The Irony Of It All

More innocent victims of the planetary fever

To measure the depths of our Minnesota winter this year, just try drilling a hole through lake ice.

At Medicine Lake on Tuesday, angler Leroy Thurber had to go down about 30 inches to find water. His experience is not uncommon. In fact the Minnesota DNR estimates ice around the state ranges from 2 feet to 40 inches thick.

On some lakes, that thick ice sheet, and snow cover have proved to be a double-whammy for the fish population. The DNR says that blocks sunlight, affects photosynthesis, and robs fish of oxygen. So-called winterkill can then occur.

So, rather than leave the fish to die, the DNR temporarily lifted the limits on more than 30 lakes this winter. Anglers can catch as many fish as they want. "They would die anyway, might as well have an ability to use these fish," said Roy Johannes, DNR Fisheries Program Consultant.

Johannes adds between winterkill and the fishing, some lakes are now fishless. This Spring, the DNR plans to restock the winterkill lakes.

If however winter persists, some lakes may be added to the unlimited fishing list.

Cold is much worse than warm, greenies need to remember that. Living under a glacier is no fun. If you are interested, wasn't NYC covered by a 1000 feet of ice during the last ice age? Now that I think, why would that be so bad?