Winter on the ice

An Outdoorsman’s Journal

Mark Walters sponsored by

Hello friends, This past week I fished and winter camped on backwaters of the Mississippi River near Prairie Du Chien. My good buddy Gary Howe, former long-term owner (I think four generations) of The Courier Press and a few other papers, spent each day on the ice with me and as usual we had a very good time.

Wednesday, Jan. 12 High 30 Low 24

This would be my first trip of the year where I would use my Polaris 550 Classic snowmobile. I love this rig and it lets me go wherever I need to and rocks when I hit the throttle. There would be one slight problem and it was entirely my fault. Last year on the last trip of the year the choke switch broke on it and I just remembered that problem. To start the machine if the engine is cold, I have to use a jackknife to work the broken choke out and then attach a vise grips to it.

Anyway, I am super excited, Gary is already on the ice and I meet him and am pulling two fully-loaded Otter sleds with gear and have to return to the truck for two more.

I mistakenly thought that this was a northern pike/ panfishing trip but would soon find out it was pretty much a pan fishing trip and so some re-rigging would take place.

As soon as I reached Gary I spoke with Jackson Finney and his brother Cal Bunders, who were fishing and catching some beautiful perch.

Long story short, for the next three days Jackson would be at my camp long before daylight and I watched a very die-hard fisherman who almost exclusively fishes with I Fish Pro 2.0s, which is similar to a tip up/spinning rod combo that is very efficient and a relaxing way to fish.

Thursday, January 13 High 37, Low 28

Today was a great day on the ice across all of the northern tier states. No wind, pleasant temperatures and a few fish were biting. By no way was it easy, but slowly they added up. One of my first fish of the day was a 13.5-inch crappie that I caught on a glow and lime green “Demon” tipped with two spikes.

I cooked bacon and eggs for my crew in the morning and in the afternoon, it was homemade chili. As usual, Gary and I laughed a lot. For well over 20 years, we have been competitive when together and we love giving each other a hard time. Thankfully, today Gary could not catch a cold if it was injected into his nose, so he was quiet. Generally speaking, he totally kicks my butt.

There were a lot of people on the ice, and everyone was pleasant and gave each other space.

I spoke a couple of times with a couple of local guys, Al Obrien and Jim Barbian, and these fellas knew how to catch fish. They had quite the mess of large crappies, perch, bass and bluegills and I watched Jim catch a dandy northern pike with a jig pole.

At night it was just Ruby and myself and I really enjoy my time on the ice in my Eskimo “Fatshack.” I put a layer of carpet that is made for ice shacks on the floor, run a propane light, set up a kitchen and listen to the radio.

So far this year my trips have made for a very wet floor as the ice is melting in my shack, as I believe until this trip anyways the ice has not been real hard.

The last morning Jackson was at camp long before daylight and Gary arrived soon after. We had our best fishing of the trip in what would be a four-inch snowfall. Gary found an area with hungry bluegills and I joined him and we kicked some butt. Jackson caught some sumo crappies on his I Fish Pros and the snow kept falling.

The wind makes breaking camp a bit less fun and let me tell ya the drive back to Necedah was a challenge between the snow on the road and black ice.

Gary Howe says he has not caught as many perch in the last five years combined as he has this winter. I dropped the sled off to get fixed and I truly am hoping that we have good ice until the end of March.

Have you noticed that the sun is hanging around longer?

Sunset