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Ice,Snow and Slush?


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Can anyone give a report on the ice conditions?How much snow and slush is on the ice,Should I bring my wheeler or my sled? Any info would be great! Thanks!!

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Oh yea! I almost forgot,I want to try some of the smaller lakes around Winnie.

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Currently we are seeing 7-8" of clear ice out in front of us. With minimal slush and about 10" of snow on top. We had groups out over the weekend on wheelers and were getting around ok without getting hung up on slush or snow. Just off of Tamarack point they were seeing 8-10" of clear ice. If you're hauling any sort of trailer with your fish house gear on it, your sled may be a better option vs. the wheeler. Also heard from a group that was on Little Ball Club and said they were finding 10+ inches of ice and similar snow and slush conditions as on Winnie.

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You mentioned the ice "out front". Are wheelers driving over to the humps near Raven's for walleyes from your place or maybe the Birches yet?

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Angling groups over the weekend seemed to be using the Birches access - maybe out about 1 mile or so. Not out to the humps yet. If Raven's is your destination you may want to try coming in from the west, not sure of the conditions over there though. We had a spearing group that used our access and stopped by to give me their "catch of the day" report. They did ok on the spearing on Winnie, but had some struggles with equipment breaking due to the extremely cold conditions. No fishing reports from the anglers, our lodge opens the 28th of December, so I'll start getting more reports at that time.

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I stopped up there today to see you guys at Highbanks. nobody around. I'll email you to find a good time to come see you.

I went down to the birches access and I could see the traffic was using it quite regularily. I could see on setup out at least as far out as the humps.

I will try to get back up there friday to do some scouting.

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Thanks for the reports Highbanks and Jigglestick. Now if I can get my sled put together I might be able to get out and catch a couple of walleyes or even a perch grin.gif

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Hey phone guy--let's go fishing!! I'm off until the 26th. Just talked to Fred's. They are hitting the closer humps with wheelers, not yet traveling all the way across. I'm going to load up and head over today. If you want to go, call me on the land line. Otherwise, I'll post the results later tonight.

Jeff K.

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Sorry that we missed you yesterday, we are in and out during our off season. Our lodge opens on December 28th. In the interim, you can reach us on the regular lodge phone # at 246-2560 or 800-365-2560 and we'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have. Happy Holidays!!

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hello highbanks, congrats on the expected stork arriaval. hope to go out there new years weekend. does anyone spear along/near yuor shoreline with any luck? i may try one house spearing one house whatever bites.

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Jeff I do not think I will be ready to go. I am waiting for parts for the sled which will come in thur or fri but the real job will be putting it back together this weekend but if for some strange reason things go smooth I will meet up with you on the lake.I am going to try and get up early on fri and get the parts in but it was such a pain to get out I just can not see this going smooth.I will call to get a update.

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Thanks on the congrats wishes!! Occassionally we get groups that try spearing between us and the birches access in about 6' of water. Not sure what activity you'll have, but the clarity will be great, all sugar sand bottom. The other spot in our area to try would be off of Tamarack point. Stop by and say "hi" if you get a chance.

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is tamarack point the point to the north of you? would tring somewhere between your place and the point worth a try.

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That is correct, Tamarack Point is just 1/4 mile to the north of our access. It is directly opposite of Bowens Flats near the gap of Cutfoot. One thing to be aware of, is pressure ridges normally pop up off of Tamarack point as the season progresses. With the dam being wide open (where the Mississippi exits), ice thicknesses may vary as well and sometimes clarity isn't the best. Be sure to be cautious on early ice, especially in unfamiliar territory. You may want to try between us and the birches access (1/2 mile south of us). I've also heard some good spearing reports from the south west side where the Mississippi comes in to the lake. Good Luck!!!

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HIGHBANKS, thanks for the info hope to get that way new years eve weekend to do some sort of fishing. hows the ice doing?

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Hey Glenn57, I see you like to hit the String every now and again. How often do you get up there? I wouldn't mind running into someone from this site when I'm on the lake. Like to compare notes sometime. Ole

Man my computer is slooow today!

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ole, my mom owns a cabin by spring lake so i get up there a fare amount. my next trip up should be new years weekend. mt wife isnt much of a bowstring fan but she tolerates going over there. we might fish it that wekend we might not. i always try to get there in march. we go off the access on cty road 35 i believe on the north end and fish in front of a blueish green house on the east side of the lake. maybe we can meet up when our trips line up. i work in ramsey on hwy 10 so im not real far from lio lakes either. good luck fishin.

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Funny, I fish that edge of what i call the Horse shoe all the time when i'm up there. Also have done well straight out from the access in 25-30ft. Been up and down last 8yrs but is improving steady, nothing like the bonanza yrs 15-20yrs ago. Always nice to get up that way but travel on the String can be tough when you get snow on the ice and don't have a sled or wheeler. Seen many a trucks buried out there before! Good Luck, Ole

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Current ice reports on the east side of the lake near us are coming in at 10-11" of clear ice. No slush, with 8-9 inches of snow on top. Walleyes have been hitting, some 12"er's and some larger keeper size. Travel with wheelers and sleds has been fairly easy. Extended weather forecast is indicating cold conditions continuing with light snow. Stop by on New Year's weekend if you're in the area!!

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Thanks for the report Kim, the guys and I are doing a day trip Friday. If you're closed, what spots can we get to from the southern resorts? Do you have your access open with the honor box if we wanted to fish spots near your place?

Thanks in advance, Scott, John, and Jerry.

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Hi Guys!! Sure you can use our access, there is no access fee until the 28th. After that the fee is $8. I'm not sure what the condition of the public access is at the Birches - that would be another option for you. If you're fishing the south side, you can try Denny's or Nodak's off of Highway 2. Good Luck fishin' - if you get a chance drop us a line with a fishing report. Thanks!

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If you plan on using the Birches landing...make sure you have 4 wheel drive. If we get any more snow, it will be really difficult to get out of there. With that being said, there have been plenty of people parking there.

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ole, you said you fished out in front of the access. which one.what type of fish species do you get? i kind of go over there with the whatever bites mentallity. the access on the north end i never see anyone really striaght out they seem to head towards the access on the northwest side by the resort. ive seen houses set up right in front of that acces.

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I believe it's the public access on the NW side of the lake.

If you go straight out you should hit the bar. Lots of structure in the area and some of it is big so you really have to move around until you find the depth you want to fish. There are also some good spots out from Snug Harbor where the weed bed ends. As usual move till ya find em!

Good Luck, ole cool.gif

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • 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
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • 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
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
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