KALISPELL — Fishing is one of Montana's greatest past times, and typically this time of year people are ice fishing, but this year things look different.
“So definitely this year seems to be a little bit out of the norm. It'll come it always does. We hope, probably by mid-January, we should be in pretty good shape for some ice,“ said Chancy and Dave’s Fish Camp co-owner Chancy Jeschke.
Some of the smaller lakes are frozen with the recommended four inches of ice needed to walk on. But with the warm weather, rain and constantly changing conditions anglers need to be cautious when going out on the ice.
“Bring a rope. Bring your ice picks. Of course, fish with the buddy, you know, and just watch the ice as you go out,” said Jeschke.
While ice is lacking so far this year, anglers are still getting out for the thrill of the catch and open-water fishing until more lakes freeze.
“There are a lot of guys out boat fishing now they put in flat on Flathead Lake, a lot of good lake trout fishing going on right now. Guys are fishing the river still for whitefish and cutthroat. So that's all fishing pretty good. On these nicer days get out and chase them in the boat,” said Jeschke.
No matter what the weather is, there will always be anglers casting a line and talking about their fish stories.
“That's one nice thing about fishing is like, it doesn't matter if you're six years old or 80 years old, you know, you have that stuff in common, that passion for fishing. So you can kind of see that when the kids are talking to the older guys, and the families and all that kind of stuff, you have that thing that glues you together because you have the passion for fishing.”
Anyone planning to go out on the ice should contact their local fishing supply stores to get an idea of the conditions before heading out. And as always, have the correct safety gear.
