This may not be the case of just an early spring thaw; in fact, it may be the most unusual record setting thaw in a long time.

According to Natalie Hansel from Environment Canada, we have experienced the warmest March in quite a while. In fact, Hansel says, “This is a record breaking warmest March since 1873.” That’s as far as weather records exist for Manitoba.

Things that affect our weather vary, with environmental scientists claiming that our warmer than usual winters are due to the global warming phenomena.

Climate change refers to any changes in weather such as temperature or precipitation happening over a long period of time, with weather being a short term condition. What is not considered natural is the rate at which these changes take place perhaps due to the result of greenhouse gases or massive carbon dioxide emissions. Accelerated climate change usually has massive impacts on people, the environment and economies.

Robert T. Kristjanson agrees. He is 78 years old and been fishing on Lake Winnipeg waters for almost his entire life. His family has been in the fishing industry on Lake Winnipeg for 123 years and has seen it all. Until this year. He says that this is definately the earliest thaw since his family settled here. Previsouly the earliest thaw was May 4th, and the norm, according to Kristjanson, is near the end of May.

Kristjanson explains that the problem with the earlier than normal thaw has to do with the fish. He says, “The fish last to mature didn’t know it was going to be an early spring so they didn’t spawn.” He says that the fish have to be a certain age to finish spawing. “They must be matured so that we have fish down the line.”

As a rule, Whitefishing is not allowed until June 1st, and there’s usually still ice in the North end of the lake June 15th. However, Kristjanson explains, fishing is still allowed on the lake by individuals and certain groups. He feels that the Provincial government needs to intervene this year with the unusually early thaw in order to protect the survivial of the fish and fishing industry.

“Nobody but nobody should have the right to take fish out of the lake,” says Kristjanson. He goes on to explain that this year fishing according to yearly norms “could be a sad state.”

Dr. Al Kristofferson, research scientist with Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Board, says that this year’s thaw is about three weeks early in his estimates. The Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Board has been monitoring the lake for the 11th consecutive year and comparing data. He says, “When the lake ice is covered, the temperature rate is constant, when the ice leaves, the lake warms.” He speculates that his could affect the algae growth so blooms may be seen a little earlier this year.

http://www.interlakespectator.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3544960

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Ice Fishing Lake Manitoba Narrows

]]> http://icefishinglakemanitobanarrows.com/1208/winnipeg-record-setting/feed/ 0 http://icefishinglakemanitobanarrows.com/1202/tools-trade/ http://icefishinglakemanitobanarrows.com/1202/tools-trade/#comments Fri, 11 May 2012 05:09:55 +0000 admin http://icefishinglakemanitobanarrows.com/?p=1202 Ice fishing has absolutely exploded in popularity over the last few years, as has the popularity of Lake Winnipeg as an Ice fishing destination. Her Bounty of Giant green back walleye has drawn crowds of anglers from the east to the west shore.

Along with this growth and popularity come innovation and unless you have been absent you have heard about the success of modern lipless crank baits or rattle baits on the big lake. Whether it is the classic Rattlin Rapala, your go to Salmo Chubby darter or the Live Target Golden Shiner, that has taken the Lake by storm, not having at least one of these types of a baits in your box would be a mistake.

Local experts Roger Stearns and Lee Nolden, both longtime Lake Winnipeg Walleye guru’s and guides, have been using these baits over the last few years with great success. LW walleye guides Todd Williamson and Mike Chanway smoked the walleye’s all last winter with these baits and won the 2011 NAIFC Ice Walleye tournament with this type of presentation. I am on Lake Winnipeg all winter scouting and guiding my guest through my guide service Ice Eye’s Trophy Greenback walleyes at www.blackwatercats.com and always have at least 2-3 rods rigged with these lures ready to go.

What is really important with this type of bait and presentation is a quality medium/heavy to heavy action rod. If ripping these lures aggressively is not making those big red marks on your Flasher bite, you may need to impart a subtle shaking action that is almost impossible to do effectively with a whippy noodle rod. A stiff heavy action rod with as fast tip really helps put fish on the ice in those situations.

