Brad Dokken: Ice fishing comes to a screeching halt in many areas

Mar. 16—There's been a lot of chatter about early ice-out dates this week as lakes — especially those to our south — lose ice.

In the Monday, March 11, weekly update from the Department of Natural Resources' Division of Enforcement, DNR officers in many parts of Minnesota offered warnings about the rapidly changing ice conditions.

"No ice fishing activity remains around Douglas County," DNR conservation officer Mitch Lawler of Alexandria, Minnesota, reported. "Many lakes are well over half open, with only very weak ice pockets floating around."

And that was before a couple of sunny days with high temperatures in the 50s.

Even Lake of the Woods, where fish houses by law can be on the ice until March 31 and walleye season is open through April 14, is winding down its ice fishing season as some resorts begin pulling their rental houses back to shore.

"There is still ice fishing happening and available," Joe Henry, executive director of Lake of the Woods Tourism, wrote Tuesday, March 12, in his weekly fishing report. "Fish houses are available at some resorts. At other resorts, they are allowing guests to bring collapsible fish houses only. Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics."

That's good advice.

A friend who lives up in that neck of the woods texted me a couple of video clips Wednesday afternoon, showing one resort's fish houses pulled off the lake near Wheelers Point and lined up in orderly fashion for storage until next winter (which hopefully will be more of a winter than this one has been).

Another clip he shared, this one near Morris Point, showed the big lake nearly devoid of fish houses, although a few anglers still were driving out there.

For March 13, the lake looked eerily quiet.

"It's a safe bet people won't be ice fishing up here on the walleye opener this year," he said, referring to 1996, the year a half-dozen of us walked off Graceton Beach on the south shore of Lake of the Woods and spent a warm, sunny day catching a mixed bag of walleyes, saugers, perch and tullibees fishing atop ice that had the consistency of a giant snow cone. "I fished the lake a bunch this winter. It was one of the best ice fishing years I've experienced since I've been up here. Consistently good — and nice fish.

"And we had good ice the entire season where we fished. There were definitely less people. That was probably a good thing for this lake."

On that last count, I'd definitely agree.

Many anglers in the border country will now be shifting their focus to the Rainy River, where the Nelson Park boat landing in Birchdale, Minnesota, was cleared of ice early in the week by personnel from Koochiching County. The border country weather outlook isn't exactly conducive to boat fishing in the next few days, though, with highs in the upper 20s to mid 30s and north-northwest winds in the forecast at least through Wednesday, March 20, according to the National Weather Service.

Despite the weather, I'm sure the lines at the boat ramp will still be a mile long or more as anglers from across the region converge to launch their boats for a taste of walleye fishing that can border on spectacular when — and if — conditions are right.

The earliest ice-out date ever recorded on Lake of the Woods was April 8, 2012, a year that a friend and I enjoyed some fantastic fishing in his boat outside Lighthouse Gap on the final weekend of the spring walleye season.

Could that record be broken this year?

My guess would be no, but we'll know soon enough.

One thing's for sure — the lake will definitely be ice-free before May 21, the latest ice-out date ever recorded on Lake of the Woods, back in 2014. In 1996, the year we ice fished Lake of the Woods for the walleye opener, the ice went off the lake May 16.

North Dakota doesn't keep a database of ice-out dates like the one the

Minnesota DNR maintains on its website,

but Greg Power, fisheries chief for the Game and Fish Department, said ice is definitely bad for mid-March in many parts of the state. At the same time, though, Power said he heard of vehicles on numerous lakes across central North Dakota earlier this week.

Given the iffy conditions, North Dakota anglers looking to venture out for a last excursion or two on the ice should use caution or — perhaps the better option — stay on shore until the ice goes out.

The way things are going, the wait won't be long.