I dream of those old-fashioned childhood winters. Hard freezes that lock the ice to the shoreline on all sides of the lake, and just enough wind to scour the snow away and no worry about pitching through when the ice caves in under my feet.

The memories are still fresh even though my first ice fishing trip was taken about 65 years ago. It was at North Lake near Millington in Tuscola County. Our parents owned a small lot and kept an old house trailer there, and we would visit the area often from January through March.

North Lake held bluegills, largemouth bass, perch, sunfish and some northern pike. Ice-up came quick and hard, freezing the lake's surface, and within a week there was six to 10 inches of firm clear ice.

Not many lakes have very safe ice. Use extreme caution.

The early-ice action always featured a good bite. We had triangulated the green weed beds with three shoreline landmarks, and often could return to the same holes that we'd fished the week before. The 'gills and sunfish would still be there, and we would lowered a six-inch sucker below the ice near the weeds, and caught some nice pike on tip-ups.

That was then and this is now. I don't know whether everyone has been paying attention, but the last three or four years has featured much more wind from the east. Such winds often bring rain, and heavy rains make early ice treacherous and unstable. This winter is the mildest I can ever remember.

One wonders if we are in the middle of the global warming that others have talked about for 15 years. I'm not a scientist, nor a meteorologist, but I am observant. I remember things about the previous years, and I see a pattern forming that I really don't like.

The past several years has produced rather dramatic changes in the Great Lakes and some inland lakes. The Great Lakes undergo a cyclic rise and fall of water levels over the years, and levels have been low for longer than normal. Five years ago many Great Lakes marinas had to dredge so boats could enter and leave their slips during the summer months.

Check out the Betsie River where it flows under the M-22 bridge between Elberta and Frankfort. Chinook salmon and steelhead runs have been poor in this river for a few years, and the reason is low water. There is barely enough water flowing through the channel to allow fish to run upstream.

Several years ago Crystal Lake didn't freeze well and I did a story about three men (two from the same family) that broke through the ice. That they lived was a miracle. The ice stayed bad most of the winter.

We can take a long look at this year. The stage was set for some excellent ice. Cold weather, freezing temperatures and no wind set the stage in early November, and for a week it was making ice on small lakes.

No early winter this year. It was brown at Christmas.

Then, before Nov. 15 and the firearm deer opener, it began to warm up. It now shows little sign of making any ice after today’s all-day reasonably warm temperatures.

Bare ground is a common sight. Our opening-day snow disappeared by mid-day. The deer can roam wherever they wish, and they have easy access to green fields, unpicked cornfields, and open woodlands. There is no need for deer to yard up except in some areas that always get heavy snow, and this could result in an excellent winter for whitetail survival. What is good for the deer is good for wild turkey numbers as well.

It also could bring on an early steelhead run, and put fish in the river long before it freezes across. I've seen it happen, and many fish move upstream to winter over in deep holes. I remember once, years ago when I was guiding anglers, when the steelhead run was over long before the spring thaw began. People who waited until April 1 found few if any fish in the rivers and it could happen again.

The weather is changing. That much should be obvious to all, and it is having an effect on many of those who depend on winter sport for their yearly income. Bait shops will suffer if safe ice doesn't come soon.

The snowmobile industry is facing a big loss of revenue as are northern communities that cater to sled riders and skiers. These high gas prices will cause For Sale signs to be posted on many sleds this  winter. Downhill skiing also faces tough conditions without cold and snow.

A lack of snow cover keeps winter hunters house-bound. They feed their hounds all year in hopes of having good snow, and when it comes late, bunny hunting is pretty poor.

Downhill skiers have man-made snow but that doesn’t work for hunters.

Weather patterns are changing. Will this change continue? Who knows, but if it does, the economy of northern Michigan will suffer once again as it has for the past few years. The stakes are growing ever higher now, and people can hang on only so long before being forced to close their businesses and seek other employment … all too often, out of state.

