Arvid's Fishing Report

We are having, what one might say, is some good old fashion winter; cold and lots of snow. It was -40 this morning, give or take a degree or two  and that’s not wind chill. The day time temperature may not reach -10.

I haven’t fished in nearly a month. We were gone over Christmas and the day we got back I came down with a cold. Then I  find out that the river  is a mess with slush all over;  to much snow with not enough ice. It’s a good thing I had my little house propped up six inches because when I went down to check on it last week the water had come up to the runners and froze. Fishing reports I’m getting from on the river are not good; most of the time it’s one bite, one fish. Conditions on Lake of the Woods are better. I understand Adrian’s have their winter road out nine miles past Pine Island and the going is good. I haven’t heard much for fishing reports on the lake, but for most of the early winter season it was very good.

If this winter continues it may take a toll on the deer herd. The Minnesota DNR has a Winter Severity Index (WSI) that adds up the number of days the temperature is below zero and the number of days with 15 or more inches of snow on the ground. Any time the WSI exceeds 100 the winter becomes severe and the deer can suffer. Thus far this winter I understand that the index is not quite at 50, but it’s two points a day with the current weather so it won’t take long to reach 100. The last really hard winter was 1997 when the index reached 200 and many deer were lost.

Lots of Snow