brainerd Brainerd Fishing Reports

[MnCatGuy]

Thanks for the reports guys. I'm thinking about heading up to the Crosby area to check out a 40 acre lake in the morning. I'll report back if I end up going up.

[MnCatGuy]

Son went out and checked a couple smaller lakes, one he said had 4". Him and a buddy headed back out to catch some panfish.

Any idea what the max depth is on the lake that had 4"? I'm guessing it is rather shallow...

[MNUser]

White Sand froze over today. Some small open areas but my guess is by Monday it will be open again.

[WalleyeJeff]

It is a shallow lake does have a 20' spot though.

[pathogen]

I visually checked out a few lakes today, wasn't dressed to walk out anywhere. North Long Merrifield Bay) wide open except for broken ice blown to shore and frozen for about 20 yards...should make for an interesting access when things tighten up. Upper Mission was also wide open except for some skim ice (I assume) along the south shore. I only saw one small lake that was iced over and it had wet cracks criss-crossing it everywhere. Everything else I saw had at least one or two large open areas. There may be fishable ice in the area by this weekend, but not sure if I have the guts to try it yet.

[centralmnguy]

Merrifield Bay...not ready yet!

[centralmnguy]

Rice Lake Res. a couple brave men out there!

[gregg52]

is that brave or DUMB?????

for a few crappies???

[smartguy]

there wre a few people ice fishing N Long 371 Bay this evening.

[otis]

I was going to be out there tonight, but after punching through with one poke of the spud, I stayed in. Couple more days yet.

[gregg52]

ya i saw those guys on 371 bay they were wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy out

just bout in the area of the black hole and where a house went threw last yr

we walked out on the ice at the landing at best it was 3 inches

10 ft from shore

there will probably be a rescue mission this week end

[Fred_Bear]

ya i saw those guys on 371 bay they were wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy out

just bout in the area of the black hole and where a house went threw last yr

we walked out on the ice at the landing at best it was 3 inches

10 ft from shore

there will probably be a rescue mission this week end

3" is enough to walk on. Just be safe and smart about going out on early ice. #1 is don't go out by yourself, have a buddy with and walk 30' apart single file. Both should be wearing a floating suit or PFD and have a set of ice picks easily accessible. First guy needs to have a sharp spud bar and chop the ice every other step. If the bar goes through with one hard chop then get outta there or find a different route. Every once in awhile stop to chop a hole and check ice thickness. Second guy should be the one pulling the sled on a long rope and also carry a rope at least 50' long with a stick or something heavy on the end for if you do need to throw it. Stay away from patches of snow if possible because that's where the thin ice will be.

I understand most people stay off early ice, but that doesn't give you the right to criticize others who do get out on early ice and blatantly call them "DUMB". If they just hopped out of the truck and walked out on the ice, then yes that is "DUMB". But usually the first people on the ice are the diehards and know how to take safety precautions.

I've been the first person on many lakes with my father over the years and we always use this process... never had a single time where I fell in or was scared there is any chance at falling in. Just use common sense and be prepared. Often times our first trip is our best fishing until March. Sorry for being defensive, but I was a little offended.

[BOUNCED]

Well put Fred.

[centralmnguy]

Good tips fred!

I remember growing up we used to put my grandpas fish house out on thanksgiving...now we are lucky to get them out by xmas. We also had snow on the ground for deer hunting. Those were the good ole days!

[WalleyeJeff]

Yes, I tell my son we would go out ice fishing after thanksgiving dinner. No snow, limited ice. I agree with Fred. Been out many times on early ice. Just need to be aware of what is going on. As for gregg52 he seems to be a big complainer of what every one else does.

[mnspearingguide]

Just made a drive around whitefish, Lower hay is wide open, can still launch a boat, whiskey road has about 10 feet of ice out from shore, then open from there out, Bertha was 90 percent open, clamshell was froze over but only 1-1/2 of ice, Rutger bay had 10 feet of slush blown up around the shore, still making waves against the shore line, I did not got any farther, seen no reason to. will be another 2 weeks before we can get on the chain.

[otis]

I saw that Round was mostly froze over today. To bad the warm weather will not help.

[centralmnguy]

Can't believe someone already put a house out on 371 bay...hope they got floaters on it.

[Todd Caswell]

3" is enough to walk on. Just be safe and smart about going out on early ice. #1 is don't go out by yourself, have a buddy with and walk 30' apart single file. Both should be wearing a floating suit or PFD and have a set of ice picks easily accessible. First guy needs to have a sharp spud bar and chop the ice every other step. If the bar goes through with one hard chop then get outta there or find a different route. Every once in awhile stop to chop a hole and check ice thickness. Second guy should be the one pulling the sled on a long rope and also carry a rope at least 50' long with a stick or something heavy on the end for if you do need to throw it. Stay away from patches of snow if possible because that's where the thin ice will be.