I try to avoid such doom-and-gloom columns, but the changing weather is a major topic of conversation in every coffee shop in the north. Many people long for the old-fashioned winters, and I am one of them.

Rainy weather makes for miserable driving, and anglers and hunters find little solace in a winter rainstorm.

Really solid ice is needed to support angler & shanty

When it comes to the old cliche like "treading water," it means much the same as "spinning your wheels." And frankly, that's about where I'm at while waiting for lake ice to form a solid mantle on area lakes.

It's been a long and frustrating wait. But now, a few reports are coming in. One came from a good friend of mine who travels widely across the state, and he is telling me that many smaller lakes in northern counties now have two to five inches of ice.

Is the ice safe? He tells me that it is marginal, even on lakes with five inches. Strong winds have broken up some ice a couple of days ago, and it has frozen again. Broken ice that re-freezes isn't nearly as safe as a solid layer.

Don't fish alone on ice, and pay attention to instincts

And then there are the springs to watch out for. Springs can weaken ice directly above where the water bubbles out of the lake bottom, and it can cause wide variations in ice thicknesses in the area.

Inlets and outlets of lakes can cause serious ice problems as well. The moving water tends to eat away at the bottom of the ice, weakening it occasionally faster than cold weather can freeze it.

There are other problems. Wooden docks, old wood pilings and posts, and other woody debris sticking through the ice surface can seriously weaken the nearby ice.

A serious problem with late-forming ice is that if the ice has been broken apart, and then freezes again, it freezes at an uneven rate. One spot can have the strength of regular ice, and 10 yards away is a spot that has very brittle and poor ice.

Weak spots may appear safe, especially if they have a certain amount of snow on top. Too much snow insulates the ice, and it doesn't freeze evenly or properly. A skiff of snow can hide weakened ice, and a misstep by an angler can send him crashing through.

Ice doesn't freeze evenly and can be treacherous.

I'm seriously wanting to go ice fishing. However, I am antsy about going out on early ice. I want safe ice under my feet, and I've been known to pass up ice fishing all winter if the ice is unstable. Years ago, I would accept such risks.

Now days, there may be a tinge of yellow running up my back. If any part of me gets that certain feeling, a hunch, an intuition, a queasy feeling in my guts, that things may not be right, I stay off the ice. I met a friend who told me the ice was safe, and I had a strong gut feeling about the ice conditions. My instincts told me to stay on shore.

I told him that perhaps I would join him later. He got 10 feet from shore, and went through into chest-deep water. No danger of drowning, but he was spitting and sputtering from the cold water as he broke ice back to shore.

He wanted to know why I didn't follow him

He was soaked through, and was heading for his car. He paused while unlocking his car door and asked a pointed question.

"Why didn't you walk out onto the ice with me?" he asked. "Why did you stand up on shore?"

I told him that my instincts, gut feelings, whatever one wants to call them, have taken care of me over the years, and I've learned to rely on them. They told me to stay on shore, which I did, and I told him that is why you are cold and wet and I am not.

Gut instincts. Many people have never cultivated or listened to their inner feelings. It's why some people become victims. Me, I don't care to become a winter statistic as a result of stupidity. It also answers the question of why I don't ride snowmobiles.

Really solid ice is needed to support angler & shanty

When it comes to the old cliche like "treading water," it means much the same as "spinning your wheels." And frankly, that's about where I'm at while waiting for lake ice to form a solid mantle on area lakes.

It's been a long and frustrating wait. But now, a few reports are coming in. One came from a good friend of mine who travels widely across the state, and he is telling me that many smaller lakes in northern counties now have two to five inches of ice.

Is the ice safe? He tells me that it is marginal, even on lakes with five inches. Strong winds have broken up some ice a couple of days ago, and it has frozen again. Broken ice that re-freezes isn't nearly as safe as a solid layer.

Don't fish alone on ice, and pay attention to instincts

And then there are the springs to watch out for. Springs can weaken ice directly above where the water bubbles out of the lake bottom, and it can cause wide variations in ice thicknesses in the area.

