There May be open water for fishing opener
Hello anglers everywhere. I was driving by West Battle Lake Saturday morning and did a double-take when I saw a full-sized truck on the lake! There wasn’t a story in the evening news about a truck that didn’t make it back to shore in Otter Tail County, so the angler got lucky. That should be the last vehicle anyone sees on any lake for the 2017 ice fishing season! A heat wave swept through Otter Tail Lakes Country this week, and it felt great!
We put off most indoor chores and duties this week and went outside and laid in the sun. I’m a constant-motion person, but I throttled down this week just let the sun soak in—and it felt great!! I spent time on the lakes this weekend with my kids enjoying the sun and some great late winter ice fishing (and we walked out—gladly). The ice was rotten all the way through and thinning, so the spring ice melt has begun, finally!
The fishing was everything it should have been and we were able to sight fish—everybody loves sight fishing. Watching fish bite and respond to how you jig and wiggle your bait is exciting and and educational. The main emphasis of my report this week, however, is to describe how quickly the ice is deteriorating. I don’t remember a time when we’ve had as much ice on our lakes in April as we do this year, and I certainly can’t remember a time when the ice degraded as much as it has this week in such a short period of time! It’s amazing! April is special, and the April sun is impressive and long-lasting. Most years we see much of our ice reduction take place in March and then it sinks or blows to shore in mid-April. March sun is not nearly as potent as April sun, for sure.
One week ago, there was 35 inches of ice on Otter Tail Lake, and by mid-day yesterday (Monday), there was 27 inches. I walked out and drilled a few holes and almost couldn’t believe how much ice was gone. The ice was completely rotten all the way through and water-filled. They were all the signs of ice death. We’ve all seen ice rot, but I’ve never seen it rot this quickly. Based on what I saw yesterday, I’m confident the ice will be off by May 12. In fact, if the weather forecast is accurate for the next week, Otter Tail Lakes Country will see ice-off of many of it’s lakes by May 5th—May 10th.
A week ago, I was guessing ice-off to be May 15/ May 20—it’s been quite a positive week. This is the week that I would pack your ice fishing gear away and stay off of the ice. With such a rapid melt, ice that was safe/sturdy in the morning may give way by the time you exit your fishing spot. It won’t be long before you’ll be bank fishing and fishing from boats in Otter Tail County! Enjoy the warm and sun this week no matter where you are—it’s springtime!
By Ross Hagemeister, meisterguideservice.com
