The misunderstanding is that ice fishing folks must really hate their families.

Truth is they...OK, help me out, folks.

North Dakota Game & Fish has proclaimed today(3/15/2022) to be the final day your permanent ice house can be out on the water
Anglers are reminded unoccupied fish houses must be removed from all waters beginning March 15 until ice-out.

Fish houses may be used after March 15 if they are removed daily.

Anglers are advised to use caution while accessing area lakes. Ice conditions can vary from region to region, between lakes in the same region, and even on the same lake

Look back to a cautionary tale from 2021 at a lake near Kulm North Dakota.  Lost the house and the truck.  But they got 'em both back!  So get them houses moving as it's going to be powerful warm this week!

Let me sum up my past experiences on the big ice.

The North Dakota wind is howling, but you've got your stocking cap and gloves on, so it shouldn't be so bad. Brace yourself...

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Open your car door and get ready for that fast-walk thing you do when you've got to get from your car to the front door of the grocery store. People can't really hear you muttering and cursing the cold the whole time you're shuffling as fast as you can to get inside!  Brrrrr baby brrrrr!

Now imagine sitting on a plastic bucket on a barren wind swept frozen lake for six hours. Yup, ice fishing.

fishing
Yevgen Chornobay
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I need to make a quick disclaimer for those that have a $70,000 ice cabin with satellite TV, guest room, and tank tracks so you can drive it all over the lake.  That's not the ice fishing I'm talking about. I'm discussing the ice fishing I grew up with, and the ice fishing many folks still practice today.  The freeze your ass off and only go into the 1968 Ford F-150 when a finger falls off. That's the ice fishing I'm talking about, and that's much of the ice fishing I saw in my multiple journeys past Lake Audubon.  And it's littered with ice houses and pickups...

Because any family time is a great time!

Family ice fishing
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Enjoy that family time when you can...after that first time dragging the kid-cicles out on the ice sheet, they're probably going to just stay in bed and watch Sponge Bob next time you invite them. Is it cool to pull fish-after-fish out of a hole in the ice? You bet it is! But then your hands get wet and it's off to the F-150 to reattach your fingers. One other thing we didn't have when I was a kid- a GAS POWERED ice auger. Y'know how long it takes a seven-year-old to go through 20 inches of ice with a hand-powered auger?

Nobody knows because the spring melt would have come before I was done.

So ice fishing folks, please sound off why you love ditching shelter on a Sunday for the frigid thrill of frostbite.  Everyone says "they must really hate their families", I know that's not true because my dad dangled a line or two whenever the Vikings weren't on TV and he loves his family.

Loved me enough to eventually let me stay home and watch Looney Tunes or I'd still be digging that darn hole.


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