How long is yours?

[Blaine]

Season, that is....

Here in CT, our season is much shorter than most of yours, On a GOOD year we may get 12 weeks in. I normally will start the season around the first or second week of December by driving 300 miles north to VT. We are usually fishing here by the 4th week in December and off the ice by the first week of March. On average, my spots will have 12-18" of ice, some of the ponds that freeze first up in the hills will have well over 24"... How about you guys?

[Outdoors_guy]

It is about the same. But further up north a guy sit out on the ice until april. I live in the middle of Minnesota and the lakes will usually get atleast 2 feet of ice and up north it can get really thick. Last year i was drilling in 3 feet of ice, which is alot. Thats quiet the drive you take to go ice fishing. Good luck this year.

[Dotch]

Saw the title and knew this was my kinda thread! We're SC MN and on the little local lake, it's usually early to mid-December before it's safe enough to walk out, end of December until it's driveable. Ice out has been coming earlier as of late but typically, by mid-March it's unsafe to drive and by the week of the 20th, the ice comes out.

[John19]

Here in Colorado, there are a couple of lakes that you could usually get on by Thankgiving week. The metro lakes (Denver) tend to have a short fishable time period, sometimes, not at all. Last year was an exception, with lots of good fishing on the Denver lakes for about 3 months. Most of the ice fishing takes place either in North or South Park. ( yes there really is a South Park!) These are usually a 2 to 3 hour drive from where I live.

[Blaine]

The only time I've been to Minnesota was on business in Two Harbors, just north of Duluth. I fell in love with the area. The guy I was working with lived there and I seem to remember him saying that they were usually on around Thanksgiving.

Typically, our ice is not uniform throughout the state. The areas by the coast sometimes don't freeze at all while the hills can have over 2 feet. Because of that, CT does not allow permanent shanties like many of you use. It is also illegal to drive a car or truck on the ice. A bunch of friends fishing together in a group of shacks all winter long sure sounds like a blast.

[The Grebe]

Pretty long! The season that is....have at times past, been fishing mid-state on Thanksgiving Day....can fish further north sooner and stay later.....usually have to use an extention on a standard auger bit, to get through the ice on the more northern lakes, once the season sets in.

[iffwalleyes]

I myself started the first weekend in Dec last year and fished through the first weekend of april. Longest season I have had so far. I could have been out at thanksgiving but I had other plans.

[goodyy7]

Here in Iowa it is touch and go, but typically we can count on ice in the northern part of state by early to mid December (last year my first day was Dec 13). In the central part of the state on a normal year we get to fish until early to mid-march. Two years ago I was ice fishing the 20th of march on Big Creek (just n of Des Moines) and was trolling that same place less than a month later....eerie

goody

[hanson]

Yeppers, 7-8" of ice Thanksgiving weekend. About another 4-5 of snow if I remember correctly. Ended for me last weekend in March. That ice was getting kind of scary.

[BarryG]

We don't really have an ice season down here. That's why I'm planning to make a trip to LOW in Jan. I've wanted to try ice fishing since I was a kid, so I'm finally gonna do it!

[hanson]

BarryG-

Well, you definitely picked a good location for your first ice fishing trip!! My favorite lake!! Have you ever thought of moving to Minnesota?? After an ice fishing trip like that, I'm sure those thoughts will be bouncing around in your melon for awhile.

[bigswede]

Blaine Who did you work with in Two Harbors?? I grew up there and still know many people and have many friends there.. Can't wait for the ice to get here for a long season.

[Blaine]

I used to work for the IT department of the Stanley Works. I was out at Stanley Labounty on Highway 2 for a week doing some Y2K work. Holy dump, did they have some amazing machinery in there!!! My contact's name was Tim, can't remember his last name though...It was a loooong time ago He was into curling big time and did a lot of hunting and fishing. Boy, that really narrows the search down, eh? That's all there is to do up there