Last Metro Ice Trip?

I am heading to Florida on vacation in a day and I’m not sure what sort of ice conditions I’m going to come back to in the Twin Cities in April. With that I mind I decided to walk out on a Metro lake with a buddy on Wednesday to try to capitalize on a sundown shallow water bite. We used big baits and fished a shallow weedy point. The Crappies would come flying out of the thick stuff and hammer the baits – it was a lot of fun to watch on the flasher! How late into April do you think we’ll be ice fishing in the Metro?

Why the black latex gloves Mitch?

I am wondering that as well?

Skin allergy to fish slime. Doesn’t happen with Saltwater or Trout but everything else – after like 5 days of touching fish slime my skin will get a bubble, that bubble will grow and then peel. It’s not painful but more so annoying and looks bad. The latex gloves help slow that in the winter time, I don’t wear them open water but it’s easy in the winter so I put them on.

Makes sense then! A fellow fish addict who’s allergic to fish. O the irony! haha Keep up the good work bud!

Good question. I fish the hutchinson area and all i can say is i fished a lake on saturday and then again today (monday) and the ice was around 20 inches. the top 6 were white but still pretty solid and people were driving out. im planning on fishing there again next week. On the other hand i was at a lake about 20 miles south of there and although there was about the same 20 inches about 16 of it was white and very soft the top 4 was like a sno cone and i dug a hole with my foot about 6 inches deep. not going back there agian. Nice video and good luck with your fishing when you get back.

Matt Brookman wrote:

Makes sense then! A fellow fish addict who’s allergic to fish. O the irony! haha Keep up the good work bud!

Do you have a fish allergy as well Matt? The irony is definitely thick considering how much we love to fish!

Nope I am not Mitch, but I know a couple other guys that fish as hard as us that are allergic to fish also.

Thats funny you bring up the allergy. I always suspected it had something to do with fishing but I too get reactions to something. More so in winter, perch primarily and it takes a few days of contact. Left hand is the worst (handling hand), itches then palm and between fingers will peel.
I think I will have to study this more with field testing.

mark-bruzek wrote:

Thats funny you bring up the allergy. I always suspected it had something to do with fishing but I too get reactions to something. More so in winter, perch primarily and it takes a few days of contact. Left hand is the worst (handling hand), itches then palm and between fingers will peel.
I think I will have to study this more with field testing.

I basically confirmed it when I moved to Colorado for a few years. Trout slime doesn’t affect me so my hands were always good there. Then I’d come home to MN for short trips in the Summer/Winter and do some fishing. By the end of my trip or when I got back to CO my hands would start the familiar peeling. Now I only notice it on the rare month that I don’t do any fishing, my hands will be in good shape.

I’ve been fishing from a very young age and when I was cleaning a bunch of walleyes when I was 19 years old, I all off a sudden created an allergy. My hands got extremely itchy and red. It would last for hours. Now I always clean fish with latex gloves. I still get itchy when I handle lots of fish while fishing. Its way worse when I get stuck with a dorsal fin. I have found a trick that works in a pinch. I rub tooth paste all over my hands. Don’t know why it works, but it does.

I think you’re going to be able to panfish on the ice for a few more weeks Mitch…..

I have the same dang fish slime allergy…developed it in high school and took me about 5 years to figure it out…winters were the worst and now I have to wear latex gloves especially on the left hand when cleaning…huge pain in the arse!

mahtofire14 wrote:

I think you’re going to be able to panfish on the ice for a few more weeks Mitch…..

I think you’re right!!! I wasn’t sure what I’d come home to but I came home to relatively cold temps and snow! lol

Is anyone still out fishing on metro lakes or is hard water mostly done?

kbeck12 wrote:

Is anyone still out fishing on metro lakes or is hard water mostly done?

I’ve yet to find a lake in the metro with bad ice. I’m sure there’s a couple, but I haven’t been on em. Some of the shorelines are getting thin, but that’s about it.

kbeck12 wrote:

Is anyone still out fishing on metro lakes or is hard water mostly done?

I got out this weekend. Some of the shoreline accesses are getting dicey but once you’re on there is still 2 feet of ice. Actually had a full size truck pull up to me in the NE Metro last Friday…no idea where they accessed from but I was surprised they didn’t go through on the shoreline.