Big Sand and Potato

[thedanimalkmk]

Can anyone tell me what the ice is usally like on these lakes? Is there any places to stay away from? Was out on the north end of Mantrap this past weekend. Some slush but I was able to get through it with a wheeler. 8 inches plus of ice. To bad the fish didn't cooperate better.

[eyefever]

Definetely be careful on Potato. Especially where the West arm meets the lake. I've seen this spot open up and heave. Not sure on big sand. Good to hear mantrap has some good ice, I'm gonna try some crappies up there in a couple weeks. They run small but they're fun.

[maanjus11]

Big Sand is hard to get to unless you know someone on the lake to give you access. Otherwise, the public access is right next to the river. So be real carefull if you go that way! There's little ice during the middle of the winter.

[eyefever]

There's also a snowmobile trail that goes in right by the lake emma access. I know quite a few people go out in portables from there. Just stay to the left because the river from emma comes in by there.

[thedanimalkmk]

Thanks for the info guys..now I'll just have to give it a try.

Dan

[southwest]

are people out on Emma already? Have you heard if

its slushy?

[Jason Durham]

Everythings slushy. People have been out on Emma but stay left, there's always open water near the culvert.

You can get out on Big Sand from the access mid-season if you follow the shoreline to the right. Be very careful when doing it though. The water level's down and the current has weakend near the access, but use extreme caution. Big Sand is one of the last lakes to freeze and the ice is very inconsistent, especially with the insulating snow cover. The days of -20 didn't do much for increasing the ice thickness because of all the snow and development is slow.