Red Rock

[daveyred]

Did some driving around the southern Minnie area. of all the lakes I looked (x-mas, Lotus, Baveria...) Red Rock was frozen all the way across from what you could see from the access. Didnt walk out far but the ice by the landing was a good 3 if not more. You could see one small 10 by 30 foot area that was near shore that was not frozen but all else looks good.

I am not trying to say its safe. Just the best I saw for the day.

Good luck but be safe.

[Powerstroke]

I checked ROund, Red Rock, Mitchell, Lotus and Riley. All have open water. The only lake I know has been sealed up is Duck Lake. I did not check the access on RR or the ice because I was just doing driveby's. You may be able to get on the lake at the access on RR and fish in the near bay, but the open water was in the north end. It does tend to seal later because thats where the "deeper" water is on that lake.

The ice is still very unstable right now so if you do venture out be very cautious, have safety equipment like a PFD and picks and make sure someone knows where you're going and when you plan on being back. This time of year I keep my cell phone in a ziplock. I may try drilling some holes this weekend but you better believe I'm gonna be wearing my Arctic Armor suit.

[GCLARK]

Drove by on the north side today and saw open water! If you go, use caution!

[daveyred]

Yeah Couldnt see all the way around the north end from the landing. That would be the area to fish if I was going to so it looks like another week. At least no temps above 20 for the next 10 days. Heres to hoping we done get much snow this weekend. That would make things worst. We are already under a winter storm watch for the weekend.

[Carp-fisher]

Quote:

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I checked ROund, Red Rock, Mitchell, Lotus and Riley. All have open water. The only lake I know has been sealed up is Duck Lake. I did not check the access on RR or the ice because I was just doing driveby's. You may be able to get on the lake at the access on RR and fish in the near bay, but the open water was in the north end. It does tend to seal later because thats where the "deeper" water is on that lake.

The ice is still very unstable right now so if you do venture out be very cautious, have safety equipment like a PFD and picks and make sure someone knows where you're going and when you plan on being back. This time of year I keep my cell phone in a ziplock. I may try drilling some holes this weekend but you better believe I'm gonna be wearing my Arctic Armor suit.

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I checked Mitchell and Duck yesterday. I didn't see the open water on Mitchell. Both were about 2" by shore. Some guy was walking way out on Mitchell with some tipups in his bucket. He claimed it was 3" out there, but I doubt it.

[schr0563]

This is not a sarcastic question - If there is open water at one end of a lake is there any reason to be afraid of going out on the opposite side if it's been frozen for a few days? Of course I'm assuming that you check as you go and don't stand on anything less than 4 inches of ice. Does the open water create a hazard that can change conditions so quickly that the ice you've checked to be safe and are standing on can become unsafe before you can get off?

[GCLARK]

I forgot to mention, also, that 2 days ago the north side appeared to be frozen over, now it isn't. No fish, in my opinion, is worth taking a chance unless you have proceeded with extreme caution.

[Powerstroke]

The strong (20+mph) winds yesterday and this morning really took a toll on the ice. If the wind can get any amount of grab on the ice sheet it will shift it and push it up on shore. It will also create a down pressure that will allow water to wash over the top and the wind will erode it. Its the same way it disappears in the spring.

I would feel pretty confident fishing the south side of RR, but Mitchell is over half open now. Not this weekend.

[Powerstroke]

I finally got out on the hard stuff tonight. A buddy and I fished on the north end for 3 hrs or so. I caught several small sunnies and 5 crappies. There were 2 other people out there.

We found anywhere from 4-8inches of ice and the change was quite rapid. There was still a lot of slush. I broke through the crust several times into ~3" of watery slush. I would say that the 4" was just as strong as the 8"...or maybe vice-versa. The 8" was very cloudy ice.