Faribault Ice

[Harpenter]

I'm driving up from IL this weekend to spend some time with family that still lives in Owatonna/Faribault.  My Uncle is hoping I can take him fishing on Saturday, but he doesn't get around very well.  Are people driving trucks out on the ice yet? We would likely be on French, Mazaska, or Roberds.

[GeorgeMN]

Trucks are driving on Roberds Lake.

[BringAnExtension]

Before I add this, I will state that I am not saying it is safe.  I have not been on any local ice in two weeks and I am merely stating what I saw when I drove around yesterday.

There are vehicles out on Roberds and French.

There are no vehicles out on Mazaska.

All three lakes have had a very unusual freeze up this year.

Stay safe.

[Harpenter]

Fully understand what you mean there.  I appreciate the info guys.  He may have a friend that will give him a lift on a wheeler to get out there.  

Any suggestions on which lake to get him out on?  Probably just going for panfish, Crappies, Perch, etc. 

[BringAnExtension]

Stop in at Lake Country and look at the white board.  They have more current information than I do right now.

[jd681]

Saw a couple of trucks 100 yards off the access  pointed towards the island of cedar lake  yesterday.  I'm still seeing wet slush pockets on the ice on the lakes which doesn't make me to comfortable to be driving yet. 

This lack of driving has kept the pressure off the lakes a little bit and kept them quieter.

 

[SoMNIce]

Okay, so we know there are 1/2 tons and 16' permanents on Roberds & French as of Sunday.   It would really be nice to get a real ice measurement for anyone willing to do that for the rest of us.  I can tell you that there are 1/2 tons and 16' permanents on Clear in Waseca as well, but ice measures anywhere from 6"-13" all within a couple hundred yards.

[Harpenter]

We're driving up late tomorrow night and will hit the ice on Friday morning.  I'll post whatever I find for ice thickness and bite after we get going.

[Harpenter]

Any other members going to be out on Friday or Saturday?  We'll stop by and say hi if so.

[mosquitoman]

I am going to try and get out to French on Friday. With two young kids this is sadly going to be my first time out this season.  I have a vexilar suit if you want to stop by. 

[Harpenter]

We started on Roberds, but the fishing was awful.  We did measure 14", and there were trucks all over the ice.  We walked out. 

Then we moved over to Cannon and limited out on some really nice Jumbo Perch.  We threw back everything under 10".

Going to hit French tomorrow for some Crappies. 

[IAtransplant]

Congrats on the catch and thanks for the report! With a new baby in the house, I haven't had a chance to make it out yet this winter, but hoping that I can snag a day off work toward the end of next week and spend a day on the ice. This is definitely giving me the itch to get out there now!

[BringAnExtension]

Harpenter -

Thanks for the report.  Guess it means that I am busy when someone from IL has better reports than I do in my own neighborhood.  Hopefully I'll get out sometime this weekend.

 

[Harpenter]

Just got done at French.  We drove my F150 out on that, lots of trucks out.  Got 7 nice Crappie and 2 nice Perch.  Heading back to Cannon now. 

 

[BringAnExtension]

I decided to go off the beaten path and try out Hunt's.  I was immediately marking a number of fish a few feet off the bottom.

Unfortunately, they were all 3 and 4 inch crappies!

 

[Harpenter]

I've had plenty of those days.

We had a great trip up there.  Saturday at Cannon wasn't as good, but still managed to pull out another 15 Perch at Cannon.  I was shocked at how much ice there was on Cannon.  We measured one spot at 18"! 

[BringAnExtension]

Sounds like overall you had a pretty good time while you were here.

[Mjohns15]

Cannon's ice varied greatly if you had 18inches, I measured anywhere from 7-12 inches of good ice on Saturday. 

[brian6715]

Does any one have an ice report from French? Also, is Hoy's Resort letting trucks/fish houses out yet? Any help would be appreciated, trying to get the fam out this weekend

[colderdabetta]

Was on French today. Drove my truck out. Was scary as hell. Lots of slush where snow drifts are or were. Hope there isn't a big rush to the Lake like last weekend or someone may go threw. Be darn careful if you go. Found 9-14 inches-o ice. Fished for 4hrs. A few sunnys and small perch.

[brian6715]

I got out to a couple lakes this weekend, people are driving everywhere but I would still be careful. I drilled holes and checked as I went, and I always drilled in the deepest snow banks I could find. Most ice I found was 13", the least was 11". People I talked to called it 16 inches, but I don't count the white melted ice/snow layer, my guess is that actually decreases ice strength because of it's weight. My house took on about an inch and a half of water over one night. Again, be really careful in this area, especially with the blizzard coming up. 

[geliason]

I was on Cannon Sunday, straight out from the boat landing. Saw lots of vehicles out. However, where I set up, I had only 8"-10". 100 feet away I was well over 15". Still walking!

[BringAnExtension]

2 hours ago, geliason said:

Still walking

Me too.

[Zelmsdawg]

22 hours ago, BringAnExtension said:

Me too.

Same here. A little exercise is a good thing

[harvey lee]

Trouble with most of the lakes in the area you are discussing is there may be 14-18 inches in many spots, then you find spots with a little snow cover and slush and there is less than 10.

I know a few lakes around me like Waconia has 15 inches but there are 6-8 inch spots also under the snow that no one can see. Pretty risky to take a truck out unless you feel darn lucky, not for me. This batch of snow coming now will not help the ice at all.

[brian6715]

Saw the front end of a truck pulling an ice castle went through on French this weekend... Looked like just the motor compartment was under water and the ice castle was unhooked sitting behind it. Be careful out there

[BringAnExtension]

I was just about to post this.  The ice is inconsistent on the area lakes, that is the best word I can think of to describe it.  And now there are 10 inches of snow out there.  Be careful.

Still walking ...

[brian6715]

Sorry my days are mixed up with having 2 snows day... the truck went through Wednesday