Inlets and outlets of lakes can cause serious ice problems as well. The moving water tends to eat away at the bottom of the ice, weakening it occasionally faster than cold weather can freeze it.

There are other problems. Wooden docks, old wood pilings and posts, and other woody debris sticking through the ice surface can seriously weaken the nearby ice.

A serious problem with late-forming ice is that if the ice has been broken apart, and then freezes again, it freezes at an uneven rate. One spot can have the strength of regular ice, and 10 yards away is a spot that has very brittle and poor ice.

Weak spots may appear safe, especially if they have a certain amount of snow on top. Too much snow insulates the ice, and it doesn't freeze evenly or properly. A skiff of snow can hide weakened ice, and a misstep by an angler can send him crashing through.

Ice doesn't freeze evenly and can be treacherous.

I'm seriously wanting to go ice fishing. However, I am antsy about going out on early ice. I want safe ice under my feet, and I've been known to pass up ice fishing all winter if the ice is unstable. Years ago, I would accept such risks.

Now days, there may be a tinge of yellow running up my back. If any part of me gets that certain feeling, a hunch, an intuition, a queasy feeling in my guts, that things may not be right, I stay off the ice. I met a friend who told me the ice was safe, and I had a strong gut feeling about the ice conditions. My instincts told me to stay on shore.

I told him that perhaps I would join him later. He got 10 feet from shore, and went through into chest-deep water. No danger of drowning, but he was spitting and sputtering from the cold water as he broke ice back to shore.

He wanted to know why I didn't follow him

He was soaked through, and was heading for his car. He paused while unlocking his car door and asked a pointed question.

"Why didn't you walk out onto the ice with me?" he asked. "Why did you stand up on shore?"

I told him that my instincts, gut feelings, whatever one wants to call them, have taken care of me over the years, and I've learned to rely on them. They told me to stay on shore, which I did, and I told him that is why you are cold and wet and I am not.

Gut instincts. Many people have never cultivated or listened to their inner feelings. It's why some people become victims. Me, I don't care to become a winter statistic as a result of stupidity. It also answers the question of why I don't ride snowmobiles.

A good assortment of tiny ice jigs or flies in colors is needed.

Bluegills have an endearing habit. Once hooked, they swim at right angles to the pull of the line and it makes them feel much larger than they actually are.

The other day before all the rain was a case in point. A small lake not far from Traverse City had six inches of ice. I eased onto the lake, checking the ice as I went, and reached an area pock-mocked with frozen holes left behind by other anglers.

A few things have been learned about catching winter bluegills, and one is to auger a bunch of holes and then let the noise settle down. Start fishing in the first hole drilled, and the reason is it's had the most time to settle down from the commotion of drilling other holes.

It’s my preference to use short, limber spinning rods.

I prefer a short soft-action spinning rod with a wee spinning reel and one- or two-pound test clear or green mono. I like tiny ice jigs in a variety of colors. I also like a thin wire rod bobber rather than a float (bobber) because of the sensitivity of some bluegill bites.

I also use thick coiled rod holders that sit on the ice. There's a big reason why this technique works so well.

A tiny ice jig of silver, silver-blue, silver-green, silver-orange, orange, yellow, red and white and almost any other color combination will work, but if one color isn't producing fish, tie on a different color. Experiment with fishing depths, lure colors and jigging action.

My rod is inserted into the coiled rod holder, the jig is baited with a mousie or wax worm, and slowly lowered to bottom. The rod holder is set on the ice and jigged an inch or two and allowed to dangle in the water column for several seconds before being jigged again.

Ice rod holders keep the rod, reel and line up off the ice.

I drill my ice holes three feet apart, and use two rod holders with a line down each hole. Watch the tiny wire bobber on the ice rod, and if it moves a fraction of an inch, set the hook.

