Are We Going to Miss our Fishing Opener?

It's usually been a close call for the Governor's fishing opener when it comes to official 'ice-out' being declared for Minnesota lakes. This year may go down in history at this rate.

By this time of the year, there's at least a little sign of ice clearing off at least some of our 10,000+ lakes. Right now, the DNR says there are ZERO lakes that are ice-free and that we're on tap for setting numerous records regarding the ice-out date for many areas of the state.

KSTP is reporting that Minnesota's DNR Climatologist, Pete Boulay, is saying southern and central Minnesota are minimum 10-days behind. Northern Minnesota is much further behind and very likely still be full of ice when the May 12th fishing opener comes. He says that each time it snows, ice-out is delayed because the snow reflects the sun back up, not allowing the sun to melt the ice.

One of Minnesota's latest ice-outs was in 2013 with some lakes reporting it on April 6th. It snowed on May 1st that year. That just shows how far behind we are this year.

I think at this point most Minnesotans, even those who look forward to a snowy Minnesota winter, are done with the cold and snow and are ready to get the boats out and warm weather fishing gear ready. For somebody who isn't a big fan of winter, like me, each extra day of it is closer to having to get on anxiety medications!