Stay on Top of Early Ice
Seventeen days. This was the time between the last outing on open water and my first step out on a frozen surface of ice to drill holes. Paul and I made a fruitless quest for brown trout (or whatever would hit our lures) to Egg Harbor early in December. With a major winter storm looming to the west, it was clear that this would be our last of the season. The Maggie Leigh now sits in my garage with its lower unit drained, brimming with the detritus of the fishing season to be sorted through over a long winter. Once the decision is made to store the boat, the wait for fishable ice begins. This can be a tedious time for an avid angler. A prolonged period of involuntarily not fishing can cause even sane anglers to make some questionable decisions. This apparently was the case with two unfortunate anglers off Sherwood Point last week. They suffered the indignity of being removed from the ice by first responders paddling bright yellow “banana boats”. Local reports indicated that the anglers refused medical attention and just wanted to leave as quickly as possible. No doubt. These poor anglers will be subject to ridicule by the general public and abuse by their fishing buddies, all for the sin of pushing the ice fishing season a bit too early. At least they stayed on the right side of the ice.
The search for fishable ice is as much science (meteorology, hydrology, physics) as it is experience and intuition. It starts with observation and data gathering. Local webcams can provide information about ice conditions. The ones I typically check are The Lodge at Leatham Smith, Bayshore County Park and the Door County Maritime Museum tower. I sure wish there were more such webcams available around the county. Satellite images can be accessed to get the broader view of the extent of ice on the bay and lakes. However, these are only useful with clear conditions. We have had few of those so far this season. Local guides, bait and tackle shops and area anglers can provide up to date ice and fishing conditions. I find Lance at Howie’s Bait and Tackle in Sturgeon Bay a useful source of fishing intel. He produces a daily fishing report that is broadcast on WDOR radio. Some information can be gotten online from guide services’ websites or on Wisconsin Lake-Link. I always take these reports with a healthy dose of skepticism and a ton of salt. Relying on online sources from people you don’t know, for anything, is not a wise course. It is best to check out the ice yourself.
The day after Christmas, Boxing Day, I took a road trip along Green Bay from Sister Bay to Sturg. At that point, the ice was setting up well. A polar vortex had brought bitter cold temperatures to Door County causing ice to form along the shore and filling the bays. It was not yet fishable, but it was well ahead of last year when water was still lapping along the shore well into the New Year. The inland lakes were firming up nicely and I even spotted an angler fishing along the causeway on Kangaroo Lake. I went home and started organizing my ice fishing paraphernalia. I was getting excited. Then disaster struck! It got warm. The piles of snow started to melt. Pools of water appeared over the newly frozen surfaces. The ice began to deteriorate. Fast. It was going to be tough to find some fishable ice. Then I caught a break.
My daughter-in-law Kelly had arranged to go on a guided ice fishing trip the week after Christmas. The trip was arranged through the WI Women Fish! anglers’ group and was part of a three-day outing on Dead Horse Bayjust north of the city of Green Bay. I had not fished that area in the winter, and I was very interested in hearing about Kelly’s experience. The best information about fishing and ice conditions always comes from a trusted source who has been out there. Kelly’s group of eight women anglers had a pretty good day considering the conditions and logistics. They put some nice fat perch on the ice. More importantly, Kelly obtained some valuable information about the bite and conditions on Dead Horse Bay. I have been on many guided fishing trips over the years. I don’t necessarily judge a guide by how many fish I catch during the trip, but by how much knowledge I gain that will lead to me catching fish in the future. By that measure, Kelly’s guide trip was successful. At least for me.
Two days later, armed with the information garnered from Kelly, I headed south to fish Dead Horse Bay. Access to the area is gained off the Lineville Road exit off Highway 41. Once exiting the highway, I headed east towards the bay. By the way, this is not a secret spot. I was greeted with the sight on dozens of vehicles parked along the road and a landing crawling with anglers. Dropping off my shack and equipment at the landing, I found a parking spot nearby. I found out this was extremely fortunate. At times, anglers have to park up to a mile away, as I did on a subsequent trip. Once on the ice, sled in tow, I walked in the general direction of the hundreds of anglers already on the ice. The ice was slick and covered with a thin coating of water. Good boots and ice crampons were a necessity to stay dry and upright. The ice conditions, however, were quite good. I found eight inches of good solid ice once I started drilling holes. I positioned myself as far away from other groups of anglers as I could, not an easy undertaking. Setting up in about nine feet of water, I deployed a couple of fathead minnows under a slip bobber and a straight-line drop rig. I also would be jigging a small Kastmasters spoon to entice a bite from a fat yellow perch or maybe even a walleye. I poured a cup of hot coffee, sat down in the shelter of my Eskimo tent and waited for the action to start. I waited for a while. The bite was slow, but I did have a few flurries of action and managed to put together a nice meal of perch by the end of the day. These included several perch over 10 inches and one 11.5 inch beauty. More importantly, I had added another locality to my repertoire of early season ice fishing spots. Thanks, Kelly.
I made a second outing to Deadhorse Bay about a week later with good fishing buddy Ed. This time there were even more people out on the ice, forcing the long walk to the truck. Ice conditions were still good, although there were large areas near the shore covered with water. With all the pressure this area was getting, I was not surprised that the action was even slower this outing. We managed just six “keepers”, included a gorgeous 12-inch hump-backed perch. I also hooked into a nice whitefish, which I lost in the hole because I failed to remove the transducer cable from the hole. Rookie mistake.
I am not sure I’ll be heading back to Deadhorse Bay this season. As the ice firms up on the Green Bay shoreline off Door County, I will have plenty of places to target perch, whitefish, northern pike and walleyes. The drives will be much shorter, the angling pressure less and I will not have to walk a mile to get to my truck. So, I will spend much of the winter on the frozen surfaces of area waters waiting for the opportunity to again launch the Maggie Leigh and return to open water. The cycle continues.
