By Steve Weisman

(photo by Steve Weisman) After a day spent helping dad put together portable shelters for the third annual Ice Kickoff, Laura (daughter) decided they should step into a Clam Yukon XL Thermal shelter and practice a little jigging!

Yep, that was snow in the air late last week, and yes there was a blizzard in the Dakotas. Although we didn’t get anything measurable, it’s definitely a harbinger of what is to come! Even though we’re still in the fall open water fishing and all the hunting seasons, ice fishing is just around the corner with ice fishing probably a couple months away.

To kick off the frozen water season, Stan’s Bait and Tackle on the north edge of Milford, is putting the finishing touches on its third annual Ice Kickoff and Fish Fry scheduled for Saturday, November 2 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. According to owner Travis Harman, it’s been full speed ahead getting all the ice gear out and shelters put together. “We just finished putting 25 shacks together.”

Factory representatives and pro staffers will be on hand including Chad Cummings with Clam Outdoors, Travis Frazee with Crystaleyes jigs, Shawn Haley with Vexan, Darrin Jones with St. Croix and Chad Loreth representing Vexilar.

In addition, David Koonce with In-Depth Outdoors will be on hand. Harman notes, “It is designed as a meet and greet instead of having any seminars. With the crowd that we have, stopping everybody for a seminar kind of takes away from the opportunity for everybody to talk with each other and the pro staffers.”

Harman says, “We will be having the minnow bucket sale again this year- you purchase the minnow bucket and receive 10 percent off everything that fits (some exclusions apply). This is something everybody is always looking forward to.”

Another special will be for anybody who purchases a Clam or Strikemaster float suit. “They will get a Stan’s Bait and Tackle Performance Hoodie (valued at $50), which is warm yet light weight. The promotion with the performance hoodie is buy a float coat  or float bibs and get the hoodie half off and buy both coat and bibs get the hoodie for $1.”

Another special includes a free runner kit for anybody purchasing one of Clam Outdoors two-person shelters.

Members of the Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club (IGLFC) will be on hand to supervise the fish fry that will begin about 11 a.m. IGLFC president Terry Thomsen, says, “This is a great opportunity to see all of the new products and at the same time get to talk fishing. The IGLFC is happy to be here in support of Stan’s Bait and Tackle. We’ll have 2020 memberships, and lots of fish to eat!”