Cold Snap Brings Early Ice Fishing ...

Chilly December temperatures have jump-started the ice fishing season throughout components of northeast Wisconsin, drawing anglers onto bays and smaller lakes sooner than normal whereas security consultants urge warning.

With temperatures operating 10 to fifteen levels under regular within the Fox Valley, ice has begun forming on sheltered waters akin to Little Lake Butte des Morts and bays round Lake Winnebago. Bigger our bodies of water, together with a lot of the Fox River and Lake Winnebago, stay largely open.

A number of anglers mentioned the early chilly snap pushed them onto the ice weeks forward of a typical season, which normally runs from late December by means of March, relying on circumstances. Many relied on bait retailers, native studies, and the presence of different anglers to evaluate whether or not ice was secure sufficient to fish.

Ice fishing exercise has picked up in locations like Asylum Bay close to Oshkosh, the place anglers have begun establishing early-season shanties. The stretch of frigid climate has additionally coincided with the return of the Wisconsin Ice Fishing Expo, which runs Dec. 12 by means of Dec. 14 on the EAA Grounds in Oshkosh.

Based on reporting from WFRV Local 5, Oshkosh-area ice skilled Don Herman mentioned a lot of the ice at present forming throughout Lake Winnebago bays measures solely 2 to three inches thick.

Herman, who has spent many years plowing lakes and retrieving automobiles and ice shanties that fall by means of the ice, recommends not less than 4 inches of ice for strolling, 6 to 10 inches for ATVs, and 12 to fifteen inches for bigger automobiles. He mentioned ice circumstances can change quickly as cracks kind and temperatures fluctuate, making early-season ice particularly unpredictable.

Regardless of the dangers, native bait retailers report elevated enterprise as anglers make the most of early ice, when bigger fish usually transfer into deeper water. Store homeowners and consultants alike stress that no catch is value risking a fall by means of skinny ice.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources continues to remind anglers that no ice is ever fully secure and urges individuals to test native studies, fish with companions, and carry security gear, akin to ice picks and flotation units, when venturing onto the ice.

Keith Lusher

Keith Lusher is an award-winning outside journalist who resides in Covington, Louisiana. He owns and operates NorthshoreFishingReport.com and writes a weekly outside column for the Slidell Impartial Newspaper. He additionally writes for the St.Tammany Parish Tourism Fee’s VisitTheNorthshore.com. He’s the previous host of The Northshore Fishing Report Radio Present and is on the board of the Louisiana Out of doors Writers Affiliation. Keith contributes to quite a few publications each on-line and in print and prides himself on selling South Louisiana’s distinctive fishery. To contact Keith e mail: keithlusherjr@gmail.com