I understand most people stay off early ice, but that doesn't give you the right to criticize others who do get out on early ice and blatantly call them "DUMB". If they just hopped out of the truck and walked out on the ice, then yes that is "DUMB". But usually the first people on the ice are the diehards and know how to take safety precautions.

I've been the first person on many lakes with my father over the years and we always use this process... never had a single time where I fell in or was scared there is any chance at falling in. Just use common sense and be prepared. Often times our first trip is our best fishing until March. Sorry for being defensive, but I was a little offended.

I Disagree I feel it is dumb, haven't seen a boat out there in 3 weeks and now that there's 3 inches of ice someone feels the to go look down a hole. Not only are they putting themselves at risk there putting others at risk if something were to wrong as well. Certainly doesn't sound very SMART or responsible to me.

[whitefishchainfisher]

Lets keep opinions to ourselves and keep the ice reports coming!! people are going to do as they will whether we want to argue about it or not... i go on here for simple info not to read soap operas... interested on thickness in crosslake areas if anyone has been out? will be out in the morning to see for myself and hopefully pound some crappies. will report then. good luck everyone stay safe!

[Todd Caswell]

Lets keep opinions to ourselves and keep the ice reports coming!! people are going to do as they will whether we want to argue about it or not... i go on here for simple info not to read soap operas... interested on thickness in crosslake areas if anyone has been out? will be out in the morning to see for myself and hopefully pound some crappies. will report then. good luck everyone stay safe!

Alright then here's some simple info for yah.. More open water than ice, what ice there is, is very thin. Can't get any simpler than that....

[gregg52]

ya not much sense in arguing bout dumb snd dumber on ice its endless

every year.....its hard to fix stupid...lol

i'm old now so a little wiser than years ago...I think lol

I use to go after that early ice bite to

but not on 3 inches 10 feet from shore

i think rice probably has moving water

thinking ice probably not really uniform out there

371 bay has a bad spot out there for some reason nobody has been

albe to explain

so if i offended any body i guess i'm entitle to my thoughts as well as you

common sense has got me to be old

thank you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[otis]

No kidding. If I wanted someone to tell not to go on the ice, I would have asked my wife. She even tells me not to in February. Give it a break.

[MnCatGuy]

I ended up making it up to the Crosby area mid week. Like some have said, there's more open water than ice. I did manage to sneak out on 2 40 acre lakes though. One had a solid 3" and the other had 2.5"-3". The fishing was slow, but I had low expectations as I hadn't ever fished either of the lakes before. Those seeking good ice should probably go further north or northwest IMHO.

[gregg52]

As for gregg52 he seems to be a big complainer of what every one else does.

I'm not complaining about anything

just stating my opinion

mostly coming from experience!!!!!!!!!!

nobodys tax money went to pulling me out of the ice all wet

and...willing to bet I've put as many fish on the ice as anybody

[Micahmo80]

Please keep to the thread title. Opinions can be posted under another title. There are safe minded ice fishermen out there that look to these threads for current reports. Most real die hards will check the ice themselves, but it is nice to know what is going on around the area as far as the actual ice thickness. If you need to give your opinions on the intelligence, please do so elsewhere. As stated before, most die hards know how to safely fish early ice. There are fishermen, and people who like to fish. Fishermen know how to go about things; people who like to fish just want to fish. Please stick to the topics. Thanks!

[Micahmo80]

So, getting back to the topic, I checked ice on a small lake near Crosby yesterday that only had 2.5"- 2.75" on it. The lake was littered with wet cracks and little snow mostly in patches 1/4" to 3/8" deep.

I also checked a popular bay of a larger lake near Brainerd and found 3.5-4" of good clear ice. There was very little snow on it, if any. There were 2 portables out there as well as 2 guys standing out on the ice.

I am going to try to get out this Sunday afternoon providing the ice stays thick enough or gets a little thicker by then.

Stay safe and make sure you use your spud and have your ice picks handy just in case. Good luck this weekend and let's here some more reports!

[centralmnguy]

Went to Gladstone last night to check it out. It is froze over good but there is a nice crack to the left of the landing & looked a little soft on the other side of crack going out. Not to much snow cover on it either. I didn't venture out since I was by myself & didn't have a spud so don't know actual ice depths.

[centralmnguy]

Gladstone Lake Access

[Todd Caswell]

Went to Gladstone last night to check it out. It is froze over good but there is a nice crack to the left of the landing & looked a little soft on the other side of crack going out. Not to much snow cover on it either. I didn't venture out since I was by myself & didn't have a spud so don't know actual ice depths.

I grew up on Gladstone it has alot of springs and always has alot of slush, it would be one of my last choices for early ice.