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Metro Area Minnesota Fishing Reports & Ice Conditions


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Was out on Spring last Thursday, water temps were 40-42. That is still a lot of cooling down to freezing. Hoping the forecast holds up. Those single digit nights (some even -0) should put a nice layer on in the next 10 days. Starting to get a little giddy.

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  • 1 month later...

Got my ice castle out on a south metro lake today. A solid 9-10" And the crappies have been biting decent, but we'll see how that holds up with the arctic temps moving in.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I spent all day on Minnetonka looking for crappies but was only able to find bluegills sunfish and perch. And lots of them too unfortunately they were all small. I caught them as deep as 30' and as shallow as 7'. Lots of fun catching fish all day and had great weather.

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Waconia has about 20 inches of ice in SW bay. People driving all over. Tons of pan fish to entertain the kids. Kept a few for the frying pan. Good luck!

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elocker, saw a number of people fishing Bryant Lake in EP. We caught about 10 perch, but nothing keepable, need to find a better spot I'm sure but they're in there.

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  • 2 months later...

Can I get a metro ice report? I'm getting excited to do a little spring crappie fishing. Any lakes starting to open up yet?

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Just drove by island lake in shoreview and it is completely ice free...not sure about how well the crappie fishing is for that lake though.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was out on Bald Eagle Friday 5-15 and there was no wind.  Recorded 64 degrees but that seems awfully high this early.  Anyone else have any current temp readings in the Metro?

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It is good to be getting some very nice eyes this last week. About a dozen from 17 to 21 inches. All from shore.

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  • 1 month later...

Boo yah!!! Got my kayak out of storage tonight and took it out to a local hotspot of mine. Bass are biting and its only going to get better. Caught about 6 nice bass in about two hours of fishing. First one was the best, just under 21" and fat as a football second best was a fat 19 3//4". All caught in a 10" worm rigged Texas style with a 3/16 oz bullet weight slowly pulling through the weeds. Can't wait to make it out tomorrow and the next day and so on and so forth. Sorry for the bad pics but here are the big ones. image.thumb.jpg.844acecc85ad82b35a0103dfimage.thumb.jpg.3d2076ed207acfbd1950b10aimage.thumb.jpg.e46829416c24ab909d6f70fb

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  • 1 month later...

Well its sad to say today is the first time I have been fishing this year tried a local lake for tigers and pike fished about 4 hours .  When I first got out I could see the small storm off in the distance with a little lightning but luckily all I got were some very light showers.  Managed 2 pike hot color was a red and white spinnerbait, also picked up floating beer cans and other garbage.  Still don't understand why some people thing the lake is there trash. 

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Hit the water again this am to chase some skies tried a new lake closer to my new place hit the water at 6 am and it was a bit chilly out but turned out to be an awesome morning couldn't have asked for better weather.  Only managed one pike saw a few other lazy fish.  Also watched a guy almost rip his motor off his pontoon when he was trying to get it in the water.  Didn't check to make sure everything was working on his boat before he got to the water didn't have any trim or tilt.

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  • 2 months later...

The ponds are starting to skim up so the lakes shouldn't be to far behind lets put all of the 2015/2016 ice reports here.  Good luck this hardwater season everyone

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The forecast doesn't look great for making ice lows 30s  and highs 20s I think we got spoiled last year with the deep freeze we got mid November

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Drove around today most lakes had skim of ice going out about 20-30 yards but with any wind will be gone in no time.  Saw a lot of boats on Tonka also.  Weather does not look very promising for ice.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Whaletail in Minnetrista appears to be completely iced over, still thin & unsafe, but looking hopeful!

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A couple bad days in there but majority should be making ice.....maybe not much but any bit helps.  Hopefully the snow stays away to or else that could really mess the season up

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I pulled up on the Jobsite this morning on a lake that was completely iced over at 8 am , by 10 o clock you couldn't even tell that there had been any ice at all. Just Sayin

Think that it is going to be a while yet any where near the Metro. Be smart , safe and diligent to the ice conditions.. Not a fish in the world worth a life !!!!

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Saw someone fishing on Beaver Lake in Ramsey County. It's far too early to be out in my opinion. Didn't get a measurement of ice thickness, but I'd guess it to be about 2.5-3 inches right now.

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STAY OFF THE ICE  , No where near safe enough to be out on it.  NO Fish is worth a LIFE !!!!!!

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People are getting blinded by all the guys on Red, give it another week and we will hopefully have 4" on he smaller lakes.

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But please at the end of that week be diligent about re- evaluating the ice conditions and make a knowledgable decision on if it is walkable or fishable. We could wait 3 weeks , but if we still don't have ice making conditions 3 weeks wont even matter. Stay safe and Stay Alive

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Went out on a pond yesterday with 2" of nice crystal clear ice. Didn't fish just walked on it but if that pond had 2" I'm sure there was plenty of fishable ice this last weekend. I wouldnt say STAY OFF ALL THE ICE, just be smart and check the ice every few steps and be safe. 

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