Anglers and those willing to brave the cold are invited to head out to the lake and do some free fishing this weekend.

Between February 16-18 you will be allowed to fish on any body of water that has an open sport fishing season without a license.

Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation Darrell Crabbe says weekends like this are good to help boost the number of people who will want to check out the outdoors.

"It's to let people get out and to enjoy fishing and give it a try. Especially people who are able to get out in summer and try fishing out. It's a little more difficult in winter...different equipment required etc but right now in Saskatchewan we have just shy of 200 000 licensed anglers in the province and we're very fortunate here that we have the fisheries resources that we have."

If you've never gone ice fishing however but would like to give it a shot, there are a few things you need to know before you step on the ice.

"I think you have to make sure you know where you might be going onto the ice and how you're driving on it and certainly is it safe to go there. There's also ice reports that are out with the water security agency, you can go on their website and see if there are any conditions or problems, or call the local Conservation Officers so they can let you know when there might be some potential hazards.

And if after you've tried it and want to give it another shot, there are a few options for those looking to buy a license.

"There's three types of licenses you can get in Saskatchewan. You can buy an annual license, you can also purchase a one day license, and a three-day license if you like. We have three different areas to go fishing. They have different start and end dates on those. Primarily in the south here, the opening is May the 6th and closing is March 31rst, so you buy it for the whole year."

There will be another free fishing weekend coming up in the summer, but the dates are still to be determined.