Fishing

Ice fishing is many things to many people.

To visitors at dozens of national wildlife refuges and wetland management districts across the country, ice fishing is invigorating winter fun and a chance to bring home a healthy – and tasty – catch.

To Sabrina Chandler, project leader at Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge in Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota, ice fishing is a social activity in a season when people can feel cooped up at home. “It’s kind of a party,” she says. “More important than catching fish, it’s spending time outdoors.”

To Tom Wickstrom, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist at South Dakota’s Waubay National Wildlife Refuge, “ice fishing is easier than other fishing because you can just walk out onto the lake, drill a hole and go fishing.”

To the folks at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, ice fishing is the Coolest Sport Around: “It’s a chance to breathe the cold clean winter air, to spend quiet time outdoors with family and friends, and to relax and collect one’s thoughts away from the hustle and bustle of a busy world.”

Before you go ice fishing at a national wildlife refuge or elsewhere, be sure to dress for the cold and check that the ice is thick enough to support your weight. In its general ice thickness guidelines, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources suggests contacting a local bait shop or lakeside resort to ask about ice conditions and then checking it at least every 150 feet as you walk on the ice.

Here is a sampling of national wildlife refuges and wetland management districts where ice fishing can be great. Check conditions with the individual refuge or district before heading out.

Alaska

• Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
• Kenai National Wildlife Refuge
• Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge
• Selawik National Wildlife Refuge
• Togiak National Wildlife Refuge

Idaho

• Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge

Illinois

• Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge

Iowa

• DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge
• Iowa Wetland Management District
• Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge

Kansas

• Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge
• Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge

Michigan

• Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge

Minnesota

• Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge
• Big Stone Wetland Management District
• Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District
• Fergus Falls Wetland Management District
• Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge
• Minnesota Valley Wetland Management District
• Morris Wetland Management District
• Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge
• Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge
• Windom Wetland Management District
• Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge

Montana

• Benton Lake Wetland Management District
• Bowdoin Wetland Management District
• Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge
• Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge
• Nine-pipe National Wildlife Refuge
• Pablo National Wildlife Refuge
• War Horse National Wildlife Refuge

Nebraska

• Valentine National Wildlife Refuge
• Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge
• North Platte National Wildlife Refuge

New York

• Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge

North Dakota

• Audubon National Wildlife Refuge
• J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge
• Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge
• Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge
• Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge
• Tewaukon National Wildlife Refuge
• Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge

South Dakota

• Waubay National Wildlife Refuge
• Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge
• Madison Wetland Management District
• Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Wisconsin

• Horicon National Wildlife Refuge
• Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge
• Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge