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Thinnest the ice has ever been?


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I was wondering....what's the thinnest anyone can ever remember the ice on Lake of the Woods? Can you imagine a winter if no vehicles could get out? shocked.gif

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so let me be a little more clear....the thinnest ice lets say in January or March...

OR

I can ask it this way too...has there ever been a mild winter on LOTW to the point where it wasn't safe with a truck?

Sorry for the confusion.

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Hey Bazz...You been drinking with the dog again? Ya big meanie you.

We're just funnin' ya Doop. There are years when we get a heavy snowfall early in the season. That keeps the ice from getting as thick as normal years, and there are spots where you can (and people do) go through....of course that can (and does) happen when there's three feet of ice too. THe latest I remember getting on the ice due to mild weather was around the week of X-mas a few years back.

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doop, the real danger is always in the way of breaks/cracks or in ice that has busted up early as it was forming due to high winds etc & re frozen in .... well, ice puzzle pieces...

but it always, always freezes plenty thick.

we just always hope for it to "lock up" tight & get a good freeze on before a wind can tear it up.

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I guess the reason I ask is because on my home lake the ice thickness at the height of the coldest part of the year can vary so much. It could easily be over 2 feet or a couple years ago we struggled to get 6-8 good inches.

No worries....I was just curious because everyone relies on good thick ice to DRIVE out. I was more or less wondering if there has ever been a year where it's not been good ice and driving out was out of the option.

Yall are so far north though...lol...it's going to get cold sooner or later on a yearly basis.

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I am only 28.....but I have lived through the blizards of 96-97 and the mild winters since. I have fished LOW every year since about 95. I can't remember a winter when I have not been hitting my knuckles on the ice without an extension at some point.

I have fished LOW up in WHitefish bay for trout on 4-8" after very cold weather. Last year she was barely frozen for trout opener (Jan. 1)actually I think the deep 180'-200' hole was still open last opener. That gets a little scarey.

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The thinnest ice I was on LOW was a few years ago when the thickest ice we could find was 6 inches. My brother and I got determined to fish in 17 FOW and we sat on top of 2 inches of ice for an hour and open water was in 18 FOW. After an inch of water came up the holes we decided to go back to 16 FOW.

In 10 years fishing the lake early it was the only time I'd seen open water.

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The thinnest ice I've fished on would be less than an Inch, We pushed planks out in front of us as we went. Please do not try this at home. It was the 70's man. Fishing was pretty good as a I recall.

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If people remember in FEB 1996 the Indus rapids darn near froze over, except for a part about the size of the infield of a b-ball diamond. But it was -60F in Tower (FEB 2 and the state record) and didn't get above -20F for around 3 days in I falls with 2nd of Feb reaching -45F in the Falls.

It was the coldest JAN in long time for the north land. Thief River Falls avg -6.4F for the entire month of JAN!!!!!!Just thought I'd throw the other side of the deal out there.

P.s the fishing near Indus that FEB was unreal!!!

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jigginlow,

I don't believe so, but I've fished with a lot of different people, and my memory ain't what it used to be. When and where are you talking about?

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