Winter fishing trips you should avoid

[Gabe]

Not every winter outing is worth the risk...especially from thin ice and sudden weather changes to long travel with no backup plan, some trips just aren’t smart. What winter fishing situations do you personally avoid?

 

[Alan]

I avoid thin ice, open water in storms and long solo trips without backup, safety always comes before chasing fish.

 

[Tabby]

Many years ago I used to do a lot of ice fishing. We had a group of friends that would get together on Saturday mornings on different lakes in the area, drill holes, setout tip ups while brewing coffee on a Coleman stove and spiking it with J Bavet's finest Brandy and tell war stories and have a good time. Every once in awhile, someone would remember to bring a frying pan, butter and plates and we would fry up freshly caught fish on the Coleman and have a feast out on the ice. This went on for several winters then some of us got reassigned somewhere else, retired or just moved away. I used to get a chuckle when the guys had their gas powered augers, and were always difficult to start. I had a 6 inch Mora auger and would have my holes drilled and be fishing before they got their augers started. I still have that auger hanging out in the shed. Brings back memories. I don't go out anymore, as one get's older the cold creeps into the bones faster and faster. Those were the days.

 

[Tom L]

Seems like every year there would be no end of stories of vehicles going through the ice. As a result, I only walked and left the vehicle in the parking lot. Might have missed the "big ones", but always went home in a clean, warm and dry vehicle.

 

[Tabby]

Vehicles going through the ice is nothing new. When the water is low on the Boulder Lake Reservoir just north of Duluth just off the rocks on the way to Otter there is an old Model T laying on the bottom of the lake. Beet there for a long time. Guess way back then they weren't so adamant on getting vehicles off the bottom of the lakes, then again maybe they didn't have the means to do it back then, by now it really doesn't matter for that one.