Also when that big Greenback bites you want to make sure you can get the hooks into it. Our greenbacks are strong and bite so aggressively, pinning the bait in their mouth that any attempt at setting the hook with a flimsy rod is ineffective and the fish just spits it out. A stiff rod with a fast tip is what will put those hooks home. I remember one incident from a few years back where I had mixed up my rods and put a firetiger Rattlin Rap on a lighter action jigging rod and then had a super aggressive late march walleye come up on my LX-5 and repeatedly hammer and spit my bait 6 times before I finally got her on the 7th try. It turned out to be a hungry 21-inch walleye and no matter how hard I set the hook I just could not get the hooks home on that rod. I even checked the hooks afterwards and they were sticky sharp. I have not made that mistake again and always have the right rod for the job.

Quantum has come out with a new series of Kinetic Ice Rods in 36-42 inch lengths from medium light to medium heavy actions. The medium heavy 36″ Kinetic Ice rod is along the lines of what you want with these lures but don’t be afraid to go really heavy with your rod selection. These rods really load up nice especially on big fish. I caught my PB walleye at 32 inches and in the neighborhood of 151 lbs last year on my medium action kinetic dead sticking a jig. As luck would have it I had Winty (Steve “I attract big fish like a magnet” Wintemute) with me on this day and got some great pictures of this beauty before she was released unharmed.

The Ice is almost here and I just can’t wait to drill a hole. With new rods, lures and equipment around every corner and Marcum’s new flagship LX-7 Flasher ready to blow the minds of ice fisherman everywhere it is going to be a great year. Good luck on the ice!

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Ice Fishing Lake Manitoba Narrows

The editor of Hooked, Steven Wintemute in 2007, landed some 30 master angler walleye in the span off our weeks on the Red. That number is hard to fathom until I had a taste of that kind of action the following winter. Having interviewed Steven and a couple of other hardcore walleye anglers, Ryan Johnson and Derek Stannard, for an article in the Winnipeg Free Press, I was able to get in on some outstanding early ice action. Given the return of some big fish into the system this year, maybe this December will see a return to the glory years.

My first trip in December 2008 was to a section of river north of Selkirk which has extended stretches of deep water, in the twenty to thirty foot range as an average. After spending some time drilling holes and then checking it out from the boat in open water it just seemed to be a big flat at the end of a deep hole along a straight stretch of the river. If you had to pick this kind of area out of a dozen other better looking areas you would be a magician. For whatever reason though, it consistently holds big fish, really big fish. Along this day was friend Darrin Bohonis, a hardcore fisherman who also reps Minn Kota and Humminbird. We unloaded our vehicles in the early morning light, filling out two sleds with an auger along with our own portable ice shacks. We headed out to the middle of the river, careful to check for thin ice, a very real consideration at this time of the year. Soon we had out holes drilled, our two ice shacks set up twenty feet apart so we could compare notes of what was happening on the electronics. Both Darrin and I were using the Humminbird ICE 55 flasher, the most critical element in this type of fishing.

As we dropped our transducers down the hole, we adjusted the depth in the hole to make sure we could have our lures within the cone. This would allow us to watch our baits and to react to any fish that might appear below.

While ice fishing, you are allowed to lines, so on my still line I put on a 3/8 ounce blue jig tipped with a big salted shiner. On my other rod I had tied on an in line swivel to prevent line twist, then a small cross lock snap so I could change baits. I decided to use something big and aggressive, a gold Hawger spoon with a rattle and a long single hook. I have found with bigger jigging spoons that if you use a single hook, your hooking percentage becomes a lot higher. It was certainly the case this day as I landed all four bites on my jigging spoon, two of which were walleye well over eight pounds. My still line didn’t disappoint this day either, landing the same number and ratio of walleye. So here’s the deal, my jigging spoon fish all came at least eight feet off the bottom while my jig fish were within a foot and a half. With limited current, you will find a lot of big fish suspended at this time of year and without electronics you won’t have a chance to catch them. This also holds true in the big lake. A large number of the walleye suspend on Lake Winnipeg as well, especially when they move out to main basin areas during the middle of the winter. Fishing out of a portable shelter with a heater allows you to focus on your electronics, the key to catching suspended walleye heaven!

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Ice Fishing Lake Manitoba Narrows

Robert Kristjanson, member of a Manitoba family that has been fishing commercially for more than 120 years said, “in my time I have never seen it as early.”

“In 1951 [the ice] went out very early but not this early,” the 78-year-old Kristjanson added.

Normally, ice fishing season on Lake Winnipeg’s southern basin would last until mid-April.

Kristjanson expressed worry that early ice out would allow commercial fishing to begin early, before fish have a chance to spawn. Usually, commercial fishing would not begin until mid-May.

