First ice and last ice bring an element of adventure -- and obviously risk -- when anglers take to area backwaters and lakes in pursuit of late-season perch, walleye and panfish.
Some anglers, it seems, simply like to live on the edge. All for a fish.
In a week, maybe two, you will see fishing boats on the main channel of the Mississippi River below the dams at Dresbach, Minn., and Genoa, Wis., as well as areas of Lake Onalaska. And, in certain areas, you might see ice anglers sitting a few hundred yards, or less, from open water, or even those boats.
How do these hard-core anglers get their boats to patches of open water when the launches are typically still locked with ice? And even more puzzling, why do they do it?
Those are some of the questions I posed to some area bait shop owners/operators, and to my surprise, a couple of them either have done this type of fishing, or did so in the past.
Me? Not going to happen. I’ll stick to writing about it -- it’s warmer and safer, but admittedly without the adrenaline rush.
“There will be guys who take boats out and ride them up on the ice and fish. I am one of them. I did it last year,” said Chad Knapmiller, owner of Schafer’s River Rentals, which sits on the shore of Lake Onalaska. “The thing is, there are just places where the ice holds up longer. There was a foot of ice in the bays last year when almost the entire lake was open.
“You just run a boat up on it. You have to be careful and check the ice (with a spud from inside the boat).”
According to Knapmiller, the perch spawn occurs shortly after the ice goes out, and getting to them in bays where there is still ice floating over 3 to 6 feet of water is prime time. That’s the hook, so-to-speak, is finding hungry, more active perch who are still hanging out under the ice.
The key is to catch them, not join them.
There is some risk, Knapmiller admitted, but there are ways to accomplish this in a relatively safe fashion. Like he said, when you run a boat, either a flat-bottom or v-hull, onto the ice, test the ice’s thickness with a spud or ice pick from inside the boat before attempting to put a foot on it.
And when leaving, always make sure you hang onto the edge of the boat. Remember, this isn’t for amateurs, and even those with experience are taking a risk. All for a fish.
“Most guys know what they are doing. The perch spawn not long after ice out in the shallow bays. We use a flat-bottom boat. You spin it around on the ice (when leaving), and do a bobsled type of thing where you run alongside it and jump in before you hit the end of the ice,” Knapmiller said.
“It is fun. It is like adding another element to the adventure.”
OK, I know the old adage is that first ice and last ice is when the fish bite best, but even if that’s true, is this worth the risk? Mark Clements, a 58-year-old man who, along with his wife Karen, own Captain Hook’s Bait & Tackles in Genoa, said he, too, did the bobsled fishing technique in his younger days.
“Back in the day, that is how my dad (Byron) and I would fish, push the boat across the ice to get to the water,” Clements said. “I remember falling in once while pushing the boat across. You are hanging onto the boat, so you just pull yourself in.
“People used to have chippers, where your outboard motor, it would be like a spiked wheel, like a gear, that would propel you across the ice. Now, so many people have airboats. That is the way to go.”
Now you’re speaking my language, as taking an airboat across the ice to reach open water sounds like fun to me. And it sounds much safer.
All for a fish.
Bob Veglahn, the longtime owner of Tri-State Bait & Tackle in La Crescent, said it’s typically late March before there is significant open water below Lock and Dam No. 7 near Dresbach. Veglahn said the anglers are in hot pursuit of walleye and sauger during the late ice, early spring season.
“They slide it (boat) across the ice. There are some people that have airboats,” Veglahn said. “When there is 6, 8, even 10 feet of ice, then open water by the launch, that makes it difficult. Still, guys with small v-boats and small motors will do it.
“At the most, I have seen 40 boats (in the late winter, early spring). It depends on if they can put it in without pushing it across the ice. If they have to push, it’s a smaller number. To me, if you want fish that bad, it’s easier to go to a restaurant.”
Veglahn makes a good point, but late-season angling is certainly worth the time and effort even if you do it the relatively safe way and walk across the ice, spud in hand.
In fact, Knapmiller says he loves ice fishing this time of year.
“This is my favorite time to ice fish. It used to be first ice, but the more than I have learned how to fish perch, the more I like this time of year. The northern get aggressive, the tip-up bite gets phenomenal. The crappie bite turns on,” Knapmiller said.
“The fish are just kind of starting to come out of their winter dormancy – I don’t know what the scientific name for it is. They are just ramping back up and they start to get ready for spawning. They are feeding more. Essentially, once you start getting the snow melt into the water, the fishing picks up.”
So don’t pack up the ice fishing gear quite yet. There is nothing like sitting on the ice on a 40-degree day when perch, crappies and sunfish are bending your rod time after time. And if you’re one of those who I would call “bobsled anglers,” good luck, and be safe.
All for a fish.
LET ME KNOW: Know of someone who does some winter/spring fishing from an airboat, and has for some time? Or maybe it’s you? Send me a note at outdoorstrib@gmail.com and tell me a little about them.
Jeff Brown, a former longtime sports editor for the Tribune, is a freelance outdoors writer. Send him story ideas at outdoorstrib@gmail.com
March 04, 2021 at 07:00AM
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Outdoors commentary: Life on the edge ... for a fish - Chippewa Herald
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