I finally was able to get out ice fishing last week in the St. Louis River harbor in Duluth. It's a pretty good walleye spot, and they've been biting pretty well off Park Point. This has been a really mild winter, and ice conditions have been sketchy at best.

Last Wednesday I went out with a friend and we tested the ice. We did have almost a foot of ice, but it was ice that had frozen, melted, and frozen, making it weak. We did notice these strange-looking holes everywhere.

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I don't remember ever seeing anything like it, so I looked it up online, figuring there had to be an explanation. These holes had refrozen, but it makes you feel a little uneasy walking on them.

Ken Hayes
Ken Hayes
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Rainy Winter Can Cause It

There are a few explanations for how this can happen. For this instance, the most likely situation was how it froze, melted, rained, and then froze again. The ice melted enough to create a hole, then the rain on top of it caused it to spread out like a spider web and then it froze over again. Or, it could be some other weird stuff happening.

Related: Hidden Dangers Of Shelf Ice In Minnesota + Wisconsin

Warmer Water Rising Up

In some cases, warmer water could come up to the surface and that could lead to these shapes forming.

Ken Hayes
Ken Hayes
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Decaying Vegetation?

Another thing could be decaying weeds or gas bubbles rising to the surface. It does happen. Last year a giant one formed on a Lake in Minnesota from this.

These 50 US Cities are Crawling with Bed Bugs

Every year the pest control gurus at Orkin put together a list of the Top 50 Bed Bug Destinations in the United States. Which areas do you travel to that you should take extra care to watch out for these blood-sucking insects? Let's countdown to the most bed-bug-riddled city in the United States.

Gallery Credit: Scott Clow