April came early to Annandale, with temperatures climbing above 60 degrees on Friday, Feb. 17, and over the weekend.
The record-breaking warmth around the region was nowhere more apparent than on a few of Annandale’s area lakes, where a bright Friday afternoon sun contributed to audible ice melting while a few dedicated anglers hunched over their holes amid puddles of water on the snow-free ice surface.
Jenni Thompson of Eden Valley was set up about 100 yards out from Annandale Municipal Park on Friday, and reported that there were still about 14 inches of ice in that location.
Jeff and Judy Laudenbach drilled a few holes a few hundred yards out from the access near BJ’s Bait and Tackle on Clearwater Lake on the same day, and said they found about 13 inches of ice in that spot.
"It’s going to take a beating this weekend, I’ll tell you that," said Jeff Laudenbach. "But there is a lot of ice left."
While there might still be a fairly thick layer of ice after the warm weekend, Laudenbach and Roger Steinhaus of BJ’s Bait and Tackle said the quality of the ice would honeycomb and deteriorate significantly.
Steinhaus said the shop had closed its access to vehicle traffic on Friday due to safety concerns.
"We just don’t want to be responsible in any way for someone falling in," he said. "It’s just too hazardous for business. They can go down the road to one of the public accesses if they want to."
While the ice fishing season appeared headed toward a conclusion last week, those who were still out on the lakes were enjoying the balmy air temperatures combined with a still well-established ice pack.
"More people need to come out and enjoy this," said Judy Laudenbach. "You can just stand here and listen to (the ice melting)."
Youth contest canceled
A few individuals were still enjoying the ice last week, but the Annandale Lions made the decision to cancel the Youth Fishing Contest for a second straight year due to unsafe conditions with the deteriorating ice. The contest had been scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 25.
"We would like to have close to 2 feet of ice by early February to continue," said Kurt Jonas, one of the event organizers. "We had good ice, around 16-18 inches, until this last batch of warm weather. And when trucks have gone in local lakes and the extended forecast is for more warm and rain, it doesn’t make sense to order food at this point and hope it gets cold enough to continue the event. We would never want to chance the safety of anyone."
While there have been two cancelations in a row since the Lions took over the youth fishing event from the Annandale Conservation Club, Jonas said it is unlikely that the date of the event will be moved up next year.
"We picked the last weekend of February to allow for the thickest ice and still be within the season of legal fishing if someone would catch a northern or walleye," he said. "We also like having the contest on the same weekend every year so it doesn’t conflict with other tournaments in the area, and to get people in a habit of knowing when it will be.
"The last Saturday in February is a great day. Normally we should have the thickest ice and possibly the nicest weather. We have had years where the ice isn’t thick enough in early February, but it gains a few inches as February goes on. You just don’t know year to year what your going to get."
Prizes such as rod and reel combinations that have already been purchased for the youth contest will be stored until next year.
"This year and last year have been very odd, but we will be having the event next year weather-ice permitting," said Jonas.
Safety hazards
More information on the vehicle that broke through the ice near Cedar Point on Lake Sylvia became available last week.
The Wright County Sheriff’s Office took the call of a submerged vehicle at about 6:50 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 10.
In the incident, a 1999 Jeep Cherokee driven by Karl Schwarzkopf, 33, of Becker was towing a fish house when the front end of the vehicle broke through the ice into about three feet of water. The rear of the vehicle and the fish house remained on the ice surface.
Schwarzkopf was able to escape the vehicle unaided, and it was removed from the lake on Saturday, Feb. 11.
The Wright County Sheriff’s Office had also received a call of a vehicle breaking through the ice on Lake Pulaski in Buffalo about 10 minutes before the incident on Lake Sylvia, and a second vehicle also broke through Lake Pulaski on the same night, making for a busy evening.
Both vehicles that broke through Pulaski did so near the public boat access at Griffing Park.
"We’ve been posting all the accesses just to keep people aware that the ice is not safe," said Captain Dvan Anselment of the sheriff’s office. "It’s never really safe, but it’s really going to get bad this week with the sun and the lack of snow cover on it."
Anselment said he would recommend keeping vehicles off the ice for the remainder of the season.
"If you do plan on going out, know exactly where you’re going, how thick the ice is, and talk to the local bait shops so you know what you’re going to be encountering," he said. "Ice changes daily. It can change overnight, especially with the warm temperatures and the sun."
Anselment also recommended that anyone going out on the ice on foot let others know where they will be and carry hand picks or spikes to help climb out of the water if there is a break.
"Just use extreme caution going out on the ice the next couple of weeks," Anselment said. "I think our fishing season is going to come to a close pretty quick here in Minnesota."