The Mankato area dropped below freezing this week and doesn’t project to creep above at any point in the ten-day forecast.
Tonight’s low drops below zero, which can make a lot of ice in a short amount of time. For the outdoors crowd, many hope for a deep freeze after a deer is in the freezer or shortly after Thanksgiving, so landing in the midst of a cold snap is an answered prayer for ice anglers.
There’s something magical about that first walk onto safe ice. Water that was accessible just a couple weeks ago in a boat is suddenly more appetizing under a coating of just a handful of inches of ice. Venturing out, the only sound you hear is the crunch of the
cleats on your boots gripping the hard ice while the otherwise quiet lake cracks and groans as the ice grows within it.
Here and there in the ice are scattered relics of what lies around and within the lake as you make the walk out from the access. A bright crimson maple leaf, a narrow khaki cattail leaf, bright green duckweed blown in by autumn’s last breeze, and a small and pale yellow perch that died of natural causes are caught in the early crust of ice, frozen in suspended animation until the winter season peaks then recedes into spring when finally, all are released from their entombment at ice out.
Eventually you reach a location to begin the search for fish. Hand auguring takes very little exertion with so few inches; even a spud bar works well to open the ice.
You may bring a power auger, but it will take very little work to open holes. The quiet hum of a flasher and the gentle ticking of the transducer is audible before you drop the corded device into the water to search for fish.
Eventually you find something that looks good and you set up the house. With some luck, you’ll have put everything away ready to go or spent some time before your trip preparing your ice fishing gear. Rods are organized, tackle is ready, and your portable fish house did not get visited by hungry mice during the offseason in storage.
You fire up the propane heater and the familiar smell of mercaptan greets your nose before the flame ignites and the grates begin glowing blue then orange.
You reach into your pocket to retrieve a plastic cup of wax worms or wigglers, the first you found at the local gas station, recently in stock now that the cold has arrived and ice anglers beckon. Pulling off the lid, the smell of saw dust brings back ice fishing memories of prior years.
You open up the small Styrofoam cooler packed in tight to your sled to prevent tipping. When light reaches the bottom of the bucket, tiny splashes are heard as the small fathead minnows react to the stimuli and instinctively school together in a mass.
You dip out a single minnow with the floating handle net and place it on the hook to swim freely.
The smell of fish slime lingers in the shack with the saw dust odor. You crack open your thermos and pour a cup of black coffee, to warm your hands and your whole body and the aroma mingles with the others inside the fish house canvas.
The first drop — the first time you open your reel and release the line and watch as the baited jig sinks from sight from the center of your ice hole brings a satisfying feeling.
You’re relaxed and ready for fish. You’ll spend the time working carefully to fool the fish that approach the bait, but the time spent ice fishing will be your peaceful meditation in nature, away from the business of work, the bustle of holiday seasons, and the drama of daily chores and home responsibilities.
Fish will come and go, some may bite and be caught while others will give you the slip.
You may pick up and move to another spot once the area slows down or you may move all the way across the lake if you find no action nor takers. The days are short now and free time is precious.
There’s something mesmerizing about that freedom and equal opportunity with others, walking from spot to spot on ice thick enough to support a person but too thin for vehicles. Fish are usually in good moods, the season is underway, and opportunity is laid out in front of you. Fishing is always about the possibilities on any given trip, and this trip, this season, this year, anything is possible.
So load up the sled, fire up the auger, and make your getaway plans. Ice fishing is arriving shortly. Enjoy the season and do it safely.