Spring's right around the corner

[tacklejunkie]

Now that the shortest day of the year has passed, the days are starting to get longer and we are each day closer to the day when the boats can come out of their coverings and garages

God, I can't wait

[pushbutton]

my open water calendar starts the first week in april, so we are only 3 weeks away from half way!!!

[Jim Almquist]

I know that I am pumped to get back out on Superior and chase some salmon and a few trout. I had so much fun doing that last summer and now that I have a little bit of experience under my belt and most of the right equipment it should be a blast.

[Northlander]

Jim its only the begining of your addiction.

[harvey lee]

Let's melt all the snow away and get the boats out now. The ice in the southern part of Mn stinks.

Will only be a few months and I can get back on the Mississippi.

[bfisher]

Open water has already started for me. The Zumbro in Rochester is not frozen in all the places, so i have been fishing there. I actually have caught a 6 pound channel on an ultralight

[Down Deep]

Headed to Florida on Wednesday. Open water season begins on Thursday. The red boat will stay under it's cover until early March when it goes on standby for the Rainy. Ice can pass the long cold season, but I live for open water.

[JohnMickish]

They are starting to show open water fishing shows on TV again, the boat show and sportsmans show are right around the corner so ice out can't be to far away, can it?

[harvey lee]

As bad as the ice is in southern Mn, open water could come tomorrow for me.

[delmuts]

Our ice was about 9 inches( from what i was told) , but with about that much snow on top. It could go down hill fast here thou since they are talking temps in the 40's with rain for thurs. and friday!

I just got done watching a Joe Bucher fishing show. He was after muskie and smallies!! I'm ready for open water!

[Nick Kuhn]

Yep, improvement will start off slow here, and then about midway through January the sun angle and length of day really start to improve.

[tacklejunkie]

How many here, like myself, are not ice anglers? My only ice trip is in Jan on LOTW with the wife....that's it.

[Nick Kuhn]

I don't have anything for ice fishing. A chainsaw and a 6 foot rod is about as close as I can come to ice fishing gear.

[EBass]

I can't wait till June where the sun sets after 9PM and the lows are in the 50's and highs in the 70's.

I have most of the ice gear (well auger needs work) but I just don't care to bust my arse off for some taterchip like crappies since walking would be my method of travel.

Need a trip to P4 soon - yesterday would've been sweet weather wise.

[Raider4ever]

T-minus 16 weeks until ice-out at the cabin (on average). Hoping for another early ice-out.

[BassNut33]

I love it, the countdown has begun!

[Genofish]

Days like today get me thinking of open water.

[Chode2235]

Days like today get me thinking of open water.

You must be driving down the street. The way my car went through the intersections in Minneapolis I thought I was coming off plane.

[Nick Kuhn]

Today was the first day where the sun rose earlier in the morning than the day before (albeit by just a few seconds).

[kg2]

I got the new 2011 BP master catalog last week so spring isn't too far off.

I have a HB55, underwater cam, fish trap from the early 90s, Lazer auger from the early 90s (still works fine after a carb kit), dozens of rod/reels, 2 portable heaters, 2 sunflower heaters, and a handheld GPS, but ice still sucks! Twenty years ago I would go out 3-4 times each week, now I plan on ice fishing about a half dozen times this winter which will be double over last year. I'll leave most of the ice to the farmers and construction workers.

There is nothing like the freedom of the open water and the long (sunlight) days ahead!

[Down Deep]

Cabelas spring catalogue arrived today..........

[popriveter]

I didn't like ice fishing until a few years ago. Here's what hooked me:

1-The fish taste better. I can CPR big fish all summer and then join them in eating the little one in the winter and restore my depleted mercury levels.

2-Little lakes with no boat launches become targetable. This means we have access to fish populations that are not readily accessible when we are in our boats. Leave Waconia for the summer and fish the ponds around it in the winter!

3-There is nothing else to do in the winter. If I am not cutting a hole in the ice, I'll just be reading about fishing.

4-Sitting on a bucket in single digit weather makes me feel tougher and cooler than the people looking at me through their windows.

That said, I've eaten a lot of panfish already this winter. I'm heading to Fort Myers at the end of January and I'll be open water fishing! I won't miss the ice that week.

[tacklejunkie]

Cabelas spring catalogue arrived today..........

That it did. I just got mine today, also.

[Raider4ever]

Not counting the rest of this week (it's after Wednesday after all), only 14 WEEKS till ice out at the cabin!!!

[Slabasaurus]

haha, yeah. the Cabela's catalog came one day, then the golf digest hot list issue was sitting in my mailbox monday after work.

My two favorite things to do that don't involve music... are both summer activities.

Here's my first fish of 2010... (kinda bad pic, but it's ok, you can see open water. By the way, it's a 9" crappie out of WBL)

I'll be in Alabama in March hittin up some Robert Trent Jones courses, but until then, it's gonna be cold cold cold cold cold (cold