Posts Tagged ‘ice out’

Ice out is imminent here on the lake. Our bay is open though the larger, deeper bays still have ice. Nevertheless, an angler was fishing in our bay as were the loons. As I write this post, loons are calling, filling the air with their melodious song. I love the north country.

I am not as anxious to get on the water after ice out. There is so much crap in the water that surfaces after the ice has gone. That said, we have benefited from this as well. We’ve picked up two fenders, a squirt gun and a water ski. Not bad.

Unfortunately, our dock took a major hit. We left the poles in the water. The other night, the wind was blowing something fierce. The ice floes flattened the poles. My only consolation is that at least it’s not as bad as Rambo’s lift next door. We call Rambo Rambo because he like to shoot geese with pellet guns to keep them off his lawn. Idiot. If you don’t like geese on your lawn, move. 

Anyway, the seed is planted. We have some work to do on the boat like a new cover and new bimini. I can’t wait to be on the water again.

Photo by trouble550

The ice has really taken on a gray color these days. We’re starting to see some open patches of water. The geese and ducks are coming back. We even saw a couple of pairs of trumpeter swans.

You know you’re in Minnesota when you see the boat either uncovered in blind defiance to there being any more snow or more cautious yet optimist with the boat still shrink-wrapped in the driveway. People are getting anxious. They have the blowers running to hurry the melt. The snowmobiles are gone, replaced by the jet skis.

We’re getting excited too, making our bets on the actual date of ice-out. The boat is still in indoor storage. Have to save up the money to get that new custom canvas cover and repair work. Break Out Another Thousand.

Photo by arinas74

We took a bit of a dive into the 20s the past few days, putting off ice out and summer boating. The ice is still plenty thick though. Lots of guys are still out there ice fishing, albeit without the car to keep them warm.

This week the Canada geese returned, which is always a positive sign of spring ahead. We’re seeing lots of mallards and a few hooded mergansers where the water is flowing on the ice.

Average ice out for us in April 9th, but I’m predicting a late one this year. I’ll put my bet at April 24th this year.

There a few things to remember about ice out. First, the water is going to be filled with all kinds of floating debris. Ice out only means that you can get from one part of the lake to the other. That doesn’t mean that there are not still ice floating around, sometimes in large areas.

There is a water skier in our cove who is usually out skiing just after ice out. We call him Tommy Bartlett, after the famous Wisconsin water skiing act. There he will be, decked out in his wet suit skiing away. He’s very talented too, so he’s fun to watch.

Several rivers around here have been flooding. I think there’s no mistake that the lake levels will be up this year, much to my husband’s relief.

We have a lot of maintenance planned this year. Have to do the spring tune up. The boat ran so well when we did it last year. We also have to replace our canvas. Ours bit the dust last year.

So, as say every year, boat? Break out another thousand.

We experienced some encouraging signs today that spring is getting close, along with it, the much anticipated ice out. For the first time this winter, there were Canada geese at our shore.

The old husband’s tale is that geese send out scouts. Sure enough, there were just two geese who decided to brave the winter conditions and find out what Minnesota held for them.

There has been a slight warm up, with temperatures crawling into the high 30s. Inevitably, the morning fog is dense, denser than any I’ve experienced before with all of the snow.

We take heart though and realize that this weather is signaling the spring warm up. It won’t be long before we talk about getting the boat in the water. If it weren’t for the annual spring boat repair costs, we’d be celebrating right now.

Well, the ice houses are off the lake. By law, February 28th was the last day you could have a permanent ice house on the lake in Minnesota. I’m sure ice fishermen dreaded moving off the ice.

Yet, even though the houses are gone, the cars are still there. Last night, we watched some small passenger car darting around the lake, doing donuts. There was no danger of him falling through. The ice is thick enough. Gez, there’s still two foot of snow covering it.

I’ve never been brave enough to drive on the ice. On our lake, cars routinely drive all over the lake. They even have roads plowed through the snow, making it ever so convenient.

As we watched the car and its occupants enjoy the lake, we watched a couple of people, one of them carrying a bag trek across the ice toward an island about one mile away. I know it’s a mile since we walked it last year.

Anyone looking at them would have thought, what the? What’s in the bag? We knew. Geocachers placing a geocache. From the looks of it, it was probably a regular-sized cache. Good for them, I thought. Another way to enjoy an ice-covered lake.

Soon, it won’t be long before we start thinking about that custom canvas cover we’re going to have to get for the boat and the new boating license that we’re going to have to get.

The average ice-out is April 9th. We can only hope, but I have a feeling it will be late this year.

This past weekend brought both blessings and woes to ice fishermen. Undoubtedly, they welcomed the warmer temperatures. If your icehouse doesn’t have a heater of some sort, it can’t be too much fun sitting in freezing temperatures. Temperatures climbed into the 30s, prompting some die-hard Minnesotans to break out the shorts. Yes, the shorts.

Unfortunately, the warm weather also brought rain. I don’t think it ever stopped raining Saturday. If my driveway is any indication, getting to the icehouse just became more treacherous. Added to that, the icehouses are frozen to the lake. It’s probably not critical now. They can stay out on the lake overnight. I dread thinking of those ice fishermen having to chop away at the ice to free their icehouses.

I tried ice fishing once. Without shelter, it’s not fun sitting in the cold. My husband refuses to drive our car onto the ice, warning how our car insurance ceases once rubber hits ice. While I’m not there fishing, I am taking notes. I’m paying attention to where those icehouses are on the lake. Those are going to be the fishing hotspots I boat too once the lake is open and fishing is legal again.

Fishes rely on the substrate structure, so I don’t think that I’m far off the mark when I note these patterns. As I watch the wind swirl the snow around, I find myself getting anxious for ice out. Only three more months.