The Free Press, Mankato, MN

John Cross

Related Photos

  • cross, john.jpg

    cross, john.jpg

February 7, 2010

Winter can bring out the worst in some anglers

By John Cross Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — With the walleye season closing in three weeks on Feb. 28, so to is the ice fishing season winding down.

Also looming is the March 1 deadline for the removal of permanent ice shacks from southern Minnesota lakes.

And if things hold to the usual pattern, as the mass exodus of ice anglers begins, so will the complaints about all of the garbage left behind.

At the risk of painting with a very broad brush, ice anglers as a group have a reputation as being slobs.

One only has to take a spin on any area lake right now to view the kind of garbage that remains when some anglers pack up and leave.

If only it were a few scattered peanut shells, a few cigarette butts.

But cardboard, lumber, beverage cans, propane canisters and worse — piles of human excrement — are examples of the kinds of garbage and litter frequently left behind on the ice.

And this year, because of the peculiar weather the area has experienced — heavy snow, then rain, then freezing temperatures that locked some shelters tight in the ice — the litter problem could be worse.

Owners of shelters that became frozen solid in the ice sometimes find it impossible to chip them free and end up dismantling their shelters instead. And frequently, lumber and floor structures that can’t easily be removed are left behind.

Even those who had the foresight to block up their shelters to prevent them from becoming ice-bound aren’t above leaving that debris behind, deeming the effort to chop them free too difficult.

Conservation officers patrolling area lakes at this time of the year tend to pay close attention to the state of anglers’ shelters, noting the names and locations of those that are likely candidates for littering.

In fact, this past winter on Mille Lacs, COs have been hanging orange warning stickers on houses where litter is evident, pointing out the need to clean up after themselves or risk a citation.

But COs’ ranks are comparatively slim and even their best efforts aren’t enough to get some anglers to clean up their acts.

All of this litter and debris annually prompts lake associations and legions of responsible anglers to organize late winter ice patrols to spread out across popular ice-fishing destinations to clean up what they can before ice-out.

Last year on German Lake and Lake Washington, groups spent a day picking up garbage and incredibly, scores of bags of human waste, left behind by irresponsible anglers.

As this ice-fishing season winds down, there’s something we all can do to help.

In these waning days of the ice-fishing season, we can pay attention to what’s going on in our own ice-fishing neighborhood. Note license numbers and other details of shelters that are likely candidates for the chop-and-saw-at-midnight method of removal or those with lots of garbage surrounding them.

And if they magically disappear leaving a pile of garbage and demolition materials behind, then a call to the local CO might be in order.

While we’re at it, we should all bring garbage bags along on our last fishing trips. Of course, It’s always a good idea to have a way to carry out our own garbage.

But in these waning days of the winter fishing season, we can eyeball the vicinity we’re fishing and take the time to tidy up the area.

Call them random acts of responsibility.



John Cross is a Free Press staff writer. Contact him at 344-6376 or jcross@mankatofreepress.com.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
John Cross