REGIONAL— What a difference a week can make. Temperatures in the 60s and overnight lows well above the freezing mark in recent days have sent signs of winter packing and raised hopes that the ice just might be off area lakes by the May 12 fishing opener.

In fact, smaller lakes were already clearing of ice as of late this week, and it was looking like Lake Vermilion’s Pike Bay could be wide open ahead of the weekend.

Pike Bay traditionally clears of ice a week to ten days ahead of the main portion of the lake, but with milder-than-average conditions forecast for the next week, there’s growing optimism in the area that ice won’t spoil another opener.

“It will be close, but I think there will be open water for the fishing opener,” said TJ Kladivo, at Shamrock Marina on Lake Vermilion. “There will be fishable water, that’s for sure,” he said.

Even if lingering ice remains on parts of Big Bay, Vermilion will almost certainly still offer thousands of acres of open water for anglers to try their luck. And other smaller lakes in the area, which typically open earlier than a large lake like Vermilion or Burntside, should be fully clear of ice by May 12.