Glen Schmitt

Not everyone is fond of the warm weather in Central Minnesota this winter. Glen Schmitt from Outdoors News feels this could be the worst ice fishing season in Minnesota. He says last year's season wasn't good but this is worse.

The annual Catfish Festival on the Chain of Lakes in Richmond has been cancelled this year due to ice conditions. The event was scheduled for February 9-10. The official website for the event indicates fishing tickets will be honored for next year's event.

The Minnesota deer harvest was down this year compared to last year by approximately 8%. Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON. He explained the DNR released the final 2023 numbers and with all the seasons combined Minnesota had 158,746 deer harvested.

Cold temperatures aren't a bad thing for everyone. Ice fishing is getting a restart this weekend and beyond with cold temperatures that are making ice throughout the state. Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON.

The warmer than normal weather in Central Minnesota has caused a late start to the ice fishing season. Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON. Schmitt explains the temperatures are getting close to normalizing this week but the ice locally is generally not safe and he's waiting at least a week before giving ice fishing a shot here.

Warmer than normal temperatures over the past month has caused a major setback for the ice fishing season in Minnesota. Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON. He says ice locally is either not there or not safe.

This is the 2nd straight season that the weather has adversely impacted the ice fishing season. Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON. He says the freeze, thaw, heavy snow and slush were the problems last year.

The new "Keep It Clean" law in Minnesota will impact many ice anglers this winter. Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON. Schmitt says the law went into effect throughout the state in July but was already in place in extreme northern Minnesota last winter.

The ice fishing season has been dealt a setback this week with high temperatures in the 40s and 50s. Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON. He explained last year at this time we has high temperatures in the teens, there was measurable snow on the ground and ice covering Central Minnesota lakes.

Deer harvest numbers are down overall throughout the state but Central Minnesota is an exception to that. The muzzleloader season continues through Sunday (December 10) and the archery season continues through December 31. Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON.