Fish houses on the thawing lake: February 26 2025

The ice fishing season is winding down in Minnesota. I always find it a bit unnerving because some people keep their ice houses and trailers out in the lake until the last possible moment.

We walked out to the lake under leaden skies to take a look, as the weather suddenly warmed a few days ago after weeks of intense cold, and it has now been at least 10 degrees above freezing for about five days now.

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Sure enough, there were plenty of trucks and four wheelers still out there, along with some ice houses. The trucks that did drive across the lake did very carefully!

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Fortunately, the lake personnel have put up a sign by the boat launch warning people. I expect another day or so, and the vehicles will no longer be allowed out there.

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There were people walking out there too.

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We had a beautiful walk and were out until dark. The skies were gray but really pretty.

The next few pictures are from another part of the lake, and there was only one lone ice house out there. As you can see, there are pools of water all over the lake. You can compare what it looked like a week ago by looking at this post.

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On our way to and from the further part of the lake we past the ice rink, which is also busily melting. I thought it was interesting to take a photo going each way. You can see how much darker it was when we passed by it the second time.

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Thanks so much for stopping by!

Photo credits: All of the photos in this post were taken by me and belong to me, unless otherwise noted.

My bio: I am a fiction writer and photographer based in Minnesota. I have had a lifelong love of fiction writing. I am earned my MFA in writing from the University of New Hampshire. My short stories go de have appeared in a range of literary journals and anthologies, and my first short story collection, Somewhere in Minnesota is available on Amazon US as well as international Amazon sites., Barnes & Noble or from the publisher.