Hello fellow anglers.
Here is a small report on what is going on with the high lakes in our area.
Many anglers this time of year, including myself, can not wait to get out ice fishing. Please use extreme caution right now.
Both Red Lake and Caples are frozen, but can be very dangerous. I received a report from Red Lake last Monday: Two anglers ventured up to find the parking area had been plowed and 2 to 3 feet of snow surrounded the lake. As they went onto the lake there was 8 inches of ice covered by 2 feet or so of snow and slush.
This is a bad combination. The lake has not settled yet and its banks are not firm. The anglers caught some nice fish. But on the way off of the lake, one fell through to his waist. Not only is this a threat of hyperthermia, but if this had been a young angler or if he had been by himself this could have been a very sad report.
Caples Lake has also had some anglers fishing on it. My friend Kelly said many people had been cross country skiing on the edges of the lake because the center was too unstable.
With the last storm, the lake has a total of 5 feet of snow on top of the ice.
Indian Creek Reservior froze over two weeks ago.
And with our daytime temperatures, it is way too unstable to venture out on.
I would recommend to give our higher lakes another couple weeks to stabilize and become more compacted.
I will be venturing out to Red Lake the weekend of Dec. 26 to check out the conditions. Join us then and give fishing a rest until after Christmas.
I have never had to write about a tragedy while ice fishing and I do not want to end this year by having to write one.
We have plenty of time to enjoy our winter pastime, We just need to do it safely.
Good luck on your next outing. If you have a photo of your catch you can send it to jcrandall@recordcourier.com or drop it off at The Record-Courier. If you have any questions in our local fishing world you can call the Naw line at 775-267-9722. Good fishin' and tight lines.
