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Posted

So it's the coldest day of the year so far, and this is the day I've chosen to go out on LOW. Wish me luck, I hope to have my limit as soon as possible so I can spend the day warming up with a hot brandy somewhere.<P>We haven't decided where we're going to go yet, either springsteel, long point, or arnesons. I'll have a report back for you when we get back tonight.

Posted

Good luck, I will be up thursday thru saturday. Hoping this weather turns by then. Can't wait to here the report. Going to fill extra propane tanks tonight!

Posted

The day in a nutshell.<P>I start my car at 4:15 to let it warm up, so it's nice and toasty when I get in it at 5 a.m., I slide into the driver's seat and it's ice cold. Something is frozen somewhere, luckily the thermostat is still circulating coolant to the engine. The electric thermometer on the car's dash says -30, so I know it's at least 20 below in the car. Thankfully it's so cold in the car that my air freezes as soon as it leaves my nose and freezes on my face, instead of fogging up my windows.<P>I drive 20 miserable miles to my buddy Meat's house where we're supposed to meet up, and we switch vehicles into his fathers trusty 4 x 4. We load up the 6-holer Clam house into the box, along with the drill and the rest of the equipment. The latch's on the tailgate are froze open so we can't shut it. One ratchet strap later, that problem is solved.<P>We head up to badger and meet up with an old friend from highschool, who has a surefire hotspot that he's been killing em at for his last 6 outings. He has to nest into a pile of our coveralls we have stacked between the two bucket seats of the pick-up.<P>We arrive at his secret spot,which is a mile and a half off of Gull rock. The nearest stationary house is at least 200 yards away from us. They are our only neighbors until you make it to the cluster by Gull Rock. Anyhow, we get out of the pick-up and almost instantly eyelashes, nosehairs, and beards turn into white frosty messes. <BR>We pull out the clam, and while they're struggling to put the poles togethor I shovel clear a spot, and start hooking up the heaters. We throw the canvas top over the steel supports, and the plastic window on the windiest side of the house breaks apart, leaving an 8 inch by 8 inch wind tunnel which will serve as a refreshing reminder of the chilly weather for the entirety of our day.<P>The Auger which is a 2 year old and well cared for Jiffy doesn't start. We throw it in the cab of the pickup while we sit outside and freeze. After standing outside for about 10 minutes we take it out, and it fires after about 20 pulls. Meat climbs into the house to mark the holes but has no luck, the auger although running, isn't turning. We try to get it going by spinning it while applying the throttle, but no luck. Once again though, fortune is with us, as the buddy from badger had the same thing happen to him fairly recently. The spring that controls the throttle is frozen, he pushes something in on the engine somewhere that I can't see, and the auger roars into life full throttle spinning like mad, with no way to slow it down. We drill the holes without much incident and get the house situated. Now the propane in the heaters is frozen, and we can only get 1/2 of one burner going on the big double header. The rest is a sickly blue. We take in the other heater to warm up the other propane tank with what little heat we have. Slowly the the 1/2 a burner turns into a full burner, and we get the second burner lit. The other tank thaws out enough to start up our second sunflower heater and it finally starts to get bearable in the house. <P>We get lines in the water, and nothing for 20 minutes. Then, they start. It is a thing of beauty, for 25 minutes I can't keep a line in the water, and my two friends are getting scattered bites to keep them busy. It's like this all day, with the action going from person to person, so nobody is left out, and not a one of us has dead holes. We limit out by 2:30 with a bunch of nice eaters, plus 1 burbet and 1 perch.<P>Great friends that I haven't seen for a long time, and good action. Made this a perfect minnesota ice fishing outing.<P>

Posted

DirtyB!<BR>Wow what a trip! You and your friends will remember that one forever. Your d*** lucky you made it home alive! I must say that you can really tell a story...I laughed all the way through!! I think you should be a writer or author or something. Thats by far the best report I've seen all year..<P>You musta had a few "hot ones" out there to keep you go'n?!?! smile.gif<P>

Posted

That was a pretty awesome post, while I was reading it I felt like I was there trying to put those poles together with frozen fingers. It's too bad our football team sucks, or we could just sleep in and then watch the game indoors. Cool story.

Posted

Thanks, sometimes when a guy's writing stuff out he just gets inspired, ya know?<P>The runs were really great, but getting to hang out with my friends that I hadn't seen for a long time really made it worthwhile. This is probably going to be my only trip up to LOW this year, so they really wanted to make it worth while for me and they did. It didn't even bother me when I got back to Meat's house and my car wouldn't start. It maybe would have bothered me had I known that there were wind chill advisories out on the lake for -60+ temperature ratings. But, once we got set up, and the propane starting to flow instead of ooze it wasn't all that bad.<p>[This message has been edited by Dirtyb25 (edited 01-05-2004).]

