blake
Life Member
From the Iowa DNR :
Ice Anglers Checking Gear, Hoping for Cold Snap
DES MOINES - Nighttime temperatures across Iowa dipped into the low to middle teens which put a thin layer of ice on some north Iowa lakes and sent many die hard ice anglers to their basements to pull out the fishing gear. Small wetlands across north Iowa have been freezing for several weeks, but reopen during the day as the weather warms.
For many north Iowa lakes the water temperature is in the middle 30s and with the daytime and nighttime temperatures bouncing like a yo-yo above and below the freezing point for the next week, don't expect to be ice fishing by Thanksgiving.
"The water temps are there and if we get the right night temps and the days stay at or below freezing, then it won't take long for these lakes to ice over," said Scott Grummer, fisheries biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources at Clear Lake.
While ice anglers patiently wait for winter to arrive now would be a good time to check the ice fishing gear so when ice finally comes, they are ready to hit the lake running.
Check the auger and make sure the blades are sharp. Make sure the gas powered auger runs before hiking a half mile out on the lake for its first use. Set up the portable shanty and air it out and make sure mice have not called it home for the last seven months. Put on new fishing line and check the supply of propane.
Once that is done, all there is left to do is to wait and hope for cold weather.
TURN IN POACHERS!
TIP
