How cold is too cold?

[Steve]

Will the two cold fronts in a row shut the fish down this weekend?

[kbkrause]

Will the two cold fronts in a row shut the fish down this weekend?

It'll shut me down for the weekend... ;)

[trainwreck]

With a predicted high of 4 tomorrow I will leave it to others to find out.

[icefishermanmark]

I'll let ya know Sunday evening. The main thing that scares me about the cold is my shanty. Last time I fished in subzero temps and broke the metal on my door's zipper. I'm scared that I may actually break the zipper because it's not a heavy duty zipper. That and, the canvas could rip if I'm not careful. But I guess I gotta risk it.

[walleyeman2006]

thats a toss up the barometer is rising but the temps are droping ....have to look at the moon phase to get tie breaker lol .....if you ve got a shanty and heat go fishin and see,,,,,threw my back out so im outa commision for this weekend

[Cooley]

I'll be out there,maybe. Its the wind that I can't stand!
I don't care if it's -20 below.I'm there! If the wind is 20 mph
or more it become a hassel. (unless you are in a pernament shanty)

[jlcrss]

I just came back from fishing since 2pm. The wind was blowing so much I had a snow drift around my shanty. All in all I did ok, I caught some nice perch and a couple of nice specks. I had a good time except for changing my tire when I got back to the car that was flat.

[grtlakes]

Not sure what tomorrow will bring but 2 of us got our limits today with the temps falling. And these were the best fish I have picked up this year all ranging in the 8 inch range. They where hugging the bottom tight, real tight, most where caught 6 inches off bottom.

[initforfun]

I'll let ya know Sunday evening. The main thing that scares me about the cold is my shanty. Last time I fished in subzero temps and broke the metal on my door's zipper. I'm scared that I may actually break the zipper because it's not a heavy duty zipper. That and, the canvas could rip if I'm not careful. But I guess I gotta risk it.

Have you tried setting up your Shanty the night before and coating zipper w vasoline?? I let mine "soak in" overnight then wipe off the extra before I fold up the shanty for an outing. You'd be surprised how well that works in keeping the zipper from freezing.

[redneckman]

I'll be out on the ice again. Last year we went out on super bowl weekend and the temp was 0 degrees without the wind chill. We have a better shanty and heater this year so I think will be alright. I'll post if the fish bite or not.

Redneckman

[icefishermanmark]

Have you tried setting up your Shanty the night before and coating zipper w vasoline?? I let mine "soak in" overnight then wipe off the extra before I fold up the shanty for an outing. You'd be surprised how well that works in keeping the zipper from freezing.

I put it on my auger blades to keep them from icing up or rusting, but I never thought of that. I'll have to try it. Thanks!

[Steve]

Well I just might have to go on Sunday regardless of the temp. Will use BlackCat and lantern for heat.

[danf2001]

Gentlemen,

I too used to think that it was never too cold to go ice fishing..... However, in November after recieveing frostbite on my "throttle thumb" and my fingers I have since reconsidered.

Went out when it was -8f and rode a few miles into my favorite northern lake. About half way out could not feel my right hand, figured what the hell I'm almost there and pressed on. Well when I got to the lake and tried to drill a hole my hand could not grip my auger.

Rode over to some other guys who were out there and warmed up next to their fire and noticed my thumb from the joint up was hard and white, my finger tips were also hard and the same color.

To make a long scary story short, I fished caught a northern and beat feet back to my truck. When my hand thawed out it stung like you would not believe and the next day my thumb was black but did not blister.

Went to the doctor and was told i had a 50/50 shot in keeping it. I could not imagine trying to tie knots without my thumb! Well here it is Febuary and I still do not have feeling in my thumb or finger tips on my right hand.

It would have been diffrent if i was not wearing gloves, but I had a very nice pair of water proof insulated ones on. I think what did me in was that i had too many layers on and it cut the blood flow down to my extremities and that contributed to me getting frostbite.

But, like I said 4 months after the fact I am still feeling it. Just be careful, a few pound of fillets are not worth it.

[stinger63]

Wind chills are expected to be in the dangerous category through out the weekend.Wind chills exceeding -15* and up to -20*.Yes those are negative #`s.

Steve even if you can stand the eliments one thing to look for is high barometric presure say 30.20 mb or higher.Generaly the higher the presure the least active the fish will be closer to right on the bottom.Not to say 1 or 2 fish cant be enticed to bite but fishing is best when you have barometric presure between 29.90- and 30.10.A falling barometer will most of the time turn the fish onto a feeding frenzy.

Cold Artic high presure systems usualy and most often turn the bite off.
We have a barometer of 29.80 and slowly rising tonight and suspect that it will continue on the upswing through the weekend.
if you remember that cold weekend we fished on white lake a couple of years ago those werent ideal conditions but they werent the worst either.With the predicted wind this weekend I expect conditions to be less tolerable.
Good luck to all those who are brave enough to venture out but please becarefull.Extreme cold can cause a person to misjudge things like how cold the human body extemities realy are hence frost bite can happen.Beware out in open areas if the winds are as fierce as predicted which hopefully they wont be that ice can be very prone to breaking apart.Hopefully this wind will subside someday soon and allow some thick ice to form on the lake.
Aaron

[chamookman]

Just checked the Weather Underground - SW winds 15 - 25 mph :yikes: ! Man, I HATE the wind:rant: ! Think I'm gonna scoot the Dog over on the couch and watch fishin' shows on TV today. C-man

[scottyhoover]

i hereby declare it officially too cold.

[ESOX]

I called the dog to the door to let him out, he stuck his head out, looked up at me, and tried to head back to his bed. He stayed out just long enough to hit his spot behind the garage.

[redneckman]

Very little wind right now. Temp is 6.5 and im getting ready to leave. I have all kinds of hand warmers and we are going to set up a big heater in the shanty. Lets see how bad it is.

Redneckman

[Ausable Junkie]

A permanent shanty makes these days fishable. The hole gets a nice thick coat of ice quickly in these conditions. Thats why i like the metal scoops that have a lil' "spud" at one end. Makes it nice to clear the hole out without having to heal-kick ur tip up out every time u get a flag.

Only thing i can't fix is how cold my hands get when i drop the gloves off
to land a fish. I get-r-done as quick as possible and head to the shanty
to warm my hands up.

[jlcrss]

Listen to us we sound like a bunch of girls. Back in the old days it was colder than this and we fished in Blizzards.:lol: Just kidding.....But seriously the wind is what gets me. I don't mind cold as long as I stay stocked with propane. I am good.

Edit: Sorry girls I wrote this and wasn't being considerate about my statement. We sound like a bunch of crybabys...there ..how does that sound. I am sure there are a few women on here tougher than me.

[greenglass]

Well if my experience this morning is any indication then it's official: it can get too cold to fish! Marked tons of fish right at the bottom with no takers. Usually if two come in to check the bait one will take it but not this morning.
With such a short season this year I'll still have to try for crappie this evening. With this kind of logic one has to wonder which of the two species is higher on the evolutionary chain!

[StumpJumper]

Well, to the sissy's, you're missing out. Fish are biting.

J/k I don't blame anyone for staying home. I'd be staying home but my friend has been planning this day to go with me for 2 weeks and I have to take him.

I just bought a mr. buddy and I think we'll be ok.

I just spoke with another friend that is out there right now, where we are heading for in an hour. He has 5 on the ice and they've been set up for 20 minutes. He said they are all 8" gills.

If you brave it it might be worth it.

[Dutch]

I'm about to head out with my brother. No shanty. No heater.

[StumpJumper]

I'm about to head out with my brother. No shanty. No heater.
That's just insane man. Dont get your fingers wet...

[wackmaster]

Well its not just fishin right now you got a 65% chance of getting into an accedent! My mom just called and got ran into cuz here white car:confused: never even seen her...Pow hole back end......gone! Its dangerous out there guys and if you do get into an accendent your gonna wait atleast one hour prolley more for the police to get there and check it out!:dizzy: Everyone of the state cop units is plugged up right now around GR on the highways and main roads. There is accendents EVERYWHERE!! Looks for a good day not to fish but sit home and just improve my shanty!;):p Good Luck and Be Safe to anyone does have the balls to go out in this!:16suspect

[Can't Touch This]

Was thinking of going out early Sunday on St.Clair, but with temperatures being below 0, winds forcasted to be between 10 and 20 mph(more out on the ice) which means WC should be close to -30, we would have to walk about a mile or so to the spot. We do have shanties and heaters, but, it's getting out to the spot that would be tough. My hands almost got frost bitten when i went out earlier this year when it was about 20 degrees out(but, took gloves off for a while, plus, when i had a flag ups). So, i dunno if we are going now....

[Quadd4]

Just got in from St.Clair. It's brutial out there.

If anyone's ever seen the Everest series on the Discovery channel, that's what I would decribe its like. (In your tent at Advanced Base camp during a storm).

Shanty was getting blown around like crazy and real cold. Fishing was cold too -- A least the oxygen levels were good! :lol:

[Steve]

Yeah my trip for tomorrow isn't looking promising.

[WALLEYE MIKE]

This weekend is too cold for me. Staying in with the fireplace going and watching fishing shows.

[MUSHY1]

Today.........., a little cold without a Shanty.....You dress for it, but it seems to get right through the seams......No fish to report other than dinks any how...

Mushy

[wcalcaterra]

We fished until 9pm last night, wind was a problem but the beer kept us warm. Well, the beer plus the propane lantern, plus the heater. We still had to be quite layered up.

Going to go tought it out tommorow!! I am running out of fish in the freezer, plus too much money spent on ice fishing gear not to use it!

Hope to see everyone out there!

[kype138]

...from a private lake in Oakland County - we punched the first hole at 7:00am, and had our first flag by 7:30. The temps were very low early in the AM (our beer had frozen solid by 8:30am), but without wind it wasn't too bad. We continued to pull fish on tip-ups and jigging rods both through 11, and then the wind picked up, blew over a few tip-ups, and shut things down. We packed up at noon - total for the morning was six or seven pike landed (largest 30"+).
This afternoon would be a good time to mend lines and read a book.

[catfishtom210]

The wind stopped me too. I couldn't go in the morning to Wampler's with my neighbor because the wife scheduled a vet appointment for the dog. I thought it would be ok to head up by noon and fish into dark. Had almost everything ready to load and heard the wind howling. When I saw the white-out and thought about damaging my new Clam 5600 the chili my wife decided to start cooking was smelling better and better.

I could take one of my other shanties but regardless the wind is going to mess with you today! Tomorrow it will be wind and cold. Time to wimp out, stay home and keep the woodburner loaded! So much for fishing on Super Bowl Sunday! At least it looks like ATV ice by next weekend! Between getting out faster and with less sweat and quick anchoring options it makes the wind more tolerable.

[Fishfoote]

I gave Muskegon Lake/Snug Harbor a shot this morning. Thought by setting my shanty up against the quad I would have no problems..not quite. The wind kept trying to roll the shanty over the quad with me in it. The outside edge would only raise a couple inches, but that was enough to keep bringing more and more snow in and covering the hole..and the floor. Same dink perch as I've been seeing all week. It is nasty out there.

[jigworm]

Gills were doing ok. Not great but we got 55 keepers between 3 guys in 8 hours. Went through 3 tanks of propane, but it was worth it.

[redneckman]

Went out from 11-4 today. Went 1-3 on flags with the one pike landed being around 18inches. It wasnt bad at all besided our holes kept getting covered in snow. I just wish the pike would of been biting a little better this afternoon.

Redneckman

[jlcrss]

:) I went out today and took a shanty ride. We caught two fish and the heater quit working, so we headed to bar to debrief the days activities.

[StumpJumper]

Same story.

We caught 3 keepers and a bunch of dink perch.

THe old shappell is officially being retired tomorrow. It will see it's last trip onto the ice tomorrow morning. My fishing bud and I are going halfsies on a new 2 man fish trap. Will be delivered tomorrow from Dundee when his Bro gets back.


Th shappell has seen better days, one side doesnt zip anymore and is duct taped and it has so many air holes that a Mr Buddy and a lantern could hardly keep us warm. It was alot warmer in there than it was outside though.


I couldn't believe all the guys out on the ice tonight without a shelter... Brave souls.

[kbkrause]

I couldn't believe all the guys out on the ice tonight without a shelter... Brave souls.

I might use a different word... :) God bless em.

[StumpJumper]

And we thought it was cold yesterday....

Actual temp is -6 here right now. Who's going?

I am...almost unwillingly.:confused:

[roger23]

I don't care much about the cold ,its the wind, you can dress for the cold and use a shack with a heater but the wind make it more of a hassle

[Kelsey1]

Need to go find a channel today gentlemen, was out on Juno(SW Lower MI) not too bad! Houses act as a semi wind break fire up the mr heater and get the beer buzz for the superbowl party. Oh, and hopefully catch a couple of gills.

Careful listening to me, went snowmobiling last night. Got to use that snow when you have it. Never got cold due to hard riding and no stopping and expensive gear. Grip wrmers got a workout though.

[roger23]

I have a friend fishing here

http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/launch/code.cgi?sta=KBJI&model=avn&state=MN&Submit=Get+Forecast

[Houghton laker]

Up north with my permanent shanty....I wouldn't even flinch at these temps....Hop in...fire up the lantern...enough heat to take the coat off!!:D Down here though with the walk out...wind blowing....Below Zero temps...I think I'll do as a few others and stay in the warmth of home and watch some fishing shows!!! There'll be plenty more days to go out there and slay them!!

