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Posted

With all this warm weather hitting, is the ice still safe? And if so, for how long?

Posted

You can be the judge of what you consider to be "safe". There is no blanket answer for ice conditions in an area, let alone on a certain lake. I drove on the ice today in the metro in a Tahoe and had no second thoughts about it. I'm going to do it again tomorrow. Probably on Sunday and Monday as well. After that, I'll be in Florida fishing for the week. People seem to get excited about ice conditions any time you have a day or two above 30. You have to remember that we have two plus feet of ice and underneath it is a whole lake of 33 degree water. The energy needed to melt the ice is substantial. Substantially more than a 60 degree day or two can generate. That being said, people have to be familiar with the area they are fishing and not just drive or walk out blind no matter what time of the year. I know I'll be wearing waders to get out onto some of the last ice of the season. Is that safe? I don't know, but I don't plan to fall through.

Posted

Well said!

When ice becomes weak it will start to honeycomb from the top down.

The lakes right now mostly have surface water standing from snowmelt, and the ice is still solid all the way through.

If it gets cold this week like they say, that water will freeze and by the looks of it driving in the metro should be good for about another 1 1/2 weeks at least. (weather and certain lake conditions pending of course)

Late ice, when we have melts like this, can mean for some good Crappie and Sunfish action.

Good luck, and hope ya' get some slabs!

-----------------------------------
Fish On! WHOA Bessy! cool.gif

Posted

Well.. it doesn't look like were going to have a cool down now... HEAT WAVE! cool.gif But I was out yesterday at Bald Eagle and in the morning there was 3 feet of soild black ice with a nice snow cover. The wind picked up, and so did the tempature (60.. whee... I almost got sunburnt ice fishing!) And by the end of the day most all the snow was melted and you could hear the ice melting and see it turning white. It was kinda freaky, but it still held as there is a good three feet of it. Still; I wouldn't go out (driving atleast) past this weekend... and it'd be so sloppy in the next couple weeks anyways.

I didn't do the greatest, a few small walleyes eariler on, then I caught about five keepable sized fish (with only one bluegill that gave me decent fillets) 3 bluegills, and 2 smallish crappies; and a few bitty perch and crappies. It wasn't dead atleast.. but it was slow. I got to meet Ozman on the ice though, which was pretty cool. My truck got washed on the way out, and I feel sorry for Ozzman with that little compact he was driving, I bet he floated out of the acess wink.gif

Posted

With the heat the ice is not going to be safe for driving long. The 1st place the ice will rot out is next to shore. The sun penetrates the ice and heats the bottom in which the ice is sitting on... the result is the ice thaws quickly. The main lake should be safe for a *while* .. depending greatly on the weather. Stay away from areas in which the surface water is sifting through cracks, or old ice fishing holes .. these areas open in a hurry with warm water flowing down them.

In the end its best to follow your own instincts wheather people tell you its *safe* or not. If it doesnt feel right .. dont go out .. The lakes will be opening up soon and there is plenty of good fishing to be had at the river (open water).

Posted

There was still 21" of ice this morning and the water that was on the surface yesterday has all drained down holes. Ice should be fine for a while unless it rains as predicted.

Really nice fishing in the warm weather and teh sunfish were biting like crazy from 6:30-8:00. Look for shallow weeds lines, about 10'-11'.

Posted

I drove all over Cedar Lake (Scott County) today. There were alot of full size trucks all over. Today was the last day I will drive on that lake. The snow melt has drained all the way through the ice. I could tell this by the looks of the ice shavings from the auger. Good solid ice with give you very fine shavings, the shavings I saw today were large and chunky. This indicates that water has penatrated all the way through. Usually the lake access goes to crap before the rest of the lake this is a good indication on when to stop driving on the ice.

Just my thoughts, good luck
JBug

Posted

i was out on peltier today and when i stared walking out onto the ice my foot broke through as soon as i got out there 15 feet or so it was good ice 14" or so.

Posted

Some of the edges are opening up on the Mpls. lakes & the ice is getting dark. I'd say ice fishing is done here. Too bad, but it'll be nice to get the boat out in 2 or 3 weeks. I'll be on the river for now. Vern

Posted

On the way into work today off of Hwy 5 in Eden Prairie, I saw 2 portables setup on Mitchell lake. I used to fish for bass there a few years ago, great largemouth fishery. Great spring crappie lake too.

Posted

Oh yeah, only portables, no vehicles!!!

[This message has been edited by Smallmouth (edited 03-21-2003).]

Posted

Hey guys
Has anyone been out onto Bald Eagle lately? I did really well out there this year and would like to get out one more time maybe, but I want to know if it is safe. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

