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Missing boaters


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Please respect the big lake....

http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/region/3855715-search-goes-missing-boaters-lake-woods-webpage-launched-aid-families

By Sarah Volpenhein on Oct 7, 2015 at 10:03 a.m.
The boaters -- Keith Ryan Ayers, 28, Cody Joseph Ostendorf, 24, and Justin Kelly Haugtvedt, 22, all of Baudette, Minn. -- were last seen Friday night leaving Oak Island, at the north end of Minnesota’s portion of the lake, and were reported missing Saturday afternoon, shortly before their capsized boat was found near Flag Island, which is just west of Oak Island.
The Lake of the Woods County Sheriff's Office, U.S. Border Patrol and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources have been searching for the men near Flag and Oak islands since Saturday, but to no avail as of Tuesday.

On Monday, the Water Patrol Division of the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office sent two deputies to join the search, according to the office's spokeswoman Rebecca Gilbuena.

The Hennepin County deputies were expected to bring more sophisticated sonar equipment to aid in search and rescue efforts Tuesday.

While officials have not permitted the men's family members to aid in the search, they have gathered in Baudette, which is about 10 miles south of Lake of the Woods. As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, donors had poured more than $10,000 into the GoFundMe account, which was launched Monday night.

"Donations will help all the families with their expenses at this time," according to the GoFundMe page.

Joe Cooper, a fishing guide, discovered the three men's 16-foot Lund boat capsized around 3:30 p.m. Saturday near the northeast corner of Flag Island, with a gas can floating on the water and three life jackets underneath the boat, he wrote in an email.

The men had last been seen at about 11:30 p.m. Friday leaving Sunset Lodge on the west side of Oak Island, according to the Lake of the Woods County Sheriff's Office. Weather conditions were clear and breezy near Flag Island Friday, with gusts reaching up to 35 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

But Cooper wrote that the direction of the wind could have resulted in rough waters Friday night.

"The direction of the wind that night would make the bay near Sunset Lodge calm," he wrote. "But the main water outside of the bay would be very rough. In the dark, approaching the rough water without being able to see the waves leaves you unprepared to strike a wave with the boat."

Cooper works in the Northwest Angle, just west of Flag and Oak islands, and said he has been out on the lake in similar weather conditions and in boats similar to the missing men's vessel.

The official cause of the accident has not been determined.

 
 
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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
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    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • 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
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
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    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • 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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