[LXHunter]

Fished both late afternoon/evenings Friday and Saturday in my Otter Shanty in Ionia County. Plenty of action and caught a limit of panfish each day. However, two side windows on my shanty cracked when packing up. Oh, well.

[sfw1960]

Do I wanna go out there??
"Winds will be gusty from the west to northwest at 25 to 35 mph. Wind chill readings will range from 10 to 20 below zero today. Visibilities will frequently fluctuate between several miles to less than one half of a mile at times. Blowing and drifting snow will continue...with continued treacherous travel conditions."
OK....
:dizzy:

NO!!!!!!!

Stay home ,watch fEEsHiN' shows & wait for better days!!
:lol:
Robert

[wcalcaterra]

Do I wanna go out there??
"Winds will be gusty from the west to northwest at 25 to 35 mph. Wind chill readings will range from 10 to 20 below zero today. Visibilities will frequently fluctuate between several miles to less than one half of a mile at times. Blowing and drifting snow will continue...with continued treacherous travel conditions."
OK....
:dizzy:

NO!!!!!!!

Stay home ,watch fEEsHiN' shows & wait for better days!!
:lol:
Robert

Right on!!!

Only made it a few feet today, stuck my head out side this morning and went back in the house to watch Expedition Safari.

[wackmaster]

I think when the dog doesent wanna go outside to pee it is too cold:lol: I would say that a windchill of 0 would be the line for me to stay home and go out but that depends on what the wind is doing I know almost everyone that went out yesterday went a an unenjoyable shanty ride!:rant::lol:

[stinger63]

That in Minisota they actualy canceled the rest of winter carnival:yikes:
Now thats cold!:help:

[Kevin]

I just got back from a snowshoe hike with my three oldest girls (8, 6, 5). They were real troopers, though they did take turns taking a break on my shoulders.
Brrrr! nothing chills you worse than breaking a sweat, then have that arctic wind whip down the back of your neck.

[Oldgrandman]

I hit the river yesterday, only lasted 15-20 minutes. Wouldn't even think of it today.

[icefishermanmark]

Fished from 7:15-2:30 with FISH21 and his cousin. It was pretty cold. But they're alot tougher than me. I ended up with 21 gills, and they got about 10. One of my best days in a while.....so no!!! It's not too cold to fish!:)

[kcud rellik]

Fished from 7:15-2:30 with FISH21 and his cousin. It was pretty cold. But they're alot tougher than me. I ended up with 21 gills, and they got about 10. One of my best days in a while.....so no!!! It's not too cold to fish!:)
Aint that the truth!! Went out for about 2 n half hours today and went home with 32 fish and threw back prolly 50 maybe more. They were VERY aggressive. Ran out of bait and had to use fake wax worms :yikes: (which we have never had any luck on) and still caught them like crazy!

[icefishermanmark]

Aint that the truth!! Went out for about 2 n half hours today and went home with 32 fish and threw back prolly 50 maybe more. They were VERY aggressive. Ran out of bait and had to use fake wax worms :yikes: (which we have never had any luck on) and still caught them like crazy!

Yeah I forgot to mention the 100+ dinks I threw back.:)

[redneckman]

My friends went out today and only caught 1 perch. It's -13 right now and a lot of schools are either delayed or closed. So if our closes I might head out tomorrow, if it gets warmer.

Redneckman

[Duck-Hunter]

Aint that the truth!! Went out for about 2 n half hours today and went home with 32 fish and threw back prolly 50 maybe more. They were VERY aggressive. Ran out of bait and had to use fake wax worms :yikes: (which we have never had any luck on) and still caught them like crazy!

lol Fake bait FTW!

When they are goin after that the fishin is great. we had a blast yeasterday. ill be out there later today.

[brad arnett]

3 of us fished yesterday on a private lake south of fenton. We were out there from about 2-6pm. Had to spend more time in the shanty than usual, less hole hopping. We still ended up with around 50 nice specs. I had my anemometer with me and the windchills were averaging -20, had a few gusts push it to about -26. All in all we were glad we went. It was pretty much hole hop for about 10-15 minutes and then head back in to warm up and then back out again.

[Ausable Junkie]

Went out saturday with a bud's pop up shanty. Made it bareable but going
out to check the tipups wasn't fun. We lost 2 fish and didn't ice any, but
it was better than sitting at home & wishin' we was fishin'.

[brdhntr]

Was out both Saturday and Sunday, both days with my 3 year old. Saturday, we spent the whole time in my pop-up hunting blind anchored down. Fished 3 hours, and plenty toasty warm. Had my jacket off and gloves off the whole time.

