Thread: Hard Water Season Next

When I scooped my back walk yesterday, I found that the ground underneath was not frozen at all. I have seen it where partially and even fully frozen ground has thawed out under a snow cover and grass has actually greened up and started to grow underneath a snow bank, even with pretty bitter air temperatures above it all.

Remember that the water under the ice is never colder than 32 degrees and generally even a little above it; so developing ice can take a real beating under a blanket of snow. That is why so many ice fishers want a good ice layer before the snow falls.

About your 4-wheel drive on ice. You start up much better, BUT you don't stop any better at all; so follow carefully. On icy roads you will need a whole lot more distance to stop safely.

A classic article by Paul Greenburg (author of Four Fish)from the Boston Globe.

The winter people - The Boston Globe

Originally Posted by IMFSHN

A classic article by Paul Greenburg (author of Four Fish)from the Boston Globe.

The winter people - The Boston Globe

Interesting article.

no1son brings up dressing for the occasion and nothing could be more true. Somewhere the misconception that people who live here in the north are "used to" or conditioned to the cold gets tossed around a lot. False. You can't get used to it, you adapt to it. Learn how to "layer" your clothes and by all means go do some snooping in sporting goods stores for winter wear, starting with what lays against your hide and work your way out. How you dress is perhaps the biggest adaptation. Exposed skin is yet another concern.

More than anything the skin will dry out in the cold and if the wind is a factor the drying effects are amplified, especially if you opt to fish open ice. Use a good sunscreen chapstick on your lips and use the same on your nose. Hands and face cane get a good skin lotion before and after fishing. Then there is the optical end of things. WEAR SUNGLASSES when you are out in the elements moving around but especially when the sun is on ice and snow. You'll find that wearing sunglasses even on hazy days makes for mor relaxed vision.

Minnesota tends to be a state of extremes and the best way to enjoy things is to learn how to dress for the day and activity. The one time of the year you will not want to shorthange what you wear is winter....things can change in a heartbeat up here and lots of statistics bear witness to that fact. Have fun, but have fun safely.

Do not under estimate the sunglasses either! The sun may be weaker in the winter, but off of white snow or ice it can be powerful enough to blind a person. Snow blindness is not an urban myth.

Originally Posted by no1son

Do not under estimate the sunglasses either! The sun may be weaker in the winter, but off of white snow or ice it can be powerful enough to blind a person. Snow blindness is not an urban myth.

Hi no1, I have gotten my face really tanned sitting on a bucket ice fishing, especially in Mar. Even got accused of going to the tanner...lol

That snow and ice can reflect a lot of the sun's energy. I remember being on the ice one day when it got downright hot and I ended up in shirtsleeves and they got rolled part way up. Paid for that rolling up dearly. White hide...bright sun...cooked.

Ma and I went to the grandson's basketball game last night and the air felt different now. Felt like winter even if it was 30 dgrees. No1son and others who live in the northern tier states know the feeling. I think no1son may be entertaining a snow shovel today and perhaps tomorrow and then we get cold according to the local weather. I'm thinking you're going to get nipped too Crappie 1. The weather map I saw looked pretty wide where the cold was going to settle and with the amount of snow forecast the air is going to lose a bunch of heat. Just hope the snow precedes the cold so you're ice can set up clear.

Originally Posted by CTom

That snow and ice can reflect a lot of the sun's energy. I remember being on the ice one day when it got downright hot and I ended up in shirtsleeves and they got rolled part way up. Paid for that rolling up dearly. White hide...bright sun...cooked.

Ma and I went to the grandson's basketball game last night and the air felt different now. Felt like winter even if it was 30 dgrees. No1son and others who live in the northern tier states know the feeling. I think no1son may be entertaining a snow shovel today and perhaps tomorrow and then we get cold according to the local weather. I'm thinking you're going to get nipped too Crappie 1. The weather map I saw looked pretty wide where the cold was going to settle and with the amount of snow forecast the air is going to lose a bunch of heat. Just hope the snow precedes the cold so you're ice can set up clear.

Just looked at the weather, it is supposed to get colder. It was 37 earlier. I'm ready for some ice...

You can finally smell winter in the air, but then it gets back up into the 30's by middle of the week again, probably not warm enough though to stop building ice for most of the day. Looks to me like the week after this next one we get to play St. Peter and walk on water, at least on some of the lakes. I am not ready to chance it yet this coming week.

Dale

Originally Posted by CTom

That snow and ice can reflect a lot of the sun's energy. I remember being on the ice one day when it got downright hot and I ended up in shirtsleeves and they got rolled part way up. Paid for that rolling up dearly. White hide...bright sun...cooked.

Ma and I went to the grandson's basketball game last night and the air felt different now. Felt like winter even if it was 30 dgrees. No1son and others who live in the northern tier states know the feeling. I think no1son may be entertaining a snow shovel today and perhaps tomorrow and then we get cold according to the local weather. I'm thinking you're going to get nipped too Crappie 1. The weather map I saw looked pretty wide where the cold was going to settle and with the amount of snow forecast the air is going to lose a bunch of heat. Just hope the snow precedes the cold so you're ice can set up clear.

Originally Posted by Crappie 1

Hi no1, I have gotten my face really tanned sitting on a bucket ice fishing, especially in Mar. Even got accused of going to the tanner...lol

Just caught this. My nephew goes to the tanner in the fall or else he gets seasonal depression. It is just too blame gloomy. He needs the extra ultra-violet.