keep fishin'
wall-i-king

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    • SkunkedAgain
      https://www.timberjay.com/stories/moccasin-point-upgrade-has-longtime-users-concerned,22802   Moccasin Point upgrade has longtime users concerned DNR hopes to get major remake of key access underway later this year Posted Thursday, March 20, 2025 10:36 am   Marshall Helmberger LAKE VERMILION— With funding finally in place, the Department of Natural Resources is planning to move forward with an estimated $2-plus million renovation of the Moccasin Point landing, and users of the site say they’re concerned about the changes. The landing has been heavily used for decades by anglers, Boundary Waters visitors, residents of nearby islands and other remote-access properties on Lake Vermilion and, perhaps most critically, by emergency responders for everything from fire to medical response. Moccasin Point has also been a protected harbor for private barges loading and unloading as they service the many water-access properties in the area. Sarah Schmidt, who spends summers with her husband Jake at their cabin on nearby Pine Island, said there’s a lot at stake for people who depend on the landing. “A lot of people have designed their dream home around having access to that landing,” she said. “People need propane, they need lumber, and if they need to install a septic system, they need lots of gravel,” she said. For the many hundreds of island or other water-access property owners on the lake, all of that material comes by barge. Moccasin Point is particularly well suited for such use, since it is arguably the most protected harbor on Lake Vermilion, with islands and mainland protecting it from wind from just about any direction. It’s also centrally located on the sprawling lake and close to concentrations of island homes and cabins. Scott Kelling, northeast regional manager for DNR Parks and Trails, said the plans for the reconstruction of the landing are still being finalized, but insisted they will take into account the unique mix of recreational and commercial use of the landing, including use by all three of the barging companies that service customers on the lake. According to Kelling, the remake of the landing will include removal of the old pier and the reconstruction of a new one in nearly the same location. “The new pier will serve the same function,” said Kelling, and will include an additional ramp that will be dedicated for barge loading and off-loading. Kelling said an engineer’s inspection of the existing pier determined it was near the end of its useful life, although Schmidt said she thinks that opinion reflects the DNR’s desire to remove the structure rather than its actual condition. Kelling acknowledges that it’s not the only reason for replacing the structure. “With our redesign it’s just not in the right location,” he said. Adequate parking is another major concern of longtime users of Moccasin Point. Tim Logan, whose family has owned island property near the landing since the 1950s, said plans the DNR had shared a few years ago seemed to show less parking than is typically used at the site. Schmidt notes that during high-traffic weekends, the parking area is frequently full and overflow parking can extend for hundreds of feet along Moccasin Point Rd. She said she counted 163 vehicles parked at the landing at one point last Memorial Day weekend and said there are routinely 90-100 vehicles during the summer season. Many of the regular users of the landing, particularly those on island properties, use the site for long-term parking of their vehicles for days, weeks, or months at a time. That’s unusual at public landings, which are typically limited to day use. Kelling said the DNR is making an exception to that rule for Moccasin Point, given the many varied uses of the unique property. “Overnight parking will be allowed,” he said. Kelling said the current plan will allow parking for a bit over 100 vehicles, which is more than some original plans for the site. “We’re doing everything we can to maximize the parking there, at some considerable expense,” he said. Longstanding issues Kelling said the DNR’s plan for reconstruction is motivated by a desire to “manage the site more responsibly on a number of fronts.” The DNR acquired the site in 2008 and had planned to undertake reconstruction of the landing back in 2013 but lacked the funds at the time to accomplish the work. The funding was approved in 2023 and the DNR has been working on design of the project ever since. According to Kelling, the site has operated essentially as a “free-for-all” for years, with uses and resource impacts that aren’t typically permitted at DNR-managed access points. “There are currently a number of transgressions out there,” said Kelling, including long-term storage of personal property and building materials. He said the site, which slopes toward the lake, also contributes large amounts of sediment into Vermilion during heavy rainfall. “We need to better manage the stormwater,” said Kelling. “Currently, a lot of sediment and other things end up in the lake when it rains.” Schmidt questions whether the change will be an improvement, since the DNR’s reconstruction of the site will convert the existing grassy hillside that currently serves as the site’s parking lot into a paved parking area. Kelling said the parking area will be leveled before being paved and that stormwater will be directed into one of two planned stormwater ponds in order to contain sediment. Schmidt claims the ponds will become a mosquito breeding ground. Kelling said he expects the final design will be completed soon and he is expecting to hold an open house in early summer so interested users can see what’s planned for the site. He expects actual construction to begin sometime in October if all goes as planned. That initial work will include blasting of some underlying bedrock in order to level the site. But most of the work will take place in 2026, he said, and during that period, it may be difficult to maintain public use of the site, although he said use of the site by barges should still be possible, with potentially some minor delays. But he said other users of the site may want to explore other access options for that summer. Kelling said he hopes to have more information on that at the open house later this year. “A goal of the open house is to really share the timeline and alternatives for users,” he said. “They might need to park somewhere else in 2026.”
    • smurfy
      i wanna change mine to the 29th of april...........i've been seeing ice reports to much up that way. 🙄
    • leech~~
      Agreed, but I had a bit of a technicality and had to change.   You!  🤣
    • CigarGuy
      I think once you guess your date, that should be it. If you can change right up to their date, that kind of takes the fun out of it.....in my humble opinion! Let vote on it!😀
    • leech~~
      OK April 25TH  
    • JerkinLips
      As long as we haven't reached the date you originally chose, you can change your guess to any open date.  At least those are the rules for my "big dollar" raffle board.   Always fun to keep guessing the ice-out date on Vermilion as the melting season progresses.  This is our first year living on a lake (150 acre shallow lake between Duluth and Ely) so I am enjoying watching the melting process on our lake.   Board is updated below.  Dates are slowly disappearing but many middle dates are still available.  
    • mbeyer
      Gonna revive an old topic after seeing an announcement from MN DNR about improvements/upgrades to Moccasin Point. Read 2+ million dollars invested but didn't see any detail plans. Anyone have the inside scoop?
    • leech~~
      I hear yea, I've got way to much shot shells laying around. I've been known to shoot some old lead duck loads at grouse!  🤭   To bad there's no good old Sportsman swaps like Twig use to have. Great place to unload sporting goods "overstock" 🤗
    • Wanderer
      I took about 1.5 cases and came back with about 1 case.  I wanted to burn up some cheap shells I bought for a North Dakota trip several years ago.  After the first day of ripping through as many of those as I could, I switched over to my good stuff, shot less, and got more birds.   So I still have 6-7 boxes of shells I don’t even want to have around anymore.  I don’t think I even got through a second box of good shells.   The cheap shells are Estate BB; the good ones for me are Black Cloud 2’s for geese.  BC 4s for ducks.
    • leech~~
      How many shells did you bring? How many did you come home with?  
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