Take care when headed out on ice

The early arrival of frigid, winter weather signals an early ice fishing season across most of the West and Midwest, a condition that has hardcore ice anglers very excited.
It started back in September, when the first couple of Arctic blasts came down from Canada and continued all through October, with much of Montana recording the coldest October on record.
While November has moderated some, the early cold lowered the temperatures on all the lakes to a point that they are ready to freeze for the season with the next cold blast.
Some lakes, like Smith and Lower Stillwater, have already frozen and even seen anglers venturing out.
While three to four inches of new, clear ice might support an angler, week’s old ice is a different story and unless that ice continues to grow, extreme caution must be used.
November is still very early, as many of our early ice lakes rarely freeze before mid-December, and no fish is work dying for.
Let’s review early ice caution and preparation.
The No. 1 rule in ice fishing is that no ice should be considered safe, until you have tested it yourself.
To test ice thickness, one should be wearing a flotation device or a current, flotation suit designed specifically for ice fishing.
Taking a heavy chisel, or “spud bar”, strike the ice ahead of you every couple of feet as you progress.
If the chisel breaks through in less than three hard strikes, it will probably not support you.
If the ice is cloudy, milky or honeycombed, it will likely not support you for long.
While three inches of clear solid ice will almost certainly support an average person, four inches is considered the minimum for FISHING.
The difference is, while fishing you will be drilling holes, flooding the ice with water and moving back and forth between holes you have drilled which weaken the ice.
Avoid venturing out onto early ice alone, and always have your ice
picks around your neck, not stuffed into pockets. These have saved my bacon more than once, allowing me to pull myself back up onto the ice.
Lastly, never throw rocks out onto the ice to test the thickness, this activity offers ZERO useable intel unless you are heaving rocks of your own weight onto the ice.
This will only provide trip hazards once covered in snow and damage to the auger of the first person who tries to drill a hole. And never EVER send your dog out to test the ice!
I took a trip down to Henrys Lake near West Yellowstone and experienced over seven inches of clear ice and some amazing cutthroat and brook trout fishing.
I also witnessed many mistakes commonly made by folks at first ice, so thought I would offer these few reminders to help make your first outing as successful and enjoyable as mine was.
First off, put some sharp blades on your auger, or get them professionally sharpened. A good, sharp hand auger should be all you need until the ice gets over 6-8 inches, and helps you to travel light on early ice.
Next, if you ARE using a gas auger, drain the fuel and start your season with a fresh tank of non-ethanol gasoline, and make sure it starts BEFORE heading out onto the lake.
Lastly, pull some line off your reels and test for excessive coiling. If your line resembles a Slinky toy, replace it.
Please be extra careful at this exciting time of the year. EVERY body of water will be in a different stage now so check every one carefully if you do head out.
It looks like we may be in for a very early ice fishing season, with maybe even the biggest lakes freezing well before the first of the year.
I’ll keep you posted as we progress and I’ll see you on the water!
— Howe is the owner/outfitter at Howe’s Fishing, A Able and Mo Fisch Charters. Call 406-257-5214 or at www.howesfishing.com