Some anglers go to one-pound mono because bluegills can be so finicky during winter months. Too much jigging can spook fish, and learning to spot that delicate bite when a ‘gill sucks on the bait’ requires some experience.

Often the hooking and landing of one fish will lead to a strike on the other line. As one fish is reeled to the surface, keep an eye on the other line. if the spring bobber moves, up or down, set the hook.

One thing some anglers don't know is that a bluegill will push the bait upward slightly, and the trick then is to lift the rod and rod holder up until the fish is felt, and then give it a soft hook set.

Bluegills will hit in one spot and then move on in search of food. Try a different hole, and if it doesn't produce a bite or a fish within 10 minutes, try another spot. Sitting in one spot and fishing just one or two holes doesn't produce as good. The thing I like about these ice-rod holders is an angler can walk away from them for a minute to try a nearby hole, and if a fish hits while you are prospecting, the fish will often still be hooked when you return.

Successful bluegill anglers move around and fish different holes

Of course, sitting on a bucket with a rod in hand will work. Anglers can still use the wire rod bobber or use a tiny bobber that floats on the water. Remember to keep jigging strokes very short (an inch or two is plenty), and don't jig too often. Too much jigging action can spook fish.

The whole jigging thing is nothing but a tease. Bait the tiny ice jig or ice fly, and move the baited lure up and down slightly, and it doesn't hurt to try to move it sideways on occasion. Shivering the lure in place can be deadly at times, especially when fish are really picky.

Bluegill fishing is a great way to spend a winter day. Fish near the edges of green weed beds, and try to avoid exaggerated movements. Keep everything low key, use light line, and prospect a bit for fish, and catching a mess of bluegills can be fun and provide some mighty fine eating.

Don’t forget: Get solid information on ice thickness, and even though some angler fish on one inch of ice, it’s never recommended. Be safe!

Seeing a fish in an ice hole is tempting, but wait for safe ice.

Ice gives ice fishermen two different options to consider. One is to ask questions of bait-shops and local anglers before venturing out onto any ice or they don’t ask. That’s the way it works most years, but certainly not this one.

Let’s face one very important fact. Anyone who has spent much time on the ice over many years has probably seen someone fall through. I’ve gone through three different times. That I sit here on the computer every night writing personal blogs means I survived each incident, but I haven’t forgotten them. It also is a gut-wrenching event, one that smart folks never forget.

Those who have gone through, and lived through the experience, often gaze toward the sky, and murmur a very special thanks.

Preparation for any eventuality on ice is just common sense.

It also means that a person should always be prepared for such an accident. Most people fret about falling out of a tree, so they buy a safety harness of high quality, learn how to use it, and if by chance they do fall, they survive. Ice anglers should always take precautions.

People believe such things only happens to other people. Anyone with some intelligence can see how such ice accidents can and do happen. For many it means a bitterly cold bath but they survive.

Michigan's weather is amazing. Last week's temperatures didn’t make any ice, and the this week anglers are being warned to stay off any half-frozen lakes and streams, if they can find any ice.

Read this and repeat it as if it were a mantra: There is no really safe in the Traverse City area now. Some small bog ponds may be froze but only a fool would venture out on them.

It's well known that ice doesn't freeze uniformly. Lakes that set down in a valley often freeze up first because cold weather settles, but those same lakes often are the first to get covered with water and slush during warmer weather, and then the ice becomes unsafe.

Large lakes are slow to freeze, especially those with deep water. Good examples of such waters are Crystal Lake near Beulah and Higgins Lake near Roscommon. Some of these lake may not go over (have safe ice) until next month, and then waters like Grand Traverse Bay at Traverse City may not freeze at all. If it does freeze early, it's often goes out in mid-February, and the thaw usually comes early. Be extremely cautious at all times. So far, as of yesterday, there is no ice.

As it stands right now, very few lakes in the northern counties have safe ice. Now, very few lakes have any ice following the warm spell and high winds.

What's a person to do? First thing is to check with local bait shops to determine ice safety. The other thing people can do is stay off the ice until they are certain it is safe.

