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Been out in the bay between Park Point and Wisconsin a good 2ft of ice there out by the airport, but you have to be careful I believe they just stopped chopping open the shipping lanes on Jan. 15. Lakeside is wide open and doesn't look like it will freeze at all this year. Don't know about Ashland WI if your interested it that, but you could check the Wisc forums.

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It wont be like last year. I doubt I doubt we will be hitting the Duluth side at all and its looking grim for the South Shore/Wi/ Point as well. Who knows though. March is usually the best time out that way anyhow.

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The big lake looked locked in this morning as I drove by. By no means would I go out on that ice, but a encouraging sight anyways. Hopefully it is still there when I drive home this evening. BBBRRRRR it's cold today!

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Ya 15 below on my way to work this morning. That ice looked pretty broken up to me from the Copper Top. Good wind and cold will be needed to make it work again this year. It surely wont last as long as last year if we do get enough to walk on.

Quick what year and type sled do you have for a Doggy Cab? LOL.

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It's a 98 XC 700. A little more sled than I wanted, but the price was right. Tikk didn't mind it.

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Yeah, its early yet...the lake is ready, just need the right conditions...give it time...might still happen. The wind just hasnt been right.

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I second that. We just need the wind to switch and a few more cold nights that aren't going to happen this week.

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hello every 1 im from the iron range area.and im looking for something new.i always wondered about fishing the big lake so i got a couple ?'s can you drive out there or do you needs a sled or 4 wheeler.i have never fished the big lake.im always fishing lake of the woods.so i want to give superior a try.any info would be great.

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There's fishable ice over in the WI waters by Ashland and the surrounding area. Been guys fishing out there for a few weeks. If you want more info on that fishery and the area direct your questions to Jim Hudson in the Wisconsin forum and the chequamegan bay thread. As far as around the Duluth area goes there is ice fishing action in the harbor/bay section of the mouth of the St. Louis river and sheltered water behind park point. The south shore seems to have the ice for now but I haven't heard of anyone bothering to try out there. The north shore is open water for now but a lot of us are crossing fingers hoping for ice soon. Two Harbors area might have a small amount of ice...so I've heard. Any ice on the "Big Lake" is even more unpredictable than your typical inland lake. Fish accordingly. IF we get fishable ice anywhere on the North Shore you'll hear about it here in the Duluth forum if you keep a watchful eye. Us northlanders might not be the most phosphorescent jigs in the box but we know not to drive trucks on the big lake. Pretty much foot travel last year when we had ice but a few quads and sleds were out there. Quite a few people on foot fell through as well. I hope that helps you out a bit!

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That's alright Matt.Too much phosphorescence is not a good thing anyway.

Thanks much for the info,the update and the humor.

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Most likely walking out. Very very seldom can you take a wheeler or sled out like last year.

Unless you hit Ashland area.

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We have ice now. Anyone have an idea what it looks like up close? Hopefully it stays, gets thicker, and we can get on it. I was gonna head up the shore tmrw but might just go to fish lake. If I don't go to fish I'll do some investigating and see what we're dealing with so far for ice on the gitchi gumee.

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a buddy of mine went out today and said it was still pretty sketchy right by shore, but everything appeared to be locked in up to sucker bay. i might go check it out tommorrow, but i won't be fishing any deeper than 3-4 feet.

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At 3:00 pm this afternoon there where 2 small shelters out in front of the Lester and a pair of guys out on the ice off 21st.

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Yes, I saw the houses out from the Lester too. I saw 5-6 people out on the ice one only 20 feet from open water on the French river. Don't know what the ice was like out there, but this seemed unsafe to me and I gotta question if fish are worth it.

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hey quickstrike i was wondering how you became a fly fishing guide as i would like to become one myself

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Those guys right by open water are only in about 2-3 ft of water, so basically if you do go through, you've only got wet feet. The ice out there is still pretty iffy, so I wouldn't recomend anyone venturing out into deeper water yet. There's 3 inches in some spots and an inch in others.

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went off the french today got 1 looper lost 4. ice was thin but fun to sight fish for the first time this year.cant wait to get back out.dont know where to start! loopers,herring,cohos,lakers. what a problem to have. i was the only guy with a boat.

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I saw you guys out there, pretty fun to watch you guys breaking through and poling along with the chisel.

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Hey, are you fishing in shallow water than as of yet off the french?

What does a guy use out there jigs tipped with waxie, set line....?

any info would be great

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yes shallow most people use small crappie type jigs or looper bugs. some tip some dont.dont be afraid to try different stuff you never know what will work. thats the good thing about sight fishing you can see what works and what doesnt.watch the fishes reaction to your bait to see whats good.they always look but they only hit what interests them

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Do you guys use dead sticked rods for those Loopers in that shallow of water? Say the same way we fish Steelhead here in the spring? Shallow water spawn bite... Am sure they probably would snap that or a small hook with some waxies, dead sticked on a trip device...

I know the AutoMatic Fisherman is "supposably" illegal in MN, but Arctic Warriors can be used in this instance as well.. Just curious to see if anyone has tried this.. The fish are relating to river areas, correct?

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With the only one rod within 100 yards of the mouth law, most people either sit in a shack or on a bucket and sight fish. Yes, most people are in very shallow water. Not me, I'm going to look for some lakers today.

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It looks like there is a channel of open water almost all the way back to town. I heard 4-6 inches off of 21st, but I would still be very careful, those conditions have been changing rapidly out there!

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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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