I had another wild adventure when I went up to Minnesota for some family fishing over the New Year holiday! Unfortunately, the fishing wasn’t great and we only were able to catch a few crappies and a couple of walleyes.  Our first trip up to the big lake (Mille Lacs) was on Wednesday. On the trip were my brother in law, father in law and I; we also decided to tow the permanent fish house to Mille Lacs to get it set up for the season.  Now when I go fishing with these guys I always am prepared for a few small set backs and this trip was no exception! We had to deal with a worn out regulator on the heater,  a flat tire on the fish house and rusted bolts that kept us from easily dropping the house to the ice. Thankfully we got an earlier start and were still set up when the fish became active around 4 pm. The action was hot and heavy for about an hour on the Vexilar (depth finder/fish locator) and camera but most of the fish would just sniff the bait and not take it. We were able to fool two nice walleyes though and had a great time in the process!

The next day was even more interesting with some crazy Minnesota weather to thank! Coming from a weather background I knew full well what the weather was going to be like on Thursday. Rain was in the forecast and not just rain but A LOT of rain! We started fishing for some crappies in our portable house on West Rush Lake, but that was pretty slow. By that time in the morning the rain was really coming down. The house kept us dry for the most part but I was also grateful for water proof clothing and boots. After a slow start on West Rush we decided to head to Mille Lacs a little early and see if we could locate some perch or walleyes during the day in deeper water.  By the time we got to Mille Lacs it was literally pouring rain. The lake ice was really pretty solid and was about 15 inches thick so there were no concerns with the ice. We weren’t able to do much on the perch fishing front and decided to move the house to some slightly deeper water. So in the pouring rain my father in law and I fought a wicked battle with the fish house trying to get it off the ice and hooked up to the truck. We finally won the battle and got the house moved to a pretty sweet spot just before prime time. However, luck was not on our side. Despite seeing multiple fish on the camera and Vexilar we were unable to get a single fish to bite.  I am sure that the odd weather played a huge role in the lethargic fishing. Coming off the lake was wild as well with 6 to 10 inches of water sitting on the ice. It was a very surreal experience to say the least.  Thankfully I had some good company on my trip so despite the poor fishing the trip was a success with good family time and memories that will last a lifetime.

After spending the last several months focused on pheasant hunting, I decided the time was right to make the transition to ice fishing! Since moving to South Dakota I haven’t done quite as much ice fishing but this year I am committed to learning a couple of lakes in South Dakota and getting back to Minnesota for some fishing as well. We have been in Minnesota now for a couple of days and we finally had time to get out for some fishing yesterday. It was great to get back out on the ice and we caught some nice keeper crappies as well. While it has been very cold in Minnesota the ice is still only about 6-8 inches thick, because of a nice thick blanket of snow insulating the ice. The thinner ice means folks are limited to either walking out or taking a snowmobile or ATV. It is actually pretty nice because the lake gets pretty busy when people are able to start driving out.  It was a great first trip out and I can’t wait to get out a few more times in the coming days. I also have a trip to Mille Lacs on my list this year which is always an awesome time.

In celebration of the first ice fishing trip of the season I wanted to share a video I did last year while out on the lake. Enjoy!