How long will ice last

[Boar]

wev got cooler temps. so things have set up,  etter than yeasterday.

[Walleyehooker]

What Im concerned about is we wont be fishing till Thursday and can only travel by snowmobile up at the angle and they don't go threw slush very well. Going to call up there in a little bit and see what the conditions are.

[magnum mike]

Sportsman's called yesterday and cancelled our reservation for next weekend.  This weekend will be it fellas!

[arcticm1000]

Walleyehooker, please post what you find out when you call. 

We are planning on coming up Friday morning and taking snowmobile to Flag Island and come back on Sunday.  

Thanks to everyone posting the current conditions. 

[Walleyehooker]

I called Oak and they said they are pulling their houses and preparing to shut down. Not sure when but sounds like a day to day deal and things are changing quickly. So I ended up canceling my reservations. Best to call Flag and see what they say. I would be more concerned about the snowmobile trail with these warmer temps as it can turn to slush to and when it does it can be very tough going with a snowmobile.

[arcticm1000]

Thanks for the update. 

Flag Island Resort called and recommended to not cross the lake. We canceled our reservations also. 

Maybe we will try again next year. 

The good news is it looks like the river will be fishable by boat soon. 

[Walleyehooker]

Yes its an odd year. Been doing this trip for many years at the same time of year and most times its been pretty chilly up there. First time I had to cancel. But there is always next year and I already have it booked.

[huntercj]

Put about 40 miles on sleds today fishing out of Morson . I was surprised how much the ice had changed since Sunday. We seen a few open holes about the size of a pickup that weren't there 4 days ago.  Definitely time be a little cautious.

[Hoey]

The Warroad forecast includes some strong winds 15 to 20 mph out of the NNW beginning Tuesday through Thursday of next week.  Sustained strong winds with warmer temps will impact the ice.  Winds out of the north are typically stronger than the forecast too.

Edited March 11, 2016 by Hoey

[northspear]

Just came back from Pike fishing. Ice was good. Biggest thing I had a problem with was crossing roads. Lot of water underneath the sides where the snow piled up. Otherwise it was easy traveling around. I think with the weather ahead should be good travels with ATV for a couple weeks. 

[benchmark]

Northspear,

 

Where did u go out of.

[UPnorthFISHING]

seven trucks went down on saturday...so be careful out there

 

[huntercj]

This was up in Morson Ontario Saturday evening. I just got back from the lake today put lots of miles on  snowmobile last few days. Fishing is excellent. Heading back ice fishing in a couple of days.

[northspear]

Benchmark I went out of zipple bay. And traveled all the way over to pine island. Going to spring Steele resort this weekend

[Hoey]

17 hours ago, UPnorthFISHING said:

seven trucks went down on saturday

Tell us more.  I am need to decide if a trip this coming weekend will include fishing or not.

[huntercj]

The picture of the snowmobile  was at the mouth of bergland river  the ice Is almost always bad there.  I just got back from the lake  on sunday was up there for 4 days. I would think think the ice would be good for at least for this week with snowmobiles and atvs. I am headed back to morson on Wednesday plan on ice fishing tell sunday.   I took  my kids to the morson fishing derby on saturday must have been 40 pickups parked in a group for weigh in. I though that was a little iffy. When I left on sunday afternoon there were still pickups out on the lake . I can give more ice info later on. I will be talking with guys that are going trout fishing fishing over  the next couple of days in whitefish bay.

Edited March 14, 2016 by huntercj

[fishingmike]

I was up there this last weekend fishing with Wigwam Resort.  The reports we heard by the end of Saturday were that there was 10 vehicles total that went in. One of them was a vehicle from Wigwam pulling a people hauler trailer, another was a vehicle from Adrians, and a bunch of others were private vehicles.  Sounded like most of them went in on or near the roads.  Including one out in 28 ft of water on the main lake.  The vehicle from Wigwam was in about 7 or 8 ft of water in the bay.  Also included in that 10 it sounded like there were 2 that went in by morris point.  The lake seemed fine in the morning Saturday, but by the time we were coming in it had fallen apart badly and then it was raining up there when we left on Sunday which isn't going to help.  I would say absolutely no vehicles out there, but would think for a short time it would still be ok with wheelers and sleds as long as you pay attention on where you are.  Although we also heard that there were 2 wheelers that went in also, but it sounded like they were somewhere on the river that they shouldn't have been. 

