Wonderful fishing weather in Otter Tail Lakes Country
It’s been a wonderful week to fish in Otter Tail Lakes Country! We have finally struck gold with our weather pattern! I’ve been seeing anglers stand on the open ice a lot this week which is something that I haven’t seen for a long time. In my opinion, there no more productive way to ice fish than to stand on the wide open lake and fish until you find a good hole.
In contrast, restricting your fishing to the confines of a shelter is a good way to limit productivity. I imagine that those anglers standing on the ice did pretty well last weekend. Over all, I’ve seen an upswing in fish activity in the past 5 days. It’s beginning to seem like a normal fishing pattern, on most lakes. Why now? The ice came early, and many fish were still in their fall patterns so early ice didn’t mesh with the seasonal needs of most species.
Now that we’ve entered our mid-December calendar period, which is significant because the days are very short right now, the fish are entering winter patterns and are quite simply more active and easier to catch—especially walleye and northern. The warm days and cold days are a bit problematic, however.
Be sure to watch for cracks in the ice when you strike out onto the lake in the mornings. The sunny warm days cause the ice to expand in the daytime and when the sun sets and the temps drop at night the ice shrinks which makes the lake crack and split. Each morning, I’m finding new cracks that are not passible—be cautious and careful when you strike out early or in the dark especially if you decide to drive a vehicle or pull a heavy fish house. Much of the damaged areas are near the shore lines.
Panfish are also biting well around lakes country. Be sure and stay near weeds and weeds flats when you’re searching for them. Move quickly through spots. If you don’t get a good bite within a minute or two, keep on walking. Take advantage of our good lake conditions. Soon enough, we’ll get a bunch of snow and it’ll be -20 degrees outside, so enjoy the time on the ice now.
Good Luck this week in Otter Tail Lakes Country.
By Ross Hagemeister, meisterguideservice.com