Minnesota’s ice season still cruising despite recent warm-up taking some toll

Talk of deteriorating ice usually doesn’t occur until mid-March. During a normal year, hard-water conditions certainly wouldn’t be an issue in February, but Mother Nature already has created challenges on select lakes in some parts of Minnesota.
For starters, let’s be clear: The ice fishing season is nowhere close to an end, and anglers continue to hit the ice in all corners of the state. But a string of warm days in January and another week-long stretch of 50 to even 60 degrees (in the southwest) during the second week of February took its toll on shorelines and access points.