ice fishing

krugorg

All-Pro
Location
Minnesota USA
Name
Kyle Krug
I had a day off with nothing planned, so I decided to head up to Lake Mille Lacs to checkout the ice fishing. This is a big lake in central Minnesota for ice fishing with a good deal of ice houses, private and resort managed, and a ice road system with streets lettered (so you can call in a pizza or beer delivery).

The winter was warmer than usual here and there were some issues with people getting stranded when parts of the ice broke up early in the season
(news article). It is pretty solid now, towards the end of the season, but they still want to make sure you stick to the plowed ice roads.

My little Subaru on one of the designated ice roads:

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The ice houses range from small car portable shacks (thick vinyl) to large sleep-in houses that must be moved on sleds. It is pretty common to see satellite dishes and the more stationary shacks are LP gas heated. I did see a solar power arrays and a wind turbine or two this year.

Some of the ice fishing houses:

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all photos from my E-P3 with Olympus 12/2
 
Great to see that ice fishing is practiced in the USA also ! I've done it a few times in Russia with some uncles of mine. We had no houses however, and couldn't call in a pizza.
On the other hand, the bottle of vodka was never far away ;)

Great shot, also !

Rafael
 
that's really interesting, nice photos! I particularly like the last one.
Question: if you have a semi-permanent house there, and have gas heating, doesn't it melt the ice underneath you?
 
Great to see that ice fishing is practiced in the USA also ! I've done it a few times in Russia with some uncles of mine. We had no houses however, and couldn't call in a pizza.
On the other hand, the bottle of vodka was never far away ;)

Great shot, also !

Rafael

:D This lake is only a couple hours away from a large urban area, so it is densely populated with cabins and fishing resorts. You do still see guys out just sitting in the open and using a manual ice auger, though, like my father-in-law does. He doesn't drink when he fishes, but I know that is the main reason a lot of people do icefish here (get out of the house with their guy friends, drink, smoke cigars, play cards). :D



that's really interesting, nice photos! I particularly like the last one.
Question: if you have a semi-permanent house there, and have gas heating, doesn't it melt the ice underneath you?

Thanks. That is a great question.... I wondered the same thing when I first moved here. I think that because the ice is thick, most of the cabins are well insulated, and the outside temperature is very cold (normally), so you don't really see any melt.
 
Interesting stuff, Kyle. Those houses look fairly large (for fishing huts I mean).

Also interesting, saw on the TV news last night that a bunch of cars ended up IN the lake as opposed to being parked on it. Different lake though.
Ice fishermen left scrambling as 36 parked cars plunge through frozen lake after they ignored warnings | Mail Online

Too funny that you saw that news, Sue (I didn't catch it)! It has been such a weird, warm winter here... I am guessing they have been able to park like that in past years.

Yeah, the more permanent houses get a little big. I have rented one before, with a group of buddies, that had 12 bunks. I did find this house for sale, if you have any interest (I am guessing we could get them to throw in a new Oz paint job):

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Nice series Kyle. Love the Stars and Stripes shack....can I ask why the short steel gate at the door? To stop dwarf bears and midget wolves getting in?

:D Well, even if the wolves are miniature, they travel in packs, overwhelming with sheer numbers!

Huh, I am not 100% sure on the reason for the gate, but I think it is like a little doorstep/ramp.
 
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