Ice fishing good in some locations

By Bill Bartusek

Snow and cold weather have again dominated the weather for area sportsman. The snow just keeps coming lately and that really is hampering ice conditions locally. The thick snow is insulating the ice and slowing down the process of making ice.

Anglers are still finding enough ice to get out to do some fishing. For the most part success has been pretty good for those that get out to the areas that hold fish. Ice conditions vary throughout the state. In the northern half of the state there is quite a bit of ice. In that part of the state they've just had their first significant snowfall. In the Mille Lacs Lake area there is good ice. I drove by the huge lake Sunday and anglers were out several miles. Reports coming from this lake indicate some very good fishing. They're looking at over 12 inches of ice so far.

My good friend Tom Ohnstad and I traveled to the Brainerd area this past weekend. There we found around 12 inches of ice too. In some cases water was flooding the ice and made for sloppy going. Fishing there was pretty good. We hit three different lakes and caught some nice walleye, northern pike and panfish. Snow there isn't as deep as it is here and ice conditions are improving. Anglers are also having some good success on Lake of the Woods. Reports from there show anglers catching limits of fish. We'll see a lot more action in the next few days as people get out over the Christmas break.

I hope everyone gets home for Christmas and has a blessed holiday. Some, like our troops, won't be able to do that. Let’s all have a safe and Merry Christmas with our family and friends. Merry Christmas to all!!