Please Proceed With Caution
We’ve reached a transition period on the calendar…
The good news is – the recent cold weather may have extended the ice fishing season a bit! ย The not-so-good-news is we know of at least one lake that went from 20 inches of ice to 12 inches of ice last week. ย If your favorite lake didn’t have good ice two weeks ago, chances are, it doesn’t have good ice now. ย If you are trying to squeeze in another ice adventure, please use EXTREME CAUTION. ย Let’s be careful out there.
A group of us have a trip planned this weekend in Otter Tail Lakes Country. ย We are going to be targeting bluegills. ย This will be our first time fishing this particular body of water. ย It’s not too big, a little over 300 acres. ย And it’s not too deep, max depth is 40 feet.
The first part of the game plan: research. ย We’ve looked at the data on the Minnesota DNR Lake Finder,(ย http://dnr.state.mn.us/
Light gear, 1/16 oz, 1/32 oz jigs, tipped with plastics or larva is the go-to presentation. ย If the gills can’t be found, the crappies may be schooled up in 30 feet of water, or deeper. ย As always, finding them is the hardest part. ย Drill & look, drill & look. ย If you aren’t marking fish, no sense fishing there. ย Pods of fish can be suspended, so treat any flash as a possibility.
Of course all of this may be a moot point if the ice conditions aren’t right. ย In that case, you can use your time to gear up for open water. ย Get new line on your reels, charge your batteries (if you haven’t already). ย Give your boat a good dry land walk-thru. ย Dream of those warm summer days, sun on your shoulders, loons calling, the gentle slapping of the waves on the beach. ย Ahhhhh…. won’t that be grand?
Erik Osberg
Otter Tail Lakes Country Association