Minnesota Ice Anglers Caught Off Guard For The First Time In Years

I went ice fishing this last weekend and I was nearly caught off guard. I've been ice fishing a handful of times in the last few years, but the conditions haven't been great. In 2023, we had a lot of early snow that made the ice a mess.

Last year, in 2024, we hardly got cold enough to make strong enough ice. Each time I took my flipover out, it ended up getting soaked from melting ice and snow.

This year has been much better for ice fishing. We didn't get a ton of snow early, and we've had a handful of really cold snaps that formed really strong, thick, clear ice.

With that though comes another problem for late in the ice fishing season. The ice is over 3 feet thick in some areas! Many people like myself didn't realize it was that thick. I was on Fish Lake Reservoir this last weekend drilling holes in the ice. I started to panic as the auger head inched closer and closer to the surface of the ice. Finally, with just a few inches left, I punched through.

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I asked my friends at Northwood Bait & Tackle in Cook, Minnesota about how thick ice is up there, and some places are thick enough to need an extension.

I've seen people asking on ice fishing forums and social media about if they need an ice auger extension.

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The resounding response was: YES! Buy one and you won't regret it. Odds are you will need it again sometime in the future. They are around 30 bucks, and don't take up much room.

It's been years since we've had ice this thick. I found a video of Lake Of The Woods in 2018 with some pretty thick ice.

Lake of The Woods fishing report suggest you bring an extension because they have been needing them in certain parts of the lake.