West End Ice

[SkunkedAgain]

Is the ice strong enough yet for snowmobiles on the west end? What is the general snow depth up there?

[BEEGONE]

From what I was seeing yesterday, there was 6-9 inches of ice out there in Blackduck bay (middle of the lake). You are looking at about 6-8 inches of snow - possibly more in spots.

[DiverDan]

BEEGONE,

Have you fished the West end at all lately? I am heading up this weekend and was wondering if you or anyone else could give me a fishing report. I am in Sunset bay by the Landing off Jacobson's point and do not want to venture too far just yet. Any depth and general locations would be very helpful and much appreciated!! Thanks

[BEEGONE]

Dan-

No West end for me. Just strictly close to and around the Blackduck bay area.

We fished Sunday roughly 20ft off a rock pile. We were in the mud, at about 18 ft. The rock pile toped out around 13 ft I think. The fishing had been slow in the previous week for us in the shallow water less than 15ft. Yesterday we kept 7 monster jumbo perch 10-12 inchers and FAT. Also, caught several small eyes with only one keeper.

Saturday I believe we managed a 16.5 and 18.5 eye, 2 or 3 perch, and several other keeper eyes. That was in shallower water, about 15ft and mud. Just drilled holes and fished.

I would just fish in the mud or work the edges of the rock plies/structure. The more people you have the more area you can cover and really hone in on the fish. Flasher and underwater camera work great for finding the perfect spot!

I hope to get out into some deeper areas in the next day or two....

[SkunkedAgain]

Great, with 6-9 inches I would assume that folks have been running snowmobiles across the lake already?

[Lazy Mike]

DiverDan, I am headed up this weekend as well. We are on Raps Rd not too far from you. Maybe we could team up to cover more area. It sounds like sleds should be the way to go. Shoot me an e-mail if interested [email protected]

[shamrock7]

Beegone and i just came in from checking a spot north of the marina and there was no ice. Really scary. Two hits with a chisel and it was through. So those that are thinking of striking out, maybe think twice. There are snowmobile tracks out there but that doesn't guarantee how much ice is under them. And most of those guys are going 60 MPH Not to hard to hold up a blur of a snowmobile but a snowmobile with a house behind coming to a complete stop could be disasterous. Again, be careful out there.

[BEEGONE]

There "should" have been plenty of ice where we checked....

Just remember, check the ice as you go to be sure, and make sure to wear ice picks on your first trip out while checking ice thickness.

Cliff- How much ice down in Big Bay?

[Cliff Wagenbach]

I had around 6-1/2 inches close to Echo Point on Wed.

I have not checked the ice out farther.

Cliff

[Lazy Mike]

Thanks Shamrock and Beegone for the ice update/warning and reality check. I had visions of buzzing around the lake from spot to spot. Will definatly take it slow and careful working out from the cabin while checking the ice. Thanks again for the cautious reminder!