Fishing Opener and Ice Out



August 24, 2013



In a normal year the ice is off Poplar Lake by May 10th. Last year the ice wasn't gone from Poplar Lake until May 18th. This was the latest ice off date that Lin and I have experienced since we moved up to Rockwood Lodge. We certainly had to cancel a lot of canoe trips and field numerious phone calls from people who wanted to know if the ice would be gone by the Memorial Day Weekend.   

The winter this year has been unusually harsh and long for many of our guests.  TV news stations down in the cities are already talking about lakes being iced over for fishing opener and some of the locals living along the Gunflint Trail are even wondering if our lakes will be open by June!

It always amazes us as to how quick people forget what constitutes a normal winter or how this years winter compares to what we experienced last year. The photos of our Lodge show how far this year's winter has retreated compared to last year at this time.  

The winter is almost over once we start seeing bare ground. We'll be surprised if the lake ice is gone by the Fishing Opener but we know that as the ground warms up any new snowfall will not stick around for very long.  That a good thing to remember as we look outside this morning to 9 inches of new snow.


April 25,2014