Slush conditions - Stuntz Bay - 7 Sisters Area ?

[LundExplorer]

Anyone have an update on ice/slush conditions out of Stuntz bay, toward 7 Sisters & Ely Island? Is there a lot of slush to be concerned about if traveling by snowmobile?

Thanks!

[shamrock7]

You should, repeat, should find most of the slush capped. Meaning that there should be a layer of frozen slush, then possibly some water than solid ice. With the cold weather of last night and that forecast for tonight, should pretty well take care of the slush issue. The slush was passable if you had a newer style, high clearance machine.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

We fished the North side of Ely Island this afternoon and still ran into quite a bit of slush in some areas. Some areas are starting to freeze up too.

If you keep your speed up you will not get stuck.

Cliff

[LundExplorer]

Thanks guys. Cliff, do you ever use the portage that goes across Ely Island?

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Quote:

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Thanks guys. Cliff, do you ever use the portage that goes across Ely Island?

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No.

Cliff

[LundExplorer]

A quick ice update for the Tower end of Vermilion...

Much improved travel on the lake by snowmobile as much of the slush has frozen around the Ely Island - Mckinley Park - Stuntz bay area. The dreaded 'get stuck in the slush' was not a problem. Saw several ATVs out as well. Even saw one pickup truck go out of Stuntz Bay although I would not be that brave... or whatever you want to call it.

Ice thickness was 8" to 12" of clear ice with 4 to 8" of slush ice on top. Found a layer of water/slush between slush ice and clear ice in some places. Pleae continue to be careful!

[FL SNIPER]

How's the fishing been on that end? I'll be up this weekend visiting some friends. I assume fishing prime times is key. What about depths or type of structure, presentation for walleyes....not looking for someone's spot just something to try or think about. Thanks...hopefully I have a good post when I get back.

[stick]

I was with LundExplorer, and we had some slow fishin'. We were in the McKinley Park area. We had 4 guys working hard on the ice, and only iced a few eyes. We dissected various structure pieces, and would drill a number of holes and send one guy hole-hopping shallow (teens of feet deep) and someone on the breaklines, and someone deep (30-40). We marked relatively few fish overall. The few that we caught were not at any specific depth. We would get a mark show up on the Marcum and coax the fish up (sometimes a fair distance) and the fish would pop the rap. We tried many different tactics, but not to much success at all. Hopefully others had more success than we had. There weren't too many people out there since vehicle traffic is not a good idea. We fished from mid-morning to about 7:00 PM, so maybe we weren't hitting the prime time.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

I have had a very good walleye bite going the past week.

Tip-ups or small gold spoons fished in 22' to 30' of water.

Bait the tip-ups with small to medium pike suckers and the spoons with crappie minnnows,(tail hooked.)

Mornings have been the best up until around noon for me.

Cliff

[FL SNIPER]

Thanks guys! Lets hope all the equipment stays in working condition this weekend with the cold temps.