A short distance away, thick sea fog rose from Lake Superior's open water. A cold breeze chilled exposed flesh and created waves that splashed over the ice shelf's edge.
But Cory Hoglund and Dan Dietzmann were snug and warm inside their ice-fishing shelter. Wednesday, for perhaps the fifth time since thick ice formed along the shore near Duluth's Lakewalk, the pair ventured onto Lake Superior in pursuit of trout and salmon.
"Anytime you can get out here, it's worthwhile," Dietzmann said. "Fishing is good, and it's like a freshwater ocean."
While ice fishing on Superior is fun, Russ Francisco, owner of Marine General Sports Store, cautions people to be careful.
Carrying picks and wearing personal flotation devices are good ideas. Shutting the tent up tight and failing to note changing conditions are bad ideas.
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"You have to be careful," he said. "You have to watch the wind, because if the ice breaks off, you're going to go for a ride. You see some guys dragging canoes out with them. Not a bad idea."
When an offshore wind is blowing, Hoglund usually fishes elsewhere. Even when the wind is blowing from a different direction, it can be disconcerting on Superior.
"It was kind of creepy out here yesterday," he said. "There was a bad wind blowing. Water was coming out of the holes and the ice was making cracking sounds."
"Sunday we dragged a canoe out, just in case," Dietzmann said.
Peering down one of his holes, drilled through about 10 inches of ice, Hoglund watched a school of herring swim by.
"The old-timers called it 'window fishing,' " Hoglund said.
To expand their window, the pair have gone high-tech. Fish locators mark the presence or passage of fish. Hoglund watched a small TV screen, seeing his jig flutter over the rippled sand bottom 60 feet down as he worked his fishing rod.
"We just come out to watch TV, not to fish," Dietzmann said. "Sometimes, it's almost as much fun to watch them as to fish."
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"There are some big fish down there," Hoglund said.
Dietzmann has had good luck so far, catching the limit for trout with a buddy one day last week.
Anglers heading out by the French River and McQuade also are doing well, Francisco said.
"They're taking cohos and some 'loopers," he said. "A guy came in the other day with a real nice coaster."
A little farther up the shore -- where ice and open water met closer to land -- brothers Mike and John Stattelman were fishing next to a 12-foot canoe. It makes a good sled and gives them more options if things go wrong, Mike said. Wednesday was the brothers' first day on Superior this winter. They tried in their luck over 28 feet of water.
"It would be nice to be in 40 feet, but I don't know if we want to go farther out," Mike Stattelman said. "We would like to catch cohos, but we'll take anything."
