Even by this morning, March 30th, Little Star Lake of the Manitowish chain was already more than 50% open, and late this afternoon the ice sheet will is mostly gone, driven onto the north shore by the strong southerly winds that we are experiencing today. Last year, in a similar weather phenomenon, the wind drove the whole ice sheet ashore on April 23rd. This year, the ice driven ashore, shown in the second photo, is about 1 1/4 " thick and not so rotten, or otherwise wave action would have completely broken it up. In 2008 the ice didn't completely disappear until May 2nd; it went out over night in calm weather. According to my observations, many years Little Star seems to be the last lake on the chain to freeze and the last to open up, so for the ice to go out on it in March is a bit unusual, at least judged by the recent past.
I assume that this early ice-out will have some effect on water temperatures, the timing of the gamefish spawn, and what fishing is like on opening day -- perhaps mnore like late spring fishing than early season fishing. The weather forecast is for temperatures in the 70's Thursday and Friday, followed by a cool down to the 50's by early next week.
One other possible effect of the early ice-out on the chain: the Rest Lake dam operator (or so I understand) is constrained from raising the reservoir level while the lakes are still iced in, even if the calendar would allow him to do so. Even though today Rest Lake still has ice on it, perhaps this year reservoir fill will begin earlier than years past -- but only if we have the inflow that will enable the dam operator to maintain the required flow over the dam while filling.
Which brings us to the problem: lack of precipitation. It has been a dry March. As much as all of us love the sunny days, what we really need at this point is precipitation. Hopefully that situation will correct itself soon. In the meantime, be careful with potential sources of ignition while outside.
Other than that, I think things are shaping up for another great year here in Manitowish Waters and surrounding communities.