Thin ice kills people every year. Avoid that temptation.

Me, I like at least four inches of hard blue ice under my Ice Man boots. Six inches is even better, and I'm most comfortable with 10 to 12 inches. Some anglers go out on Saginaw Bay, but as prone as that ice mass is to breaking away from shore on a stout west wind, it pays be very cautious.

A few smaller lakes near Traverse City are good for bluegills and sunfish, and Spider Lake can be great. Nearby Platte Lake has very poor ice conditions, and any ice is very unsafe. The same holds true for Long Lake, another popular spot.

I dearly love to fish through the ice. I also like to continue breathing, and you won’t find me out on a lake with a skim of ice. I know many people who put their lives at great risk, as well as others who might try to save them, but it’s senseless to do so this year.

Burt and Mullet lakes in Cheboygan County should be producing walleyes and some perch, but again, conditions are bad. In-flowing and out-flowing streams make safe ice problematic. Warming weather hastens a sudden ice melt, and ice can turn treacherous.

Be patient for safe ice, and if it doesn’t happen, wait for next winter.

Anglers would be smart to hold off for another week or two, and realize right now that there may not be much, if any, safe ice fishing this year. It all depends on whether we get freezing temperatures at night, and allow everything to stiffen up again. A second freezing (after a melt) often doesn't produce great ice so keep that in mind.

Risking one's life on inland lakes and rivers is not worth the effort. The best catch of game fish in the world isn't worth taking chances with your life. The safest and wisest thing to do is to watch and wait for good ice to form

Local bait dealers know when the ice is safe and where the fish are biting. Keep track of conditions with a phone call or two, and don't take chances. Going through the ice is a harrowing experience, if you survive, and a tragedy if you don’t.

The worst case scenario -- death by drowning or exposure -- is the other possibility. Neither option appeals to me or other sane people.

We were looking for the first steelhead of the spring, and Betsie Bay below highway M-22 between Frankfort and Elberta was filled with ice floes.

The above expression is an old one. Old-timers occasionally utter the phrase 'the ice is talking' during any period between freeze-up and ice-out.

It can happen with two feet of ice or a mass of floating ice floes. Common to most fishermen is the loud crack as the ice heaves during the winter. It's something like shifting plates of land during an other. One plate of ice meets another, pushed itself under another plate of ice, and there is a booming noise.

One of nature's neat early-spring sounds.

Today, as we looked across the ice from the Frankfort side, in hopes of leaping a few leaping steelhead moving upstream, the talking ice was more list a soft and intimate conversation.

There were soft little hisses, almost like a purring cat, and the occasional clanging aa two ice floes collided. The sounds the ice was making include what sounded like a soft chuckle as if someone were softly laughing at a joke.

We've all heard the gurgling of river water washing around the end of a fallen tree in the water, and that sound was hear today.

Another one of the many sounds was a soft murmuring, strangely similar to two people speaking very softly or whispering. It is a soft sibiland noise, and one must listen closely to differentiate between the other sounds.

We checked the Bay from several locations, and everywhere except at the M-22 bridge where the only sound we could hear was the sluicing sound of river water flowing beneath our feet.

Understanding the many sounds of talking ice.

Everywhere we went was the sound of the water saying goodbye to winter, and welcoming in what we hope will be an early spring.

Try as hard as we could, it was impossible to find any steelhead today. We need a soft and warm rain, a rise in current flow, and the rising level of river water caused by a building run-off.

That rain, snowmelt from the swamps, with peck away at any remaining river fish, and that shelf ice will break away from land, making its own form of ice talk.

It's quite obvious that anglers have more time to wait. Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame Guide Mark Rinckey of Honor (231) 325-6901 summed it up quite well.

"It's anyone's guess how long it will take for the steelhead to arrive," he said. "It could be a week, two weeks or longe, and it all depends on the weather. One thing is certain: the fish won't be running until the ice is out of the bay, and some warm falls to raise the water temperature."

Listen to the words of steelhead guide Mark Rinckey.

"Snow melt, and rising water levels in the river, will trigger steelhead runs. Like many things in nature, we have to wait until all the conditions are right, and then the fish will come."

Until then, my day today with Rinckey, and my oldest son David, was enough. Speaking only for myself, I found the very rewarding.

I don't really know what the ice was telling me except to be patient in my wait for the spring spawning run. That point was made very obvious as I listened to the ice talk.

Perch, smelt & walleye fishing can be good in various locations.

The best description of an ice fishermen is so old it should have long grey whiskers. It states that an ice fisherman is a jerk on one end of the line waiting for a jerk on the other end.

Chuckle, chuckle.  Yuk. Yuk.

If so, count me as one of the half-frozen brethren. I admit to enjoying the sport, and each year look forward to taking to the ice in search of tasty fish. However, we are now closing in on the end of frozen-water fishing sport even though another two weeks of fun may still be had.

Folks might wonder why anyone with a normal intelligence quotient would sit on the cold ice in bone-chilling Arctic winds and swirling snow while facing possible frostbite. Is it necessary?

The answer is yes and no. One can choose to sit out in the cold or use one of the new fold-up portable shanties on the market, light a Coleman catalytic heater , and fish in shirt-sleeves. We do have a choice.

Good ice fishing in northern counties

For me, sitting on a frozen lake breathing fresh air is far more relaxing than sitting in front of a television, watching sleep robbers on the tube, eating buttered and salted popcorn and getting fat.

Ice fishing is fun. It can offer wholesome outdoor entertainment for the entire family, and each year more people discover the rejuvenating aspects of fresh air, outdoor exercise and great winter sport.

There is a camaraderie to this sport. Forget your ice strainer, and a neighbor will loan you theirs. Run out of bait, and another angler will step forward and offer enough to get through the day.

If it’s a bitter cold or windy day, sitting out on the ice is a nasty experience. A Clam ice-fishing shanty is a life saver.

Sharing is a human quality, encountered often on the ice. A friend who recently achieved senior status and earned the right to buy a cheaper license, learned about sharing while walking onto the Tawas Bay ice.

A vehicle leaving the ice stopped as he walked across the frozen wasteland. His new friends invited him into their car, drove him the half-mile back to their shanty, unlocked the coop and left him with a warm, fuzzy feeling. The had helped a perfect stranger without expecting anything but a "thank you" in return.

These last two weeks of safe ice remind me of past winter fishing trips. It's easy to remember the days when fish bit well, but often it's the little things that mean more to winter anglers. Here are several examples of mine.

Cautious approach

Years ago, when lake trout were first making news in this state, three of us fished the west arm of Grand Traverse Bay. We hiked offshore from M-22, and drilled six holes through the ice.

The first two holes went through 12 inches of clear blue ice. The next two holes, moving farther out over deeper water, went through 10 inches of ice. The fifth hole went into eight inches, and the last hole, just 20 yards away, zipped through just one inch of rubbery ice.

We were lucky that day. Grand Traverse Bay has strong undercurrents, and one inch of ice is like walking on cellophane. We withdrew from that hole in an exaggerated spread-eagled duck-walk with our hearts pounding. We drilled the last hole through eight inches of ice over 120 feet of water, and began catching lakers of sweetened jigs and tip-ups.

The water was so clear the creamy spotted lakers rose from the depths with a luminous glow as they twisted and turned below our feet. Those fish fought like caged tigers, and my memory of them and the quality eating they provided, remain with me today.

Frostbite

Another time while participating in a Michigan Outdoor Writers Association winter meeting at Sault Ste. Marie, we jigged for walleyes on nearby Munuscong Bay in bitter cold temperatures driven by a strong north wind. Several walleyes to 20 inches were caught, Swedish Pimples and it wasn't until our return to shore that someone asked about those "funny-looking" white patches on my cheek, ears and nose.

Anyone who has stared in awe at the famous Richey schnozz, and how my ears stick out like a taxi cab going down the street with both doors open, can understand why they were frostbitten.

My nose, like Pinocchio's, sticks out so far it suffered hours of subzero cold. It didn't take much for my ears to attract the cold either. The fierce pain experienced during the thawing-out process was remembered long after the walleye fishing had been forgotten.

Take kids fishing

Years ago when my four kids ranged in age from four to eight years, they often accompanied me to North Lake near Millington. The lake was filled with bluegills and sunfish, and the winter fish were always hungry.

It was a time when the Old Man could teach them how to fish, and we often spent several weekends each winter in pursuit of fine catches. Once they tired of jigging a tiny teardrop jig baited with a wax worm, they could skate, go sledding or build snowmen.

Once the physical exertion ended, and they settled down to fish, many 'gills would dot the nearby ice. They helped me clean the catch at day's end, and never were far away when it was time to tuck into platters of pan-fried fish.

Pike action

Some fine winter memories were born on Manistee Lake at Manistee when it delivered jumbo pike through the ice. One day, with temperatures in the low 30s and 12 inches of ice underfoot, me and two other fishermen were fishing with sucker-baited tip-ups off the Manistee River mouth near East Lake. It proved to be a day we would long remember.

The pike, some silver and fresh from Lake Michigan, were in a feeding frenzy. Red tip-up flags were popping in the air at almost every tip-up site, indicating fish, and we spend long hours battling pike to 18 pounds.

The fish would make long hard runs, and the braided Dacron line would sizzle through our fingers. Each and every pike would fight until it could battle no longer, and many took 15 minutes of back-and-forth scrapping before the fish could be landed.

There is something savage about a big pike, and when it is time to lead a trophy fish to the ice hole, an angler must take his time and do it right. The long slender snout should be positioned just under the ice hole, and a three-pronged gaff would be lowered under its chin.

Once gaff and fish were properly positioned, the gaff was brought up and sunk into the pike's lower jaw, and it would come splashing out.

Each fish, long and glistening and tooth-studded, was a victory. Those trophy pike were among the hardest fighting fish to land that has been my pleasure to hook through the ice.

Walleye flurry

Once, several years ago, the late Al Lesh of Warren, several others and I made a snowmobile trip across Lake St. Clair to a point about a half-mile off Ontario's Thames River mouth.

The first two spots were unproductive, but the third location was charmed. I lowered a Swedish Pimple sweetened with a shiner minnow within inches of bottom, jigged it twice and set the hook into a walleye.

We fought a rugged battle, that walleye and me, and eventually it came up through the ice hole and was landed. Moments later, another walleye met the same fate, and soon everyone in our party was hooking the tasty fish.

Six anglers limited out that day. Walleyes to eight pounds were landed in what ranks as one of the most exciting flurries of activity I have experienced on the ice.

And people wonder why we dunk bait or lures through an ice hole? They shouldn't; anyone who has ever tasted winter success will always look forward to the next ice-fishing trip with anticipation and excitement. Good bets this week should be Big Glen (at the narrows) and Higgins lakes.

Anyone looking for daily updated fishing reports north of US-10  should contact Curly Buchner .

Live it up and enjoy the stark beauty of a fresh snow fall.

Paying attention to our five senses while outdoors can help us admire the winter.

Winter is much more than cold, ice and snow. It’s a time to enjoy the outdoors.

Walleyes like the one above, and other game fish, are fun to catch on lures.

There is reasonably safe ice on many lakes or ponds north of US-10. It's been fairly cold the past two weeks, but taking a chances on early and thin ice is a risk that no one should take.

Most of the big lakes such as Crystal, Glen, Houghton, Higgins and many others have not 'gone over,' (frozen over) in the past 10 days. However, any ice before Jan. 1 can be a little suspect and due caution is advised.