Posted

Nice post! Great reading, we are all envious of your time, although I had to go turn the heat up just reading.

Posted

Great writing. I felt like I was there trying to get that auger started! <P>Mike

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Wanderer
      Naw, I just pushed up my glasses.         
    • leech~~
    • smurfy
      🤣 did your nose just grow a bit!😏🤭
    • Wanderer
      I hope to be fishing….  It’s so rare that I get to go, I hate passing up the opportunity. 😉   
    • leech~~
      Since the Vikings are never in it. We use it for an excuse to make some fun stuff!  Last year was a bit light. Hot cheese bean dip, hot wings and pepperoni cheese bread! 😋
    • Hookmaster
      That snow and the 15-25 mph winds on Thursday with higher gusts will be nasty drifting. I didn't go to LOW (can I say that in the this thread?🤫) this week because of it.
    • smurfy
      Who's watching the big game Sunday? More importantly what's ya'all cooking!   I like good football si I'm tuning in. Food... yea no clue yet 
    • Wanderer
      Hard to see em well enough to tell.
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the South Shore...  Ice fishing is strong across the south shore of Lake of the Woods out on Big Traverse Bay.  Most anglers are targeting deep mud with others fishing structure if available where they are going out of.  There are fish in both areas.     Some ice roads are now extending more than 16 miles out, with over two feet of ice reported in most areas. Resorts and outfitters continue increasing weight limits. As a rule, fishing continues to be very good with consistent action for anglers.  Most fishing activity is taking place in 26-32 feet of water.  Anglers are finding a healthy mix of walleyes and saugers, with plenty of opportunities to enjoy fresh fish frys and bring fish home.   On the jigging line, jigging spoons with rattles tipped with a minnow head have been consistent.  Lipless crankbaits and jigging rap style lures also doing well.   On the deadstick, a plain hook or a small jig with a live minnow 6 inches to a foot off of the bottom.    You never know when the fish will move through.  Anglers fishing the entire day normally have success.  Electronics are a big help as well. On the Rainy River...  The morning and evening hours are the best for fishing walleyes. A jig and minnow combination has been a good presentation.  A jigging spoon tipped with a minnow head is also producing some fish. Catch-and-release sturgeon fishing is still producing some big fish through the ice.  There are two sturgeon seasons on Lake of the Woods and the Rainy River, a catch and release season and a harvest season in which you can keep one fish per calendar year.    The harvest season runs from April 24th – May 7th and July 1 – Sept. 30. The catch and release season runs May 8th – May 15th and Oct. 1 – April 23rd.    Although ice conditions on the river are good, they can vary significantly due to the current, so anglers should always consult local resorts or outfitters for the most up-to-date safety information and fishing advice. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing remains good at the Northwest Angle.  Resorts continue to move their fish houses staying on fish.  Some fish houses are set up on structure while others are targeting deeper mud flats.    Anglers are catching a nice mix of walleyes, saugers, jumbo perch, pike, and tullibees.  Good numbers of big crappies are still being caught in select areas and hard sided fish houses are available to target them.  Check with a NW Angle resort for info.   Jigging one line, deadsticking the second is effective.  Some days the jigging line is hot, other days the deadstick.  Some good colors have been gold, glow red, glow white, wonder bread, pink, chartreuse and orange. Lake of the Woods enjoys an extended ice fishing season with fish houses on the ice through March 31st and walleye and sauger seasons open through April 14th. Perch, crappie, and pike seasons remain open year-round.  
    • JerkinLips
      Same story, different day (Monday).  Caught several small walleyes (biggest were 14 and 15 inches) with the best bite from 2-5pm.  Caught my record walleye this winter at 6½ (inches, not pounds).  Was wondering why the bobber kept going down a couple inches for several minutes until I finally reeled it up.  Fortunately it was just hooked in the lips.  Having a lively minnow definitely improved the action.  I put down a pike sucker for the first time this winter and got an immediate hard bite.  When I went to set the hook, the line broke just above the hook.  Don't know if it was a northern bite-off or just weak line by the hook.  May try some pike suckers next trip.   Ice conditions were very good except for heavy drifting (even with very little fresh snow).  Didn't see any vehicles traveling off road except for snowmobiles and a tracked SxS, although there weren't many people out on the lake.  Water came up around my house about 1½ inches but froze very quickly with the cold weather and no snow on top.  Will probably have to block it up again next time up.   Good luck fishing and be careful of severe drifting of snow, especially with the 3-5 inches they are predicting for Wednesday night.  
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