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Ice Fishing done for the season


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Well, it's been a fun but short ice fishing season. I made it out twice before the snow shut everything down. Good luck driving a 4 wheeler or sled in 16 inches of snow on 4" of ice with all the slush underneath. What started out last Monday with great ice making weather has turned to a total bust 1 week later with all this &%$#*@& snow! What a deal!

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I would not get too frustrated yet, Yeah, too much of the white stuff can be a problem. Colder Tempetures will cure all later on.

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Yep I was just thinking I will have to find my spot, flood it, let it freeze, put the house on it and call it good. Body is to banged up to go trolling with these kind of conditions.

But I bet my buddies that love snowmobiling are in heaven.

Lynn J

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I think Pleaseant is right on the money here. Hopefully the snow pumps will settle down, and some cold nights will help consolidate some of the slop.

Right now, I am gonna give it a few more days.

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What spokes me is the little lake I was on this week end had anywere from 1 to 6 inches of ice.Were the snow had blown to one side of the lake on shore it was real thin so becareful out there!!! And this was before this new round of snow!!!

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This is just downright dangerous. I think the DNR should restrict any lake travel for at least a couple weeks til the water on top of the ice has a chance to freeze. The ice will MELT when it has water on top, so where there was 4-6" of ice before the snow, there could very well be less than that now. I hope it doesn't take someone dying to make people aware of how dangerous it really is. I have a wife and kid at home, and no fish is worth my life. I'm usually one of the first ones out once the ice is safe, but I'll be following someone else's tracks this year. What a revolting development this is. frown.gif

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Figures...First year with a new permanent shack and this mess comes early...Be easier to go chase deer with the smokepole this weekend at least.. grin.gif

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Quote:

I think the DNR should restrict any lake travel for at least a couple weeks til the water on top of the ice has a chance to freeze.


I'll disagree with that one. I agree that the is ice plenty dangerous and I am not in any rush to venture out on most lakes right now. And I'll agree that all this snow is not good for making ice right now. But I don't think that a blanket closure for lakes is appropriate, due to the fact that no two lakes are the same. Let common sense be your judgement when determining whether or not to head out on a lake. There are some lakes just a bit north in DL that have enough ice to probably support all the snow we got this past week. But I don't want to be potentially be forced off of a lake with good ice on my sled or with my portable, just because some other lakes in the county are slushy. Give it time and the lakes will recover from all of this snow.

Even though this snow is not good for fishing right now, I'll still take it over last season. That was pathetic.

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Thank you DeadHead! I was hoping someone would disagree with that outlandishly ridiculous statement I made!

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There were some hard sides out quite a ways on Ottertail today out from the public access.

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LOL, Fishermatt. I think most of us have been hanging our heads that we never even blinked at your post.

I id'ed a couple of spots that I can get to, and my sleds are ready to go. I just might be fishing tomorrow evening!

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gotcha wink.gif

once I get my sled back from the dealer, it's time to hit the ice up here and do some fishing!

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We stopped by the public access on the south side of Ottertail last night to check it out. I counted 5 perm. out on the first break and multiple atv's out with portables. Walked out 75-100 yards and kicked down to the ice, about 8 inch's of snow and no slush. We didn't punch any holes so ice thickness is unknown so be safe if you head out that way.

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I just got back from a recon mission. Some water on top of six inches of ice. Gonna give it a go this afternoon!

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7 inches and a some flooding on ottertail from graystone.. pretty deep snow.. walking is rough out there.. especially pulling a portable..

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
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    • SkunkedAgain
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    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
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    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
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    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
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