March Ice Fishing, My favorite time of year!

Great to be out there today. Ice was in better shape than I had expected. Had anywhere from 8 inches to 12 1/2. South Shores much better where I was. Good ice too. It wasn’t crumbly or rotten. Drilled solid.

Walking out was super slippery. Then walking back had good grip. Had some softening  from the sun early. That it cooled down  and it rained late and then turned to snow. That made the traction really good actually. 

Fishing was slow. But great to get out there and felt  safe. Just had to use some common sense as they were areas to avoid. North shores. And anything that looked suspect. But overall, ice was really good.

Every lake’s  ice can be so different now. And Sometimes even heading 30 miles north makes a big difference. Ice in Three Lakes can be a lot different than ice in Boulder Junction.

Looking forward to getting out tomorrow again.

Going to head out 2x this weekend, then that's probably it. Fortunately we've had cold nights the past couple and the rain was a cold rain vs a warm one. I really think the worse thing for the ice are those sunny days in the upper 50s or low 60s. A cold rain doesn't seem nearly as bad.

Both lakes I'm heading to have had great late ice-both fishing and safety in the past. Checked one out today and it was in really good shape yet. South side. 

Other lakes are horrible if not extremely dangerous. Can't be too choosy right now. Gotta go where it's safe.

Hate to admit it, but my ice season is over for the year.  Been a good one,  inspite of not making it to Winnipeg this year

My season is over. Gear put away. Worst March for me in years. This season got progressively worse starting with the brutal cold snap in February. Never found a pattern after that and the "late" ice season by me only lasted about 2 weeks.

Late ice used to be good.  Fished a small lake about 100 acres March 8 and on March 11 it was wide open!!   

Gotta love 55 degree day's sitting in the sun ice fishing and catching big gills and perch in March!!

I’m done for the year. Came up north and me and my wife and dog walked down to the frontage. It is pulled away due to the spring out front and SW facing shoreline. The dog walked out to the ice and broke through several times until I called him back. Will be putting the gear away tomorrow instead of fishing. I could access the lake from several other properties but it would entail dragging the shack by hand and walking an few hundred yards more. Maybe would have done it 10 years ago but not now. I’ll get the crappies in a few weeks from the boat. 

I have a personal hope  of being able to ice fish March 26 through March 31. Have some time off of work. Normally, that would’ve been a slam dunk. Even two weeks ago It looked like a slam dunk. Now, I’ll be thankful just to have a few days n the front end of that. We’ve been fortunate though. The last four days have been cold. Some really cool nights too. Now the warm-up begins.

I know everyone’s fears the rain. But I’ll take a 44° rain over a 55° sunny day. I don’t think the rain makes as much of an impact on the ice as the sun does. Just my opinion.

Went from fishing on 15-18 inches of ice to being able to fish open water in 3.5 days in La Crosse area.  Fastest melt I've ever seen.  After that week of extreme cold I was guessing we'd be ice fishing close to April this year.

was up north last weekend and put a hurting on the crappies. Ice was 18"-20" but the shoreline where we accessed was going. Panny optics finally paid off. found some schools of deep water crappies & was able to hang with em till picked a limit. Tons of fun, my son, my brother, & myself. 3 man limit. Don't get your pannies in a bunch, it's the only fish we kept all season & it was a big lake. LOL