[Hoey]

Today is Arnesen's last day on the ice for the year according to their Facebook.  

[tipupsonly]

When the roads go to hell on a weekend trucks go in left and right. I can guarantee almost all of those vehicles went in on roads, accesses, or other known areas that go bad first.  People don't realize how much of a beating those roads take, how much weight piles up in snow next to them, how exposed they are to the sun, and how much water sits on them when it starts to melt. By far the least safe place to be on the lake is a road right now.

I'm still hoping to come up March 25th piking with atvs so keep the info coming. I got out in western Wisconsin for the second time on a 70 degree day this year just this weekend. We still have some ice here. It takes a long time to melt that big sheet up there. Rain doesn't help. But a decent cool down is coming. 

[UPnorthFISHING]

In total there was at least 7 vehicles that went down today. Not all of these vehicles were traveling on what would have looked to be "bad ice". Bad ice can pop up anywhere. Please be careful, and heed this warning from the Lake of the Woods county sheriff.

"**IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM THE LAKE OF THE WOODS COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT**

The Lake of the Woods Sheriff's Department has received two reports today of vehicles going through the ice on Lake of the Woods. There were no injuries.

Record warm temperatures are causing the ice to rapidly deteriorate.

The Sheriff's Department is asking the public to use EXTREME CAUTION when traveling on the lake and encourages people to check with area resorts before venturing out."

Please exercise extreme caution. The ice becoming saturated and starting to honeycomb in spots. The spot one of the guys that went through today had been just fine only a few hours earlier.

 

 

 

this was reported on saturday ...its sunny and 65 here in roseau with rain for the next 3 days...

[tipupsonly]

It can but I bet 6 of the 7 were in areas that wouldn't surprise you one bit. 

[Boar]

its just a fish.......

[CANOPY SAM]

Frankly, I'm surprised the Sheriff didn't tell everyone to stay off the lake.  With that many vehicles in trouble, and SO many resorts pulling all their houses and calling it done, personally, I wouldn't go near the lake with any vehicle now.

The ice was already highly variable in thickness this year, roads or no roads.  You can't trust that ice no matter where you are.  It's not worth the loss of a vehicle, and even more importantly, the loss of life.  It was in the 60's up here again today.  Probably warmer today than either Friday or Saturday, and we've had a little rain on top of that!

The Red Lake River ice went out behind our place this afternoon!  I've NEVER seen it go out this early!

The ice will be gone in a few more weeks and we can drop the boats in the lake.....with that, no worries.   Be smart folks.  The fish will still be there in a couple weeks.

[vman11]

Funny how things get out of hand quick regarding ice out, safety and alike.  People are still fishing out of Graceton with SXS's and snowmobiles.  I took a Ranger from Young's Bay to Oak on Sunday.  I plan to fish somewhere for pike on the south shore this upcoming weekend with a Ranger.  Every spring, as soon as the snow starts to melt, it gets blown out of proportion. 

With the Rainy River current levels all winter long it doesn't surprise me that the river went as fast as it did and that there were truck issues on that end.  It didn't freeze at Wheelers Point until mid January.  Can't believe everyone is surprised with the quick river ice out.

There is still some ice fishing left, whether it be walk out or ATV/snowmobile. Probably will be for the next few weeks. Be safe - common sense goes a long ways.

[Hoey]

The 10" of snow that fell late last week covered up A LOT of bad ice.  Holes that we drilled two weeks ago were still open under the snow.  The cracks that occurred four weeks ago were only slightly iced over and caught a couple of guys on sleds by surprise that I talked to.  So not a lot of ice making going on over the past two weeks.  On Friday our sleds were bogging down in 2 to 4 inches of slush under the 6 inches of snow.  We were not getting stuck though.  Saturday morning was around zero and stiffened everything up a bit on our tracks.  Getting off was still a bit tough.  The over night temps again stiffened up the slush Saturday night/Sunday morning.  

