1000’s of holes drilled; December, January, February, and March and….
SMACK!
A lot of guys hit the wall, and hard.
The same excitement seems to precede every “season opener”. Last August, leading up to the Early Canada Season, we felt the same exhilaration, chomping at the bit to get out in those stubble fields and hammer some 52’s.
Right now across the state, a lot of guys and gals are shining up those new boats and getting the fever to get the open water season underway, in fact, some have probably already been in the boat on the Rainy River or Garrison Tailrace.
Back That Truck Up
We say:
Woah Nellie!
Back that truck up there just one second. We still got ice, and good ice. The BEST ice fishing, in our opinion, is right now.
Sometimes it is easy to:
“shoot your wad”
if you will, a little prematurely.
Expend way to much energy into the present activity and not have enough interest or enthusiasm for the long haul.
The Sprint
Spring Snow Season is a sprint. They are only here for a short period of time and the opportunity to get out there and kill the White Devil is quite brief.
The Marathons
Open Water and Ice Fishing on the Northern Tier in North Dakota are marathons. One has to keep some reserves in the tank. When most of the casual Ice Fishermen are hanging their stuff up for the year is when it is just starting to get REALLY GOOD!
That time is now. This has been a very up and down year and the bite has been anything but consistent. We look for that to change real quick. We are gearing up for the stretch run.
The Resorts and most of the Guide services are done with clients for the year and that means less pressure. The casual Ice guys are also done; less competition, less pressure. That means more fish, and more active fish.
The Perch and Crappies are ‘belly heavy’ and looking to finish their egg production and that takes calories. This benefits us, the late ice fishermen. There has been a Late February/Early March lull but that will change, and when it does, you are going to want to be out there for the Gold and Diamond mines that are there to be had.
Some Great Places to Start the Search:
The White Devil
We have had our first White Devil sightings of the year, although not on the ground, they are the first scout flocks to reach the Lake Region. They are all adults and the really smart ones that are making their push to the breeding grounds, but that means the entire migration is close behind.
Hopefully, if the weather holds we can get in a Cast-and-Blast of Snow Goose hunting in the a.m. and Ice Fishing in the p.m.
Stay tuned as we will try to make sure you are abreast of the migration as it occurs here through the Lake Region and Devils Lake area.
Tiger Muskie Controversy
A surprising catch through the ice early this week sparked some unexpected controversy. A Devils Lake Tiger Muskie came through the ice on, I believe, Monday.
It was a beautiful looking specimen and nothing seemed out of the ordinary until a few Fishing Forums got a hold of the picture. Then, the internet police made their appearance and the fact was brought up that a ND Tiger Muskie must be 48 inches in length to be harvested. Now, I can’t tell if it is 48 inches or not, it looks pretty good sized to me.
We are adamant about adherence to the rules and strongly believe that if you break them you should have to pay for your crime. With that being said:
How many of you readers honestly even knew that the ND Muskie length was 48 inches?
Only reason we knew is we are fishing addicts and it is our business to know.
All kinds of egg throwing has ensued and I think that is wrong. If the guys screwed up, write em a ticket and be done with it. If not, congratulate them and be happy for their catch.
I know I am, God only knows how many Perch and Crappie that behemoth was munching on. I say be gone!!
I think that the Devils Lake limit on Pike and Muskie should be 100. In fact, I think that if you catch a Pike, you should HAVE to keep it. There are just too many in the eyes of this Perch, Crappie, and Walleye fisherman.
I know the Lafleur boys are going to cringe when they read that but it is my honest opinion, I am not a Pike enthusiast. I respect the fish, just not real fond of them.
Good Luck out there this weekend! We plan on bringing you ice conditions updates everyday as we become aware of changes.
The Wisconsin boys will do our best to help u with the pike problem and let u catch all the perch had a blast thanks for the tips. Great website like the ice reports thanks again if u ever come to Wisconsin let me know. Alby S.
How is the ramp at Six Mile?