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Thanks, Ken. With the rest of the cold weather this week coming it'll be dandy for the weekend.

Shoot me an e-mail and we can make plans if you still wanna.

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A friend of mine said there was 5-6 inches off silver fox. and they had some luck. every one be careful if you go remember no ice is safe. take your safety gear. Nels.

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Talked to tim at the highbanks guys fishing out at hte point and catching a couple of eyes. 5 inches out there.

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I would be fishing Birch for Walleyes or Crappies. Snot rockets would just be a bonus. I have only fished Birch during open water though, I am hoping to change that soon. grin.gif

The deer hunting can be good, but it can also be spotty. They are here and there are some decent bucks.

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The narrows has 2-5" of ice depending on where you are. Im sure guys will be pushing the boundries and getting out to Aiplane Island this weekend. Be careful like Jack says "no ice is safe ice."

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Last I heard Island lake had open water but might have a thin sheet or ice now, its not ready. Stay clear of bridges, damms, and rivers. The lake I live on was one of the first to freeze in this area and it has 4" of ice where I've tested.

With a lot of smaller shallow lakes ice covered there'll be guys on the ice this weekend. Don't assume the ice thickness in one spot will be the same elsewhere on the lake.

Don't be brave, Be prepared.

Travel in pairs and test the ice with a chisel on your way out. Avoid slips and falls by wearing Ice cleats. Those cleats will also give you traction in case your pulling someone out of the water. 100' of rope with loops big enough to get around your body is a must. Of coarse if the guy carrying the rope goes through that isn't going to do him any good, each of you should have an end. If your pulling a portable or sled, use a longer rope. If you fall through the ice, let go of the tow rope, you don't want to be sharing your hole with the portable. Ice Picks, get your legs horizontal to the surface and kick while you pull yourself out with the picks. Once you get enough of your body on the ice, roll away from the open area.

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Good tips Frank, ice will be full of fisherman and women this weekend, give everyone space, DON'T take ORV's out yet and be careful!

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Thanks Nate.

We hear it every year and some guys heard it enough. Still theres the new ice fisherman that need to know.

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I know that there are rules against posting links here, but there is a video on the Discovery Channel site that explains the dos and don'ts if you ever go through the ice. If you do a search on discovery channel falling through ice, you will come up with a number of places that you can find the clip. It will tell you that the first thing to do is not to get out of the water, but to breath. Many people die just because they can't catch thier breath, not because they drown. Once you have your breathing under control, then work on getting out of the water. I found it very informative.

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I've seen that same deal off the Disc. Channel. Good info. It's hard to say how anyone would react in those situations though. More or less just TRY to stay calm.

Big-Al....LMAO at your signature smile.gif

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I trecked out on wild rice today. saw a 4 wheeler pulling a huge permanent ice house out.

Some people realy dont have much for brains. I found Ice out there that would never support such a big house if the driver to go over it. I realy hope they didnt find any weak spots. crazy.gif

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Well how much ICE did you find. I would like to now and so would others thank you for your help smirk.gif.

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Six inches of clear strong ice at the unprotected head of a bay on Birch Lake Reservoir near Babbitt. About three inches of windswept snow over the ice, with an occasional crack oozing slush when I walked out this morning, but all the slush was frozen solid when I walked back in tonight.

With these temps, it'll be another inch thicker by tomorrow. grin.gifgrin.gif

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Found a consistent 6" on Grand today. That was from the McGregor Rd to the trench. Mixture of bare ice to a couple inches of snow. I forgot my snow shovel out there and wasn't about to walk back and get it. If you find it you found where I was fishing. grin.gif

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it all depends on the weight of the house versus area of the house. i.e. P = F/A. the greater the area the house, the less pressure it puts on the ice. there is no magic to the early ice, it's simply physics. i work with some really smart engineers that wont set foot on the ice even though they know its 36" thick. its just a matter of being somewhat thoughtful and not doing stupid stuff.

I would love to hear honestly how many guys have jumped off their buckets when there was 6" of good hard black ice in December when the ice popped/shook and you could really feel it. I did it at least 20 times last December even though I knew that I was 100% safe. You know, the ice pops you jump and then look around to see if anyone saw you acting like you just moved north from California or somwhere that men act like... well, not men i guess.

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SFBOY, there were a couple times today on Birch, sitting in my Trap over six inches of solid clear ice, when I thought I'd have to change my drawers I got so startled by a loud pop or two. grin.gifgrin.gifgrin.gif

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Someone told me that they seen a person with a pickup truck on a local lake earlier today...Is it possible to be this stupid?

"Are you crazy boy, or just plain stupid???"

-"Stupid is as stupid does sir..."

-Forrest Gump

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I hear ya, it seems like every winter I have to get used to the popping and cracking all over again. I plan on hitting Wild Rice Lake tomorrow so hopefully I will have a report in the evening some time.

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I am gonna take a venture over to my local lake tomorrow. I'll report back.

EatSleep....there is no boundaries for stupid and as Ron White says " You can't fix stupid" but its funny how mother nature can thin the herd.

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With the weather service calling for 7-12 inches of snow up here in Ely over the next day and a half, on top of the 8 we've already gotten, it'll make for a lot of happy snowmobilers but it ain't doing the new ice any good.

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I'm afraid you're right. It got started making ice last night to add an inch or so, then warmed up before this morning.

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Quote:

I would love to hear honestly how many guys have jumped off their buckets when there was 6" of good hard black ice in December when the ice popped/shook and you could really feel it.


I was on Moose Lake coming across about 4 inches of clear ice after dark with no moon. My dog had already been through the ice once. I had an ice spud in my hand checking the ice as I went along. I spiked the chisel into the ice about half way across and had the ice pop right under my feet. As Steve mentioned, I 'bout had to change my drawers after that one! blush.gif

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If we get all that forecast snow, it'll be slush city on good-sized lakes like Shag that have frozen but don't have the six inches or more that much of Birch does. It'll take a good bit of cold weather to freeze that slush.

I wonder how it'll play on Birch, which could have 7 inches right now where I fished yesterday. There were quite a few seams that had spewed up slush there. One was still shallow slush when I walked in at 9 a.m., but that one had frozen over by day's end.

Anybody from Ely been on Shag in the last couple days after the cold? How thick was the ice?

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Steve, I have been checking the ice on Farm. Thinking that since we have had some cold temps and hearing about people fishing Shag, I assumed Farm would be good. Well, luckily I took along my chisel because I found a few places, 50 feet from shore, with only 2 inches of ice...bout' had to change my pants. The thickest ice was only 3 inches, so I decided to head back to shore instead of risking a pre-christmas swim shocked.gif

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Chub Lake in Carlton has 4 inches in shallow spots. Towards the middle of the lake I could see slushy spots where it was probably open water...

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