KALISPELL - It may be hard to believe with another cold snap, that just a few days ago, Western Montana had unseasonably warm weather.
MTN News decided to check out how the fluctuating conditions impact one of our favorite pastimes — ice fishing.
“Every year it's the same and it's literally different from day to day, and it's Montana and we get summer some days and winter some days and you know, you get all four seasons in one day. So it changes from day to day," said avid fisherman Tony Corbett.
Corbett has been ice fishing during Montana's winters for about 12 years and has experienced all ice conditions.
“But currently, from my experiences, most of the fishable lakes have pretty good solid ice on it right now,” said Corbett.
While the warm weather didn’t have a big impact on the ice, it’s still important to be aware of the conditions.
“So ice conditions around the valley are actually pretty good on most of our lakes. Some of the bigger bodies of water like Flathead are always tough. But you know, the higher lakes, still lots of really good ice out there,” said Snappy’s vice president Jon Lupton.
But we're nearing the end of the ice fishing season and that means caution and preparation are more important than ever.
“Don't trust your ice, check your ice. Take a spud bar, especially as we're kind of getting towards the end of February. That ice is going to start coming out pretty quick and contrary to what you would think it actually starts at the edges of the lake and will start pulling out. So the shallower areas actually lose ice faster than the deeper parts of the lake,” said Lupton.
Fortunately for fishermen, local ice shops like Snappy’s have updates on ice conditions.
"It's been a good year and I think I had a feeling this was gonna be a long season compared to some of the previous ones. We've had some milder winters, you know, and I and this one I think is going to be a good long season," said Corbett.
