OUTDOORS: Little ice, little fishing

Last winter probably seemed like an ice fisherman's paradise around Havre and all over Montana. Of course, few other people would have chosen to use the word paradise when describing the winter of 2018.

Fast forward one year, though, and Havre has seemed like paradise so far this winter. Except for the ice fisherman that is.

With well-above average temperatures and little precipitation so far this winter, there is very little ice on local fisheries, so it seems more like regular fishing season than ice fishing season.

And right now, there's some good and some bad coming with the lack of ice, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks local biologist Cody Nagel.

The good is, with a less harsh winter, fish will have a much better chance at survival, though he also noted that the warm temperatures and lack of ice on reservoirs and lakes, really isn't too big of a deal one way or another.

"It's kind of indifferent actually," Nagel said. "Last winter was really harsh, and we did observe quite a bit of winter kill. So the lack of ice will probably carry more fish through the winter."

The lack of a harsh winter is also good in the sense that, fishermen can get to more ponds this winter.

"That was a big thing last winter, access for anglers was pretty limited," Nagel said. "There were a lot of remote places they just couldn't get into with all of the snow. So they're not having that problem this year."

The problem for ice fishermen, though, is, of course, a lack of ice. Little to no ice, because of days that have felt more like September or May than December and January, have limited anglers' ability to harvest much fish this winter.

"It's a safety thing more than anything right now out there," Nagel said. "A lot of anglers are used to accessing their spots with ATVs or vehicles. It's a lot easier to do that than carry all their gear across the ice on foot, and right now, they can't do that most places. There just isn't that kind of ice on most bodies of water. So that's hindered their access quite a bit.

"But, we do have reports of some good ice along the (Canadian) northern border," he added. "There are some ponds up there where there is some decent ice."

For the most part, though, many of the popular fisheries around Havre and along the Hi-Line just don't have the ice that normally comes with a typical winter, so there's no denying, ice fishing has been pretty slow so far this winter.

And with the conditions the area has seen so far, it's also time to start thinking about what the El Niño will do to local fisheries come summer.

"It's hard to tell right now what it will be like this summer," Nagel said. "Right now, actually, things are still pretty average as far as water is concerned in the Milk River Valley. For example, Fresno is only 47 percent full right now, but if you look at the averages, it's right at 100 percent average. And after last winter, all of our ponds and reservoirs were pretty much plum full last spring and summer, so they should still be in good shape right now. But if this were to continue for a couple more months, then things could change as far as how much water we're going to have this summer."

That's the beauty of a Montana winter, things can, and likely will change. NOAA is predicting that north-central Montana will continue to see above average temperatures in February and March, but its predictions for precipitation for those two months are more at or slightly below average. And up to 2 to 3 inches of snow is predicted to come today into Friday. So while the ice fishing may not be the best for the remainder of the season, it's not time to hit the panic button on the summer fishing just yet.

"It all depends on the next couple of months," Nagel said. "It would only take a couple of major precipitation events, or some good rain in the spring to right the ship."