Can any tell me when the ice is normally off the lakes in the area? Most lakes open may 15th, is the ice normally off by then. I'm traveling and will miss the hard water season but want to plan a trip for opening weekend.
Last year with the late Spring the ice didn't come off the larger lakes in the Edmonton area until the week before the May long weekend. I'm thinking that with El Nino it'll be off a lot sooner this year so you might be okay for May 15.
Usually ice is off before May long in the Lakeland. Would appear to be an early ice off this year but you never know what Mother Nature might have in store for us. Certainly winter has been crazy mild this year.
Be cautious to read the regs before heading out as some of the bigger lakes do not open for angling until June 1st in the Lakeland (Siebert, Marie, Wolf, etc).