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I know that the ice varies across the state, but am curious what to expect around the ely area. I will be up this weekend with the in-laws and figured it would be a beautiful day out on the lake. But do i need to bring snowmobiles or can i drive my truck on Shagawa/Burntside? How about snow on the ice?

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the ice is doing pretty good up here. on shag i seen about 12" but i wouldnt drive out there quite yet. out on burntside i have heard of ice reports of 4-12 just depends on where you go.

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Shag has more than 12 inches of ice in most places, and the melt and subsequent cold had knocked down the slush and firmed things up. There are pickups out by the permanent shacks on Sandy Point next to Grand Ely Lodge today.

Burntside also has 12 solid inches (more by weekend) in the open areas. While I won't be one of them, I expect people to be driving out there this weekend with the really cold temps coming. The open areas of Bside have a few shallow pockets of slush here and there, but the deepest slush I found out in the open (not counting sheltered bays) was four inches, with a hard crust of an inch above the slush and then just a few inches of hard snow on top of that. Bside reports from the sheltered bays, which froze up early and took all the ton of snow we got earlier in the winter, range from 3-6 inches of snow with as much as a foot of slush in some places.

Frankly, I wouldn't recommend driving a full-sized vehicle on either lake. There are just too many inconsistencies in the ice and snow. A snowmobile will do you really well.

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I was out on Shagawa tonight. I fished a spot that had less than a foot of ice (about 10"). I also hit a nasty slush pocket out in the middle of the lake with my four wheeler and got stuck in it. There was at least 6" of slush where I got stuck, so be careful. I wouldn't drive a truck out there at all. Most of the slush on area lakes is frozen up, but there is still some bad stuff around as I found out!

Justin

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I caught 3 good eater size Walleyes tonight. They were extremely light biting and very finickey. How goes your Walleye quest?

Justin

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Thanks for the tips fellas, the sleds will be coming. Now if we could just keep the winchill above -10 i will survive. Any tips on lakers or eyes for the area?

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trigger, check out the threads on this board about inland winter laker tactics and the Bside Bash. Around Ely, you're limited to either Snowbank, Ojibway or Burntside for lakers, and there are lots of tips on Bside lakers on both those threads.

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Hey Steve,

Are you getting soft, man??? Best laker days are cold, clear, 20 below, and full sun!!!! I think I am going to try and get out there if my truck will start!!!

Later,

Justin

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Justin, I agree with you, and have said so many times, including on that other thread right here on this board where I practically invited you to convince me to fish lakers this weekend.

The handful of times I've gone out after lakers in intense cold, sun and calm, high-pressure conditions, the action has been excellent.

Why wouldn't your truck start at -20? You drive a Ford or something?

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Hey Steve,

HaHa...Nope, I drive a Chevy. I did have some kind of problem back in December when we had that last cold snap. I would turn the key and nothing would happen. I took the battery into Napa and they said it was ok. I cleaned the terminals and put the battery back in, and it still wouldn't start!!! confused.gif I gave up and the next day she started right up and I haven't had a problem since then. It started right up this morning and it was cold out there!!! I am sure it will probably leave me stranded alone in the middle of nowhere yet this winter!!! Problems like that never happen in the driveway...its always 30 miles from home and walking about 6 miles to get help.

Anyways, I will see if Kate has any plans for us this weekend when she gets home from work. If nothing is going on, I am definately game. I know its going to be brutal out there tomorrow with the 15-20 mph winds and subzero highs, so I probably won't go tomorrow. One day off from fishing and I will be going stir crazy!!!! I will keep in touch!

Later,

Justin

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And WOW, just looked at the upgraded forecast. Gonna be -34 Friday night/Saturday morning, with a high of only -16 on Saturday. Brrrrr. grin.gif

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This weather will put paid to the pockets of slush on the main lake on Burntside. There's not much snow over those pockets, and they're shallow pockets to begin with. May not have much impact on the slush close to shore with all that snow on top.

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