Early Ice… It just doesn’t get any better!!

For many, Ice fishing season begins in late December when 12″ of ice allow for the winter ice palaces to start populating shallow reefs on lakes across the north country… When resorts start doing their best ice road trucker impersonations… When getting to your shack involves nothing but walking a mere few feet from your vehicle. BUT for those of us who are true iceheads ice fishing season begins the day, minute, or should I say second that we realize we can walk on water AND by the time most folks set foot on a lake we’ve already been icing fish for a month. Seeing ice fishing pictures starting to show up on IDO and FB is really starting to get me fired up so I figured I’d share a few here to help get everyone in the mood….

It was the 1st Monday in December last year when my friends back home started texting me pics from the lake, so when I finally got up to Mille Lacs on Friday there was no way a mere crack and a couple feet of open water was stopping us… Thanks to the assist from Will at Barnavelds by borrowing us a ladder and some life vests we were able to get out to the 1st breakline

If you’ve never done early ice before one of the things you’re missing out on is the wow factor that comes with being able to watch the weeds/rocks/baitfish under your feet as you walk out to the spot. Very much like taking a ride in the worlds biggest glass bottomed boat!

Seeing that black clear ice just makes my back end pucker up.

It can be just like fishing on a giant sheet of glass… Crampons required!!

Early ice ‘Eyes can look like footballs after putting the feedbag on in the Fall

The required “artistic” shots after successfully battling a batch of hungry eyes topside with my weapons of choice – A perch sweatheart and LX-5

Another bonus of fishing early ice is the ammount of energy that the fish have while oxygen levels in the water are still high… My adreneline level has probably never been higher in an ice shack than while landing this fish… With only a few inches of clear ice and crystal clear water beneath we were able to see bottom 15′ down in the darkness of my Otter Lodge. As he set the hook and his rod doubled over, I looked down could see everything… She started by making several runs back and forth a mere feet underneath us… Then he finally managed to ease her up into the hole, but with only 3-4″ of ice all it took was another quick head shake and she was back under the ice stripping drag as I watcher her swin only inches under the bottom of my boots… with only 4# test and not wanted to gaffe a fish that I knew we were letting go we repeated this process another 2 or three times before I was finally able to gently reach under her gill and bring his new PB walleye into the shack! A couple quick snapshots and she was back down the hole

This is definitly one of my favorite pics from last winter… The look on his face says it all!

Another picture fish from just before dark!

Maybe even more enjoyable than the fishing were the unbelievable views that we enjoyed as the sun dropped below the horizen and the moon appeared over the tree tops… Looking back at these photos it seems like it was just yesterday and then I realize it’s ONLY a matter of weeks now before it starts all over again!

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Seeing that black clear ice just makes my back end pucker up.

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That’s what they call the pucker factor And for good reason as fishing early season ice does require extreme caution. On my first trip out on any unfamiliar ice I’ll ALWAYS be carrying a set of ice picks around my neck and using a chisel to test the ice for each step I take. Frequently I’ll even wear a life vest for added safety… Something as simple as a change in the wind direction can sometimes catch even the most seasoned ice veterans by surprise. Just a week or so after our trip over 30 anglers were stranded on the same ice we were fishing when the wind switched directions

Anglers Stranded on Mille Lacs

And (with a tip of the cap to Paul Harvey) That’s The Rest of the Story!

Great pics Will!

Will, you are really making it hard on a guy to wait for hard water.

Thanks for the great pics!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anf2qEjec3U

Heres one that can’t wait

Never post something like that again, Fro, without first warning the audience. That was the funniest thing I have ever seen and my outburst of laughter has other wondering about my mental welfare. Watch the part where he’s pulling himself across the ice again; guaranteed to incite controllable giggling.

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Never post something like that again, Fro, without first warning the audience. That was the funniest thing I have ever seen and my outburst of laughter has other wondering about my mental welfare. Watch the part where he’s pulling himself across the ice again; guaranteed to incite controllable giggling.

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Sorry, “UNcontrollable giggling”. I was lucky I could even type after that….

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anf2qEjec3U

Heres one that can’t wait

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I think that guy would have had a better chance of making it through the ice we were on last year

There’s nothing like early ice. This was taken the day after Thanksgiving a few years ago (our traditional ‘Ice Fishing Opener’)

I love early ice!! There is nothing better than getting out early enough to make you pucker up a little!

That’s why I spend every day I can out in the boat right now… pegging down those early ice fish can be almost as fun as pulling them up through the hole. Dig out your GPS’s and start marking your waypoints now, it won’t be long and we will all be out there enjoying the greatest sport there is

Watching fish “helicopter” under the clear ice as they ascend unwillingly to the surface is as great of site as IDO

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That’s why I spend every day I can out in the boat right now… pegging down those early ice fish can be almost as fun as pulling them up through the hole. Dig out your GPS’s and start marking your waypoints now, it won’t be long and we will all be out there enjoying the greatest sport there is

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That’s an excellent tip Jim. Getting out in a boat now and scouting can really give you a leg up for early ice!