The reason as I understand it is a tropical storm called El Nino (there's a tilde above the n you just can't see it). This causes warm air to work it's way north giving us in Michigan a mild winter. The last time we had one of these tropical storms the lake barely iced over in time for Tip Up Town in late January.
My rule of thumb is when the temperature drops below 50 degrees I put my boat away. If a warm spell comes through I go to Reedsburg and fish from shore. I seldom trudge out onto the lake for ice fishing so I don't mind a nice warm winter. It keeps my heating bill down. But many people here do enjoy winter fishing. The proof is in the number of fishing shanties on the lake when the ice is thick enough. Groups of shanties pop up as fisherman return to their favorite fishing spot. Others just assume the fishing must be good wherever there is a large number of wooden shacks. Mostly people fish near a bait and tackle store for the convenience and the parking.
The last couple of years the temperatures have been at record lows and the ice thickness may have hit records too. This is great for snowmobiles and quad runners but the extra thick ice took a toll on fishing with higher than normal winter kill numbers. This is the number of fish that die during the winter due to low oxygen levels caused by the ice limiting the amount of sun getting to the vegetation which produces oxygen.
Some of the smaller bodies of water were hit hard and fishing has not been as good as in past years. Two of my favorite small fishing areas Reedsburg Dam and Backus Lake were definitely down the past two years. I want everyone to have a good fishing experience in the winter time, but if the fish population isn't given a chance to survive, the sport will suffer in the long run.
When I see some ice I'll be sure to let my readers know. Come back again, come back often.
Until tomorrow,
Ken
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