Out on Upper Red Lake in northern Minnesota. We have a couple walleyes and a nice northern on the ice. The weather is definitely going to keep most activities inside today.
Best of luck out there. Always wanted to try ice fishing, not sure how long I'd last, lol, but I love trying new stuff.
Yes, it has a two burner propane heater, two burner cook top. It’s is actually well insulated. I went through an outfitter up here, beats pulling your own for over 6 hours. I do like sleeping on the ice, this cold the ice is banging and popping all night
Daughters going today they can leave shanty’s on lake til spring. Got a lil woodstove that keeps water warm
Well.... at that temperature at least you know the ice is safe (unless you're on some underground spring-fed pond) The ice doesn't get thick enough to park a shanty on where I live. Too many days above freezing during the typical winter. I remember being out on ponds in the early spring as a kid, those first few days in the upper 40s. I'd be sitting on a 5 gallon pail pulling perch and bluegill out of the hole from sunrise to mid afternoon. By midday I'd start seeing massive amounts of standing water accumulate on the ice all around me and start getting nervous. Those were fun times though.
I'd be too concerned about some snowmobiler blasting into the shanty during the hours of darkness.....
Yeah just south of Hartford. Wethersfield Cove is about a half hour away from me. I launch my canoe out of the cove, paddle out to the Connecticut River, tie off to a channel marker and go for catfish there.
Any idea if there is ice on the cove? A buddy used to live in Vernon we ice fished it a bunch. Coming from NH it was a weird spot to fish with the highway right there and having to walk around used needles and rubbers in the parking area. Very diverse catch tho from carp to striped bass. We were just talking yesterday about going back sometime.
Haha you just described the whole greater Hartford area in a nutshell.... I haven’t been by the cove since summer. I drive by the CT River every day about 15 miles south of Wethersfield and I see a lot of ice floes so I’m willing to bet the cove could be frozen enough in certain spots. The water is pretty calm over there. I wouldn’t wait too much longer though.
The one and only time I have ever had to make a hole in the ice bigger was there. Buddy snagged a 23lb carp in the side. The ice was very thin and crystal clear. He thought he had moby duck on the end of the line. When we saw the fish through the ice we knew it wouldn’t come through the hole. I made his dad chisel the hole bigger because I didn’t want to be responsible for cutting the line. one other time we were there there must have been a big tide. At one point in the day there was a foot gap between the ice and the water. That was a bit freaky!
Yep huge carp in that river. And you’re right, the tide runs pretty strong way inland from the shoreline. I never actually fished the cove to see what was in there. Weirdest thing I experienced fishing that river I never actually laid eyes on. I was in the canoe with my buddy and we were both set up with heavy braided line for big cats. He’s in the front and all of a sudden his pole bends in half. Then I see the nose of the canoe turn towards the middle of the channel. Whatever it was, was actually pulling the canoe very slowly. He held on for maybe a couple minutes then we both decided it was smart to just cut the line. I don’t know what it was, monster carp, bull shark or maybe even a sturgeon. Would’ve been nice to see anyway.
Stergeon would be my guess. we would catch one once in a while in the Merrimack. They fight like hell.
