There are still a couple of weeks left before the dark houses and fish houses have to be off of the lakes. Portables can go on the ice, but only on a daily basis, and they must not be left unattended. I noticed a reduction in the number of ice shelters on Fountain Lake after that heavy rain that we had. I remember that in past years if it rained and started to melt and then froze, folks had a hard time extracting their houses from the ice.
At this time of year, the fishing usually slows down considerably. The smaller perch, crappies and sunfish will still bite, but it seems to be harder to find the big ones. I do know of one person that continually seems to catch “slab” crappies no matter what the circumstances. He would be what you can call a “true fisherman.”
Dates of removal are determined by an east-west line formed by U.S. Hwy. 10, east along Hwy. 34 to Minnesota Hwy. 200, east along Hwy. 200 to U.S. Hwy. 2, and east along Hwy. 2 to the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. After removal dates, shelters may remain on the ice between midnight and one hour before sunrise only when occupied or attended. Storing or leaving shelters on a public access is prohibited. Removal dates are as follows: South of line - March 6, 2023/North of line - March 20, 2023.
Remember: It is unlawful to improperly dispose of garbage, sewage or waste water on the ice. Please clean up around your shack. What stays on the ice stays in the lake.
When I went for a morning walk on a regular basis, I would always walk passed the access on Frank Hall Drive. On one of those walks, the ice had just gone out and, as I walked along the shore, I spotted empty bait containers, plastic bottles of various flavors and just about any garbage that you could imagine. I found this total lack of respect for the sport and the environment sickening. The first thought that popped into my mind was, “We are better than that.” This was back when the fishing in the channel was good and there were a lot of houses out there, making it look almost like a village. I know that each year folks do a lake cleanup, and this is great, but it wouldn’t even be necessary if these people respected the environment enough to pick up after themselves. As in any outdoors sport, it only takes a few to spoil it for the rest.
Even though I love open water fishing, I have never been big on ice fishing. Whenever the opportunity has presented itself, I have gone with a friend or my oldest grandson, Trevor. I have always enjoyed doing that.
I’ve always loved fishing and the outdoors in general, and as a kid I explored the slough off of Bridge Avenue. Whether it was winter or summer, I was spending a lot of time exploring it with my friends. I never knew anyone who ice fished when I was growing up, so I had no exposure to it. In the winter I loved walking on the “crick” and looking down through the clear ice that had just formed. I did have a muskrat swim under me and scare the heck out of me. Sometimes the ice would be spongy and give the impression that it would give out underfoot. There were a few times that the giving out thing became a reality and then the day of exploring would come to an end. Us kids were pretty adventurous, but we were smart enough to know that an overshoe full of water meant the end of the days’ adventure. I have mentioned before of coming home in the winter with wet feet and warming up in front of the old heat register. I cringe just thinking about the pain as my feet and toes slowly warmed up. It never stuck in my memory bank very long because I would be right back at it the next day.
Some of the things that we did as kids makes me wonder how I got to the age that I am today. By the Grace of God, I guess.
Until next time: There are still a few weeks left before the fish houses have to be off the lake in our area, so enjoy.
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