There isn't a game fish that swims anywhere in North-Country lakes worth risking one's life by venturing out onto one-inch-thick ice. I'm very squeamish about two or three inches of ice, but once a solid mantle of four-inch or thicker ice covers a lake, it's safe for me to walk on.

Ice fishing is great winter fun but requires more than a little common sense.

This is a bad year for many outdoor pastimes, and the fact the ice is has formed early means that many anglers feel a pent-up need to go ice fishing. It is this desire to fish frozen water that can lead to an angler taking an unnecessary chance.

Falling into ice-cold water is a tremendous shock to the human body. The water is so cold it rips air from your lungs. A person with a bad heart or high blood pressure could be in extreme danger of a heart attack or a stroke when they first plunge through. There always is the risk of drowning as well.

In the past I've written about the three times I've gone through, and they need not be repeated now. However, the initial shock of going through and into the cold water, isn't something I need to do again. People who survive one such escapade should consider themselves fortunate. To fall through twice is uncommon, but to go through three times as I have shows either blind stupidity or loads of bad luck.

I'm not dumb, and don't take chances, and in each case it was a freakish accident. I'm far more cautious now than ever before.

Common sense should be the common denominator for ice fishermen. They should seek advice on local lakes from bait dealers or other anglers, and avoid making a mistake because they are so driven to go fishing that they become willing to take a chance with their life.

The ice story I wrote for Outdoor Life magazine was a true tragedy.

Years ago, while working for Outdoor Life magazine, I was a frequent ghost-writer for people who had stories to tell but couldn't write it themselves. One such story interview was conducted the same day I got married, and it involved the only survivor among several people who went through rotten ice on Lake Erie.

This man broke through three times, and was pulled out by the other men, and then they fell through and he had no chance to return the favor. It was, at that time, the first time Outdoor Life had run an ordeal story where someone died.

He described his gut-wrenching fear, told how he watched his friends and two other people go down during a blizzard, and how he was lucky to make it to shore. His clothing was caked with ice, and he was so cold that it was a major challenge to fit the key in the lock to unlock the vehicle door.

The fear hung in his voice like a black curtain being lowered over the faces of the victims. He questioned how and why he survived, and it was a horrific experience. The fact is they were fishing off a warm-water discharge, a blizzard came up without warning, visibility was zero, and they wandered too close to the discharge. The ice was rotted, and could not bear the weight of a single person.

Does a person need to drown for others to grasp the significance of bad ice? Do people have to wrap themselves around telephone poles, trees or vehicles to exercise more caution when snowmobiling?

Play it safe on the ice and live to fish another day.

This winter fishing business is based on making individual choices or decisions. Others can preach about ice safety, but if the choir isn't listening, it is very difficult to keep some people from making serious mistakes and killing themselves.

My buddy -- Dennis Buchner of Grawn -- is the state's largest wholesale live bait dealer. He's been starving, as have bait shop owners across the state, but he advises me that all of the smaller lakes and most, if not all of the bigger lakes, are reasonably safe. That said, it still become a person's individual decision to venture out on the ice. Use your own judgment and go through, it's still your mistake.

Weakened ice can be found on many lakes, and savvy anglers use a spud to test the ice ahead of them. Many carry a length of sturdy rope and some sharp-pointed objects like ice picks or screwdrivers to use to stab into the ice to pull yourself from the water. Wearing a life jacket may make you look like a sissy but I'd rather be alive and be called that than be a dead fisherman.

The ice conditions should be superb if we don't get rain or freezing rain over the next few days. Take advantage of the early-ice opportunity but use all due caution.

Engage brain before venturing out on early-ice. The fishing is usually the best it will be at this time of year, but catching a fish isn't worth risking a cold dunking or losing your life.

Magic in a box: ice flies & jigs.      This angler unhooks a nice walleye.

Color, size and a bit of bait makes all the difference in success. Just experiment.

Sometimes just making the lure “shiver” in one place is enough to make fish bite.

Use lures of the right size for the species of game fish you’re trying to catch.