If you are going out, please be very careful.  Any holes, cracks, heaves, and piled up ice that where there a week ago, are still out there.  

The overall forecast is for lows in the teens/twenties and highs low to mid 30s.  I did not put the sleds away yet and am planning to fish again in two weeks.

[tipupsonly]

Vman were you able to get big pike suckers last weekend? Or are you fishing dead bait only 

[Ballyhoo]

I don't think it got blown out of proportion.  There was less ice this year than there ever was, 4 vehicles went through the ice, and it was 50 degrees and there was 1/2" of rain in the forcast.  If the lake would have seen that much rain and the weather would have kept on the same track it would have been all over.  We all know that the weather forcasters are not always correct but that is a big gamble to take.  The snow that fell last week is protecting the ice from the sun and is why along with the colder temps at night that is why there is still ice.  It is great that people have been able to continue fishing and using the lake but I don't think we should take what happened a week ago lightly.  I would rather people error on the side of caution than ignore the conditions and go through the ice.  It was lucky that no one was hurt when the vehicles went through the ice.  Like Hoey said, it is still not completely safe out there.  Everyone needs to be cautious.  Please remember as you are running around on questionable ice, that not only are you putting yourself in danger, you are endangering the lives of the people that have to come rescue you. 

I am not trying to be a fear monger but just don't want to see a memorial thread on here for someone who ignored the risks and went through the ice.

[vman11]

Agreed Ballyhoo, better safe than sorry.  But don't make it seem like the sky is falling. And let's not assume things are dire due to a forecast.  It's great to say things would have been different if we would have gotten rain and continued warmth.  But it didn't happen.

People are condemning others on social media or wherever for being on the ice without knowing the exact situations.  It's almost worse than the PC media these days - you get shunned for telling people you're still planning to ice fish.  You can't be right even if you are.

I'm sure most of the people saw the pictures this last week of the trucks getting pulled out of the lake.  Did anyone recognize where these were located?  In about 3 feet of water between Morris Point and Pine Island - also known as Morris Point gap - where the ice is absolutely never safe.  So a few guys who didn't use common sense created an unrepresentative picture of the ice condition for the entire lake.  I am assuming when they got the trucks out of the water and onto the ice they had to tow them back to the landing, meaning the ice supported the truck for some period of time.  It can't be all terrible out there.

My main point - don't assume and jump to conclusions.  Be safe and use common sense.

[Boar]

The way i see it, having been on the shouth shore from gracton to springsteel two days prior to that warm up, the "sky is falling" mode saved even more people from going in. yes not the entire lake was not in dire straights of collapsing underneath from people. but alot of people get a false sense of sucurity once ther out there that everything is ok. not everyone has the experienc tha some of us veterns do. and even some veteren ice anglers can get that. "ive been doing this for 30 years" blah blah wall in their head. its just a fish. once things start to go bad, its not a good idea to keep encouraging people to go out. hope people can live with that if something happens. sure people that venture out need tobe smart and use caution. but things can go wrong in and instant to even the most caustious iceman. The terrrible thing about social media is this forum can take the most savy iceman here, have a tragedy happen and still be blamed cause he wasnt smart enough to use caution. be careful in how once encourages others in the outdoors. ones representation of the ice or or open water maynot be sutible for others.

[tipupsonly]

Good point Boar. I'm not afraid to be the 1st or last guy on the ice. But I have my standards of what I'm comfortable with and that comfort level may be different depending on the body of water. But there's also other times when I've seen people fishing and went no way am I walking on that or driving on that. Everyone is different. As long as I stay dry I'm happy. 

 

On another note has anyone been out this week? I'm heading up to pike fish the west side Friday

Edited March 24, 2016 by tipupsonly