Sunday I had a couple others with me. Set up the blind for the kids and my buddy and hole hopped for 2 hours. Never got cold. Was hard to keep 2 holes open. My little guy spent most of the time out with me sliding on some ice that was snow free near me. Never got the slightest bit cold, just have to be prepared.

Growing up, I wish the weather folks would have posted those warnings during cold days. Might have gotten me out of some of my work, but I really doubt it.

[RichP]

I got out a couple times over the weekend in washtenaw county lakes taking home a good number of gills.

Pretty insane walking out onto the ice with the winds and all, but once fishing, my shanty was so warm I had to take off my jacket....it's amazing what a good heater and lantern can do for ya...

[Splitshot]

Obviously when to go is a personal decision. I can remember bow hunting in a tree stand in the UP when the temperature was -20. I made it about 3 hours. I didn’t get a shot at a buck, but I saw a few. Not sure I could have pulled my bow back either. The only way I made it was with a small heater on a one lb. Propane tank held on my tree with a bungee cord.

My personal limits for fishing have changed over the years. I will fish on a sunny day in the river if there is no wind and the temperature is above 20 degrees. The fish still bite, but a lot of time is spent getting the ice out of your guides making it a big hassle to fish with lower temperatures. If there is some wind and I’m fishing a big river from a boat, the temp goes up 5 degrees. Easy to put a heater in the boat. Floating small rivers in a float boat, wind or not, 20 degrees because I can use a heater to dry hands and provide heat to hands when it is necessary to tie knots.

Lake fishing in shanty. Zero to 10 degrees with moderate winds. High winds, small lakes with some protection. This weekend was too cold for me.

The biggest determent to fishing no matter what the temperature is the wind in my opinion. High winds make fishing much more difficult in almost all situations. Even on my 16 foot fishing boat with a 50 lb front anchor and 20 lb rear anchor it is difficult to keep the boat still enough to make decent presentations. In moderate and big lakes, waves don’t help much either.

Best time to fish for trout is 3rd or 4th day of a warm front with moderate temperatures in May and June with a slight breeze. Those days are not far off. If you trout fish, pick a river with lots of trout like the Pine River in Osceola, Lake and Wexford counties, the Pere Marquette river or rivers that cannot be named. Your best chances to catch trout are in these months. Not much chance of frostbite.

[icefishermanmark]

fished from 10:15-1:15 today and ended up with 19 gills. Some were pretty good sized pushing 8 inches, and one over 9 inches. I'm loving this cold!!

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/529/medium/gills2.JPG
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/529/medium/gill1.JPG

[sfw1960]

I agree Ray.
I have some fish in the freezer and I've been out before the cold snap - so I at least got to scratch the itch recently .
:)
I can recall being with a friend on Angel Lake 10-15 years ago on a Christmas Day hiding behind a "permanent" plywood shanty from the blustery conditions and bitter wind chills. One of us would tend rods for Crappie while we took turns flip-flopping our gloved hands like hotcakes on the top of a Coleman Double Mantle Lantern , pausing just long enough to put some heat into the gloves , but not to singe the material of the gloves. Back & forth we went snatching nice 11" class fish pausing long enough to notice the "creaking" of our finger joints slowly turning to stone , we were as interested in seeing a spring bobber bend down as getting our next turn at the lantern for putting warmth & movement back into our bones...........
I think they reported something like -22F wind chills that day.
We didn't take many fish that day - but they were all quality fish , and that fond memory will probably never wane in my mind anytime soon.
It's not to say that I'm never going to do things like that again - but now at least I think twice before I do it.
:lol:
The wind can be a a pain - but it also can give you some great benefits.

:fish2:

[catfishtom210]

The last post reminded me of a time on Mitchell's Bay. I drove up there alone during the week to fish (3+ hours). No taxis and there were white-out conditions. I tried to set up my Clam and bent a pole from the wind pulling the skin so hard. I packed back up and headed in. I stopped to talk with a guy who was fishing alone outside. He pointed downwind to a guy just pulling his shanty back after it blew away when he got out to "see a man about a horse"! You could barely make the guy out in the white-out.

The thing is this guy was catching some nice perch. I drilled some holes and set my shanty base upright like a suitcase. I sat on the ice with my heater between my legs and started catching nice perch. I think I toughed it out for an hour or so and don't remember how many I caught......maybe 15-20. When I gave up there was a 30" drift that had formed on the windward side of the shanty base. Same conditions made the country road drive to the highway a real adventure. This was when I had an old Nissan Maxima with a homemade rack on top to hold the shanty! Ahhh....memories!:)