MN Fisher

Next year will be 30 for me and my wife - I've never hidden anything from her. Even with the annual Yule Gift from the parents, which is all my money to do what I please with, I still tell her what I'm buying and why. Dunno if you're married or how long...but no - no it isn't. It always comes back to bite you on the rear end, eventually.

Little fast for my tastes but workable - I toss buzzbaits and my WPs on the Fuego rig - 8.1:1, H/F rod, 50# Power Pro w/no leader.

Unless you're on a limited budget and the 20% means the difference between a class 2 item and a class 3

Every gift card I've purchased cost $5.95 in addition to what you put on it - doesn't matter if it's $50 or $500.

Which tosses it back to my MH rod. 5/16 + skirt + hook + trailer = close to 1/2 oz

More like a bad rash...but ya.

Blame @A-Jay- he started this last year once ice-in occurs. Gives us a countdown and everything. I think he does it just to torment us.

Doesn't matter too much really - in MN, bass season is closed from the end of February to the middle of May. So early open-water just means panfish.

More like half a decade before - here's the last 10 years of Tonka ice-out dates taken from https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/ice_out/ice_out_by_lake.html?downum=27013300 2010-04-02,MNDNR-SCO, 2011-04-14,MNDNR-SCO,Freshwater Foundation 5:14 AM Hennepin County Sheriff 6:00 AM 2012-03-21,MNDNR-SCO, 2013-05-02,MNDNR-SCO,Freshwater Society 2014-04-24,MNDNR-SCO,Freshwater Society 2015-04-05,MNDNR-SCO,freshwater 2016-03-17,MNDNR-SCO,Freshwater 2017-03-27,MNDNR-SCO,at 5:06pm via Henn Co Water patrol and Freshwater foundation 2018-05-05,MNDNR-SCO,just after noon via Henn Co Water patrol and Freshwater foundation 2019-04-20,MNDNR-SCO,at 1:46pm via Henn Co Water patrol and Freshwater foundation Given 2016 and 2017 - a March ice-out isn't out of the realm of possibility.

Other than Neds I toss all my jigs on the President BC, 7' MH/F Aird-X, 20# Power Pro. Rod is rated for 1/4oz to 1oz.

I scrape to get the cash to afford open-water fishing. I don't have the money to equip myself for ice-fishing...even a cheap 'tent shelter' is beyond my budget much less the extra clothing needed.

Okay - went to the DNR site and here's a map of ice-out dates for 2019 Yellow pins - April 1-7 Green pins - April 8-14 Blue pins - April 15-21 Where's the May ice-out lakes in the Metro? https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/ice_out/index.html

Where? As I posted from DNR report - Tonka was ice-free April 20 this year.

I'll jump in. Average ice-out for Minnetonka - April 14 Last year ice-out for Minnetonka - April 20 My predicted ice-out for Minnetonka - April 17 (ya, splitting the difference). If the ice is gone from either of my two regular launch points earlier - I'm going...panfish beware (evil laugh).

A lot of that extra snow is 'lake effect' - and as the prevailing winds are W-to-E, the west side of 'the Mitten' gets slammed much more than we do. I've experienced that as an ex-GF went to school up at Northern Michigan up in Marquette, and I spent a Thanksgiving weekend with her at her home in Onekama (SSE of Traverse City). Oh: After one round trip - I'm NEVER crossing the Mackinaw bridge ever again.

And for comparison. Climate in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metro Area, Minnesota Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metro Area, Minnesota gets 32 inches of rain, on average, per year. The US average is 38 inches of rain per year. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metro Area averages 48 inches of snow per year. The US average is 28 inches of snow per year. On average, there are 200 sunny days per year in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metro Area. The US average is 205 sunny days. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metro Area gets some kind of precipitation, on average, 105 days per year. Precipitation is rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground. In order for precipitation to be counted you have to get at least .01 inches on the ground to measure. Weather Highlights Summer High: the July high is around 83 degrees Winter Low: the January low is 5 Rain: averages 32 inches of rain a year Snow: averages 48 inches of snow a year

Tried it a few times - wasn't into freezing my tushie off while waiting for something to take the bait.

Or your mustache starts icing up from your breath. ?

Don't have to wish it on us - it's a normality here for parts of the winter.

Just the standard box - none of the specialty boxes https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Plano_EDGE_Professional_3600_STD_Box/descpage-PE36.html

We're going to have a heat wave!!!

Couple places - there's a link to the Navonics maps here on BR https://www.bassresource.com/maps/fishing-spots-maps.html I personally use I-Boating's maps and app on my Tablet http://fishing-app.gpsnauticalcharts.com/i-boating-fishing-web-app/fishing-marine-charts-navigation.html#4.05/40.821/-96.957 With either one, just scroll around and zoom in to your lake.

Even at 60 (next week), I'm my own tech. Spent 20 years in IT in various positions, so I do know my way around a computer. And you can only take my Windows-7 when I pass on. I HATE Win-10

Most of my lipless cranking is on my Trion-30 - currently on an 6'0" M/F Ugly Stick, but that's being upgraded to a 6'6" M/F Aird-X this winter. I've also run Jointed Shallow Shad Raps, DT-4s and DT-6s on that rig.

At one point or another, all of us get disenchanted - bad day, not being able to go out when you want, whatever. This year I had 1 good bass, several dinks, 1 'hammerhandle' northern and a bunch of non-keeper panfish....ya, it was a bad year. I'm still going to go out next year - it's the getting out there that matters...catching some nice fish is a bonus. Hang in there - concentrate on just a few techniques, learn the lake(s) you're fishing (contour maps are a great item) and learn from the folks here.