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Just thought I would give a few updates on ice conditions...

Cass Lake: If you do venture out be REALLY careful, CLark mentioned that there is still open water from O'neils to Windigo.. I beileve and will know by this weekend the ice on the south and maybe upto Allen's Bay area.. I'm pretty sure Allens and Dick's bay should have very walkable and maybe even ATV ice by now....

Andrusia:

Reports from the anglers out there is the walleyes are going and there is between 6-8 inches of ice...

Bemidji:

STAY OFF THE NORTH END.. Rumor has it before the snow came in the lake in that area froze two days earlier. My guess is 2 -3 inches of ice and lots of slush...

As with most lakes in the area, we will have slush under the snow and the weight of all this snow is causing the ice to be pushed down... PLEASE PLEASE be safe and bring a chisel with just to double check if it looks iffy...

If you do venture out please post on here with how much ice you found. You don't have to give coordinates or exact locations, but please let us know what you find for conditions(ice thickness, slush, snow, ect.)

Good Luck and be safe...

Beef

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Thanks for the info Beef. Let us know if you get out this weekend, and I will do the same. Although, I am leaning more and more towards giving the bigger lakes another week just to be safe and hitting a couple honey holes in the woods instead.

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I probably should have mentioned this earlier, or posted this, but I've been sending in ice reports for the map on the Ice Fishing forum. I should have said something.....my bad.

Beef, could you possibly "sticky" this thread? I'll post a copy of my e-mail that I send in on here then.

Well, here's the report from 15 minutes ago. Me and one of the seasonal guys from Break on the Lake just attempted to plow an ATV road out in front of the resort. We stopped about 3/4 of the way out to the first drop-off. I walked ahead with a chisel and measured the ice. I found 7 inches of ice all the way out to the edge of the drop. However, at the base of the drop, there was only about 4 inches of ice. We both agreed to stop, as we didn't want to risk dropping his ATV in. Slush was everywhere and water boiled like crazy out of the chisel holes. Still about 8 to 10 inches of snow covering the lake. I wouldn't reccomend any ATV travel yet. I'll be walking out this weekend and will report whatever I find.

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Sorry, but I haven't been down to Pike Bay in a while. Haven't heard anything about it either. If I do, I'll let you know.

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I will be out heavy this weekend testing ice all over Cass and Pike Bay... Ice is varying everywhere right now... I still have heard reports of only 1-3 inches or even pockets of open water on both Cass and PB... I will be on PB for a few minutes Saturday just to check Ice not to fish... I do know there is 6-7 inches by Cedar bar heading towards the Kettles... I also know that is where I caught Perch and Walleyes wink.gifwink.gifwink.gif.....

MuskyTail...

I will try to sticky a post here on the Cass Forum where it will only be for updated ice posts... With the way the ice is safety needs to be taken first... Thanks for the great update and keep up posts...

Beef

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I'm hearing Andrusia has murky conditions going right now... Hard to see the bottom in 10 feet of water...

I was out on Cass today and I had the Underwater camera down in 19 feet of water and was able to see about 15 feet or so... Just a heads up, I mostly found 7 inches of ice, but I did run across one spot that had 4.5 inches... No slush, except for the flooding after you drill the holes..

Beef

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thats not good man. We stay right on the lake, and last year is was good, but not as good as it was in the past few years.

Please keep me posted.

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Is it safe to go from the South landing out to the cedar bar. Or is there a place where most people access the lake.

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I was out Saturday and battled the COLD!!!! We caught a bunch of perch with only a handful in the jumbo size... We saw a TON of walleyes but this cold front did a number on their eating habits... We found 7.5 inches of ice and did find a few spots with only 5 inches... The bait of choice was fatheads and waxies and the only way to get the perch to bite was to set your bait on the bottom of the lake.. Any movement from the jig or bait and they spooked in a hurry...

As for ice.. I found one pressure ridge for sure and a possible second one.. The first one is developing from Stony Point to the SW tip of Star(JUST LIKE LAST YEAR).. The second one, looks like it is running from the Kettles area to the SE tip of Star.. We have around 12-14 inches of snow on the ice and when you drill your ice hole the water floods everything from the weight of the snow... We were fishing 8-9 feeet of water and traveled a little over two miles to where we fished on four wheelers and sleds.. My clients did catch a few 12 inch plus jumbos and some eyes, but like I mentioned the fish were VERY tight lipped.. It was frustrating to watch them on the camera...

A quick plug for the Marcum 560.. It worked great not having to move the camera housing unit to see the fish. Like I said any movement and the fish spooked.. The rotating lense that is built into the housing unit on the 560 keep the fish in the area...THANKS MARCUM!!!

Beef

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Quick update:

There's a short road plowed out infront of BOTL. One of the sesonal guys already has a small perm out there. About 6 to 7 inches of ice seems to be the norm, with as much as 10 in a few areas. There's also a few scattered slushy areas, so be careful. Still about a foot of snow on the ice, so flooding is still a big problem after you drill holes.

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North side of the LAke on Allen's Bay. Take Mission Rd (Resort Drive) to E. Windigo Rd and follow it till it ends.

Good Luck!

Ken

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