Ice Fishing

By Lee Bloomquist

SIX YEAR-OLD BEN LORENZ FIGURED HE HAD HOOKED A BIG ONE.

Well, it felt like it was really heavy,” Lorenz said about the 24-inch northern he pulled through the ice while fishing with family near Moccasin Point on Lake Vermilion. “Like I was trying to pull it up, and it was fighting hard.”

After catching some nice fish during summer, it was Ben’s first fish of the 2020-2021 ice fishing season.

“I thought this thing was going to be big, but it was a little one,” Lorenz said. “It might have been my biggest northern ice fishing.”

Ice fishing in northeastern Minnesota is a life sport.

And a memory-maker.

Ice fishing as a youth with family, or on a frozen northern Minnesota lake as an adult with children, grandchildren, or buddies, is all about family and friends.

“I remember as a five-, six- or seven year-old going with my dad, brother, grandpa, and cousins,” Brian Kemp, 38, of rural Mountain Iron said. “We would do Pleasant Lake and a lot of lakes around Gilbert. That’s what hooked me.”

Ice fishing with family and friends sticks in anglers’ minds forever.

It also offers a nearly unparalleled opportunity to “get away from it all.”

Solitude. Sunrises. Sunsets. And smiles.

“It’s the peace and quiet and the scenery,” Dustin Pittman, 40, of rural Mountain Iron said. “You get up in the north part of the Lake of the Woods, and it’s amazing. It’s kind of like Vermilion where there’s lots of rock, but there’s no houses.”

Serenity is the word of the day for every ice angler.

“You’re out there in the fish house alone, and you have lots of time to think,” Tim Thompson, 60, of rural Eveleth said. “You get that time when all you hear is the hum of the Vexilar, and you think about the past and the future. You think about your wife and kids.”

Ice fishing is thriving this winter in northeastern Minnesota.

Ideal early ice-making temperatures, coupled with a lack of snow, turned lakes from the Iron Range to the Canadian border into glass-like sheets. Ice thickened up rapidly. By mid-December, ice anglers were flocking to area lakes.

“I try to get out twice a week if I can,” Kemp said. “Being close to McQuade (Lake), I take my eight-year-old son Hoyt out there. I spend a lot of my bigger trips going to Lake of the Woods with my dad and my son.”

There’s ice anglers.

And then there’s ice anglers.

As a 21-year-old, Kemp spent a total of 53 days over the course of one winter on Lake of the Woods.

“Kent (Bielejeski) and I were having a contest who could be there the most,” Kemp said. “It’s kind of funny. Whenever my wife and kids and I go on vacation, we go north. She likes to be outdoors too. I love Lake of the Woods. I would live there if we could.”

Bielejeski, 45, of Iron, says for 13 years he fished 50 or more days each winter on Lake of the Woods.

“My second goal was 25 fish of 25 inches or more,” Bielejeski said. “There was only one year that didn’t happen.”

Ice fishing is entirely different than summer fishing, Bielejeski says.

Ben Lorenz smiles holding his first fish of the 2020-2021 ice fishing season. Photo submitted.

“Ice fishing I find more relaxing than summer fishing,” Bielejeski said. “You get the house, go to Lake of the Woods, bake cookies and watch movies. There’s no schedule, no nothing.”

Socializing is also a big part of ice fishing, Bielejeski says.

On some lakes, there’s hundreds of ice houses, forming what looks like an ice house shanty village.

That leads to lots of conversation and meals with fellow anglers.

“It’s more of a camaraderie thing,” he said. “You can go up to all the guys out there and ask how they’re doing, and they won’t lie to you. We used to do a trip on the last weekend

in March where we had 18 to 25 guys. We would fish, eat like kings and maybe play some cards.”

Mike Zganjar, 22, of Iron, spends pretty much all his spare time on frozen lakes.

“I’m fishing at least five times a week,” Zganjar said. “It’s definitely like an addiction. The only time I don’t go out is if it’s 20 below, and there’s a snowstorm.”

Many ice anglers have thousands or tens of thousands invested in equipment.

Insulated portable ice shelters and heated “wheel houses,”equipped with amenities such as digital television antenna, stereo, cooktop, and toilet, make ice fishing a different game than in the past.

Fish-finding sonar, electric or drill-powered augers, underwater cameras, high-tech rods, fancy fishing line, and warm clothing, can help bring success and comfort to ice fishing.

“It’s the electronics,” Thompson said of the difference from years past. “When I started fishing for walleye and crappies, it was just drop your line to the bottom. You used to just go off the point of a bay. Now, with the electronics, portable ice houses and the sleds, it’s run and gun. It’s a lot easier.”

But, there’s still those like Zganjar, who choose to keep it simple.

“All you need is a chisel, tip-ups and bait,” said Zganjar. “I use an axe to chop my holes for

“My favorite the first month of the year. I have cheap gear, but you don’t need to have expensive thing about ice equipment to catch fish.” fishing is like Zganjar started fishing at age six when the flag with his father Mike. “Many days I was sitting in the old goes up. You have S-10 pickup watching tip-ups,” Zganjar to go running for the flag.” said. “That’s where it all started.” Zganjar on occasion fishes with friends. He also tries to take a family trip - Ben Lorenz once a year to Lake of the Woods. But most of the time, he’s alone on Iron Range lakes. “I see good luck on the local lakes,” Zganjar said. “I put in the time and that’s what you need to do to get fish.” About 10 percent of Minnesota’s 1.5 million licensed summer anglers head back to fish frozen lakes, according to Explore Minnesota. Pittman spends summers boating with his family. But when area lakes ice-up, he’s on them like a jiggle stick on a panfish. Pittman packs an auger and portable shelter onto his specially-equipped snowmobile and heads into remote northern Minnesota lakes where few others venture. “I like to take back country trips into the woods,” Pittman said. “I try to get into the smaller lakes. You drill

holes, you get the heat on, and you catch fish.”

Ice fishing is much more relaxed than summer angling, Thompson said.

“You have the anticipation of the big fish,” Thompson said. “You’re sitting there, and you have lots of things going on in your head. It’s not like trolling on Lake Vermilion and having to watch out for every boat.”

Thompson also began ice fishing as a youth.

“Pretty much after graduation, I started fishing with my buddies,” Thompson said. “Then, I started going with a friend, Norm Skur. We made trips up into Canada on snowmobiles. Even if we didn’t catch a fish, we had a good time.”

A photograph with a nice fish is memorable for any angler. A photograph with a limit is even better.

But being on a frozen lake is more than just catching fish for most ice anglers.

It’s simply about being outside, enjoying the natural beauty of northeastern Minnesota. And the friendship of fellow anglers. “All the scenery I am able to see is just beautiful,” Zganjar said. “You have the best views. And you can converse with anybody on the ice. They’re all nice people.” After decades of fishing, it’s mostly about creating memories and passing the sport off to a new generation, Thompson said. “Lately, it’s been a lot of fun because I have an 11 year-old granddaughter who really likes to fish, so that’s been really nice,” Thompson said. For that new generation like Lorenz, the memories are already forming. “You don’t know if it’s going to be a big fish or a little fish,” Lorenz said. “My favorite thing about ice fishing is like when the flag goes up. You have to go running for the flag.”

Lee Bloomquist covered the Iron Range for 24 years as a reporter for the Mesabi Daily News, Hibbing Daily Tribune and Duluth News Tribune. He also worked at Minntac Mine and 9 ½ years as an information officer at Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation.