Jason Pavleck has several photos of himself posing with fish he caught from his boat on Rainy Lake.
But none have been taken in December — until now.
The avid angler Sunday took his boat out for one last run on the lake this year before ice takes over. It’s the first time he’s ever been on open water in December.
“Dec. 6 is the latest I have ever had the boat in the water,” he said, adding at this time two years ago he was ice fishing for crappies.
Last year, he was pushing his luck by launching his Ranger Z521 bass boat Nov. 26. Ice at the landing made it difficult to get the boat in and out of the water, but this year, the Pat Roche Memorial Access along Rainy River was ice-free.
“We launched there and went all the way up to the northern part of Rainy Lake on the Canadian side – about 20 miles each way,” he said of he and fishing partner, Derek Bilben. “We did have to dodge a few small icebergs that had gotten loose from some of the bays way up north. Some of the small bays had a skim coat of ice on them.”
Still, the early-December bite was good. Pavleck said this is the time of year smallmouth bass put on their winter weight. The anglers were bringing in fish up to 4.5 pounds.
“Our last couple of trips we have put in we have been catching 150-200 fish per day,” he said. “This fall has been one of the greatest for smallmouth fishing I have seen. I bet I put in 50 trips since September. Lots of bone-chilling days, but well worth it. We have had some trips of a lifetime.”
Pavleck joked he and Bilben were crazy to take to the water so late in the year, but they did see one other boat out walleye fishing Sunday. And while a good time was had by someone who considers himself an “addict to bass fishing,” Pavleck admits it still got a little chilly, especially with the water temperature hovering around 36 degrees.
But cold or not, Pavleck said with winter closing in, the thought of fishing doesn’t stop.
“(I) turned the heat on in the garage and the tackle making for next year begins,” he said.
El Nino year
Pavleck is likely among several residents enjoying the warm start to the final month of 2015 and a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Duluth said the trend is expected to continue through the rest of the month and possibly the winter season.
“The bigger picture is we’re in part of the El Nino pattern,” said meteorologist Melody Lovin. “On a smaller scale, we’ve been persistently getting a southerly flow and haven’t had much of a polar plunge.”
The weather service reported the average temperature of 32.6 degrees in International Falls through the first seven days of December ranks as the warmest for the 86 Decembers on record. The average temperature for the same period is 14.7 degrees.
Lovin said El Nino is a naturally occurring phenomenon observed every three to seven years. Warm temperatures in certain parts of the Pacific Ocean affect weather patterns for the rest of the globe. Lovin said this year is one of the strongest El Nino observations in recent years.
“The rest of the month looks like above average temperatures to continue,” she said.
Outdoor enthusiasts craving snow cover could have their wishes come true soon.
“The coloration between precipitation and El Nino isn’t quite as obvious as that of temperatures,” Lovin said. “Looking at our extended outlook, we will have a few chances of some upcoming snow storms approaching this weekend and later next week.”
