Kip’s Comments - December 23, 2025

Significance of Color

Included in my list of life experiences where I learned something is a collection of times I have dropped through ice while ice fishing. Years ago I had a run of incidents where every other year I went down due to believing the “first ice” or “last ice” made for the best ice fishing conditions.

In a spirit of transparency I will admit that I was a slow learner. The last time I lost the “will the ice support me challenge” proved to be a bit hairy for getting out. Since then I have been cautious, perhaps extra careful. I now need more ice than the “Ice Safety” charts show before I go out. And when I see the ice changing colors I become immediately concerned that conditions may no longer be safe. Such was the case this afternoon when checked on ice anglers on a local lake.

If you study this ice, you can see the varying shades of darkness - indicators of possible changing ice integrity. Certainly our warm conditions could be impacting the ice. Or, maybe there is a spring under the ice. Or did the insulating snow early in winter impact ice conditions? Regardless, it would be a challenge for me to go out on that ice much longer if the temps stay above freezing. I just don’t want the sudden chill (or worse) just for a few fish.

Ice Fishing - Image 1051775

Another example of the significance of color occurred when I found many gray and red feathers scattered on the snow. Seeing the reds, rather than shades of brown, tells me a cardinal likely became a meal for a hawk. Red feathers on the snow make for a simple picture, but their color provides necessary details for a story most of us probably would rather not want to know. Had these been sparrow feathers I bet there would be less concern. The color of the feathers was significant.

Northern Cardinal Feathers in Snow - Image 1051831