Winter was abnormally mild in Winnipeg and southern Manitoba, albeit plenty cold enough for ice to form on Manitoba’s “great lake.”

Winnipeg climate data accessed by AccuWeather.com showed that the winter months of December through February had an average temperature of -9.6 degrees C (14.7 F), or 6.4 degrees C (11.5 F) above normal.

Record warmth followed in March, a month that saw Winnipeg set both its highest maximum temperature (23.9 degrees C on the 19th), and its highest monthly average reading.

Lake Winnipeg is about as big as Lake Erie, and its southern basin takes in a rather small fraction of the lake.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/ice-out-on-canada-lake-earlies/63852

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Ice Fishing Lake Manitoba Narrows

Before going out on the ice make sure it’s thick enough not to be dangerous. Just because others are out there fishing doesn’t mean it’s safe. On big lakes, stay near the shore and don’t get close to the outer edge of the ice before all the open water is gone. And be very careful taking snowmobiles and vehicles on the ice.

Cutting holes in the ice can be done with a hand or power auger, or even an ice spud (a kind of knife). Using the hand auger or spud is a good way to work up a sweat and then be really cold when you stop to fish. Some people like to cut several holes and fish them all, while others are satisfied with one hole to fish. Sitting over the hole and jigging a tiny jig or spoon, tipped with a maggot, minnow, or piece of fish, is a good way to catch fish. Tip-ups are devices that sit in the hole and pop up a flag when you get a bite, so if you set up several lines, you can watch them over a large area.

Some folks sit on a bucket on the ice beside the hole, exposed to wind and cold; others protect themselves with portable tents; and many more people build themselves ice shacks for protection. Some lakes look like small towns with all the ice shacks that stand in one spot all winter. The shacks can have all the comforts of home, from beds to stoves and televisions. Fishing in one can be just like sitting in your living room at home; that is, if your living room has a hole in the floor with water and fish in it.

Give ice fishing a try to beat cabin fever and catch some fish to eat. Just about any kind of fish in the lake can be caught under the ice, but perch and pike are most common. Check with local bait shops for tips on where to fish and what to use. And if there’s a lake near you with an ice-fishing shanty town, you might find a bait shop right on the ice.

http://www.netplaces.com/fishing/when-to-go-fishing/ice-fishing.htm

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Ice Fishing Lake Manitoba Narrows

Putting your bait or lure at the depth the fish are—and then not moving it much—are the keys to catching fish through the ice.

And using some simple devices that will help you know when you have a fish on the end of your line is a big help too.

Drew Cushing, warm water sport fisheries coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources, says fish become lethargic when they’re under the ice.

“Fish will often stay at a certain water depth all winter long,” Cushing says. “Also, they aren’t as willing to move fast to catch their food.

“Keep those two things in mind,” he says, “and you should find plenty of fish on the end of your line this winter.”

Technique

As you search for fish, and also after you find them, don’t move your bait or lure much. Keep it still. If you do want to give your bait or lure a little action, don’t move it up and down much. And move it slowly.

“Remember that fish under the ice aren’t willing to expend a lot of energy to catch their food,” Cushing says. “If you move your bait or lure too much or too fast, the fish might decide it’s not worth its effort to catch what you’re offering it.

“The best thing to do,” he says, “is find the depth where the fish are. Then drop your bait or lure right in front of the fish.”

Water depth

The depth at which you’ll find fish varies depending on the species you’re after. No matter which water you’re fishing in Utah, you’ll probably find the following fish at the following depths:

Yellow perch

Either right on the bottom of the water you’re fishing, or no more than six inches above the bottom.

Splake

Close to the bottom.

Trout, kokanee salmon

Suspended at various depths. You’ll find trout and salmon just under the ice to as much as 15 feet below the ice. “Once you find the depth at which trout or salmon are suspended in a water,” Cushing says, “there’s a good chance you’ll find them at that same depth throughout the winter.”

To catch trout and salmon, Cushing recommends starting by fishing your bait or lure just under the surface. If you don’t get a bite, lower your bait or lure a few feet. Try that depth for awhile. If the fish still aren’t biting, continue lowering your bait or lure a few feet at a time. If you’re using the right bait or lure, and you’re still not catching fish, you’ll know trout and salmon aren’t using that part of the lake at that time.

Bluegill, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass

Near brush, bulrushes, rocks and weeds. Look for vegetation that’s sticking up through the ice or ridges that extend down into the water. To find the depth where the fish are, start by dropping your bait or lure all the way to the bottom of the water you’re fishing. Then raise your bait or lure a few feet at a time until you find the fish.

Burbot, walleye, tiger muskie, Northern pike

Near the bottom of the water you’re fishing. Each of these fish like to pick baits or lures up, swim a ways with them, and then drop them. Fishing with the bail on your reel open, or using a device called a tip up, are good ways to let the fish run with your bait or lure before you set the hook.

If you’re not sure which depth to try, ask anglers you see on the ice. “Most anglers are very willing to tell you the depth at which they’re catching fish,” Cushing says.

Cushing also reminds you that fish aren’t everywhere in a lake. If you drill a hole and fish for 30 minutes without getting any bites, move to a new spot.

“Once you find a spot that has fish,” he says, “keep coming back. More often than not, an ice fishing hotspot will stay hot.”

Bobbers

Not only do fish move less under the ice, they also don’t bite their food as aggressively. And that can make it challenging to know when a fish is striking your bait or lure. “If you’re relying on your fishing rod to tell you when a fish is on the end of your line,” Cushing says, “you probably won’t know it’s time to set the hook.”

(Setting the hook involve pulling up on your fishing rod to set the hook in the fish’s mouth.)

Fortunately, inexpensive items such as ice bobbers are available. Simply measure the amount of line that will put your bait or lure at the depth you want to fish. Then attach your bobber at that point on your line. The bobber will sit on top of the water with your line dangling under it.

“When you see the bobber move,” Cushing says, “you’ll know it’s time to set the hook.”

Tip ups

An item that will cost you about $15, but that’s effective and fun to use, is called a tip up.

A tip up is a mechanism that you use instead of using a regular fishing rod. When a fish takes your bait, a mechanism on the tip up sends a small flag up, letting you know a fish is on the end of your line.

“Using a tip up makes it easier to fish in two holes,” Cushing says. “You can drill two holes a ways apart and still know when a fish is biting the line in either hole.”

Remember that in addition to your fishing license, you must have a two-pole permit to fish with two poles or two tip ups. Also, your poles or tip ups cannot be more than 100 feet apart, and you must be able to see each one clearly.

http://wildlife.utah.gov/dwr/news/42-utah-wildlife-news/464-ice-fishing-tips-for-finding-success.html

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Ice Fishing Lake Manitoba Narrows

Thirteen American ice fishermen who were stranded for seven hours on an ice floe on Lake of the Woods admit that they should not have gone out onto the ice, but they say they weren’t worried during their ordeal.

Search and rescue crews used an air boat to rescue the 13 men, who became stranded on Tuesday while ice-fishing at Buffalo Bay, in the Manitoba portion of Lake of the Woods. No one was injured.

The group of fishermen from Wisconsin has made the annual trek north for the past 10 years.

But unseasonably warm temperatures this year caused the lake ice to deteriorate earlier than usual, said Leonard Friesen, owner of the Silver Birch Resort, where the men are staying.

One of the men, Tracy Sobush, told CBC News he and his friends had been warned on Tuesday not to go onto the ice, but they believed it would be safe.

“Let’s take a chance and go. Yeah, Leonard told us, ‘You’re out there on your own risk, boys.’ And we know that,” Sobush told CBC News on Wednesday.

“We know the risks. But … to catch Manitoba pike, it’s well worth it.”

Uncertain ice

The men took their all-terrain vehicles and fishing gear onto the uncertain ice. They ended up stranded on an ice floe for about seven hours, until the last of them were taken off just before 3 a.m. CT Wednesday.

Friesen said the fishermen, who range in age from the mid-20s to mid-40s, had spent Tuesday fishing for northern pike spawning in the Reed River. He received a phone call from the group at around 7:30 p.m.

“They said they had an issue,” Friesen said.

The wind had come up and suddenly the ice where their fishing huts were stationed was surrounded by open water. Cracks and fissures in the ice made it impossible for them to return to shore.

“They couldn’t get off the ice because the crack was about 100 feet wide and by time they got rescued the crack was probably 300 [to] 400 feet wide,” Friesen said.

But Sobush said he and his friends were not worried as the ice pulled away from the shore.

“I’m an ice fisherman. That’s what ice fishermen do,” he said.

“There is no such thing as safe ice. I mean, it could be four feet thick and it’s still dangerous.”

Air boat dispatched

An air boat was dispatched from Kenora, Ont., and the men were ferried to shore. It took several hours for search and rescue crews to complete the task.

RCMP search and rescue, the Manitoba fire commissioner’s office, Lake of the Woods search and rescue and local fire departments took part in the rescue.

Friesen said the ice was about 45 centimetres inches thick and the men were reasonably comfortable while awaiting help.

“They were sitting out, it was hard ice and they had their ice shacks, so they’re all dressed warm,” he said. “They had their ice shacks set up with the heaters in it. They were doing just fine.”

Sobush said he and his buddies passed the time by “cracking jokes and ripping on each other, because that’s what guys from Wisconsin do — we just give each other a hard time.

“We know it’s serious,” he added. “You know, we’re in a pickle and we’ve got to figure out how we’re going to get out of it.”

Live and learn

The group spent almost $4,000 to hire a helicopter to lift out 10 all-terrain vehicles and several fishing shacks.

Sobush said in hindsight, his group should have checked weather patterns in the area before heading out onto the ice.

Friesen said it was a case of live and learn.

“They all knew what could happen, there was no doubt about it,” he said.

“But when the fishing is really good and you get caught up in the fishing and not looking at the weather and the wind conditions, things can happen.”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/story/2012/03/28/manitoba-fishermen-lake-ice-rescue.html

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Ice Fishing Lake Manitoba Narrows

Tracy Sobush, one of the 13 men from Wisconsin, said the group of friends travels each year to fish at the spot near Birch Point on the Manitoba side of Lake of the Woods.

Although the owner of the Silver Birch Resort had warned them weeks before that they might want to cancel their holiday because of warm weather, they decided to travel north and try fishing anyway.

They had already been out fishing for a couple days. The ice was a half-metre thick in parts, and the fish were jumping.

But on Tuesday afternoon, they ran into trouble.

“It was raining. Everybody was getting pretty wet, and it was getting darker. And we’re like, ‘Let’s pack up and head back to the lodge,’” said Sobush.

They got on their all-terrain vehicles and started to head back, but the landing they had used earlier to get on the lake was gone. They drove around looking for another way out but discovered they were on a super-sized ice floe, about five kilometres by 10 kilometres in size, surrounded by open water.

“It’s like, ‘Oh boy, that don’t look good.’”

Sobush said an unexpected wind had opened a pressure crack in the ice and started blowing them out into the lake.

He said they didn’t panic. They were all dressed in warm clothing and had their shacks to keep them warm.

“We all just went, ‘Well, we’ll ride it out. Wait for the wind to switch and it’ll blow this giant iceberg back to shore and we’ll get off.’”

Eventually they did start to worry, Sobush said. What if the wind was so strong it pushed them back to shore and buckled the entire thing? One of them used a cellphone to call the lodge’s owner, Leonard Friesen. He then called RCMP.

More than a dozen rescue workers and firefighters were called out and a special airboat was brought in. Over the next few hours, it made several trips over about a kilometre of water, slush and ice to bring the men to shore.

Sobush said the only thing the rescue crews couldn’t bring back were their quads. So the group rented a helicopter to pluck the pricey machines from the ice floe.

Sobush, a welder from Manitowoc, Wis., said they still have a few days of their Canadian vacation left. And although they won’t be ice fishing, they may jump in a boat to search for walleye.

“That’s safe, isn’t it?” he laughed. “We’ve got life-jackets.”

http://www.castanet.net/news/Canada/73111/Ice-fishing-tragedy-averted

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Ice Fishing Lake Manitoba Narrows

Manitoba Conservation said the warm temperatures have caused unsafe conditions on the ice, and they are deteriorating faster than normal.

The province has asked anyone venturing out on the ice to be extremely careful and only remove structures as long as conditions allow for safe removal.

Typically, March 31 is the last day for removal of the huts in southern Manitoba. Last Tuesday was the deadline for all ice fishing shacks to be removed from the Red River.

http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120316/wpg_iceshacks_remove_120316/20120316/?hub=WinnipegHome

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Ice Fishing Lake Manitoba Narrows

The province advised Thursday that all shacks should be removed from the ice in southern and central Manitoba as soon as possible, as long as it’s safe to do so.

Normally shacks can remain until March 31, but mild temperatures have cut the ice fishing

season short this year. Shacks were to be removed from the Red River by March 13.

Those who don’t remove their shacks could be issued a fine by Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship.

http://www.chrisd.ca/blog/52107/manitoba-ice-fishing-season-lakes-rivers-shacks-removal/

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Ice Fishing Lake Manitoba Narrows