Area ice reports

[Mike Stark]

yea. i stopped fishing when i heard him coming out. i thought i might see a truck go through. im pretty sure it was a group of younger guys.

also a reminder to please clean up after yourself on the ice. before we got snow on the ice i picked up a lot of trash. where one house had been there were about two packs worth of cig butts on the ice. please bring an ash tray of some kind. cig butts take years and years to decompose. all that trash goes into the lake in the spring.

[VCCIceCrew]

So we went out on to Armstrong on friday night, fished a little after dark. There is a good 5 to 6 inches on that lake. Only a few bites for us but no luck.

[Greg Clusiau]

Anyone on Birch Lake near Babbitt?

[Steve Foss]

Greg, the spots I've fished on Birch had six solid inches of ice one week ago. I'm betting it's approaching 10 inches right now. But Birch is funky because it's a flowage/reservoir with current, so 10 in one spot could drop to 2 in another.

[Darrell Larson]

Sounds like your the "go to man" for area ice reports. 6" last week, now your betting on 10" this week with out any mention of going out out to see.

Oh well it's the web, everything here is the "truth"

[Steve Foss]

Sounds like your the "go to man" for area ice reports. 6" last week, now your betting on 10" this week with out any mention of going out out to see.

Oh well it's the web, everything here is the "truth"

My bet is based on seven years of fishing those spots on first ice and learning how the ice behaves there, the ice condition (with little snow on top) one week ago, reports I got yesterday from two people I trust, and temps between last week and now. If that's not good enough to avoid being ripped because I didn't justify my assessment with a full explanation, that's OK by me.

I won't give an ice report I'm not confident in.

Hope you feel better soon, Semper Fi.

[leech~~]

Sounds like your the "go to man" for area ice reports. 6" last week, now your betting on 10" this week with out any mention of going out out to see.

Oh well it's the web, everything here is the "truth"

Unless you get out there and check for yourself, a good "SWAG" is what you will get!

[Redlantern]

Semper Fi, if your going to use that username, how about not embarrassing the rest of us Marines with such stupid statements.

[Darrell Larson]

I did not think this was a stupid statement Redlantern, two weeks ago a walker went through the ice, as Foss mentioned it is a "flowage" now when someone say's there is ten inches of ice, I would have to question that. As far me embarrassing the rest of those that earned the title, you may have forgotten that we speak the way we think. I am not going to turn this into some kind of

word war.

As far as you Mr. Foss, I did not think I was ripping on you, just made a statement, as to how one can tell the thickness of ice without checking it out, you did not mention you had reliable sources in your first post.

You all have a good one.

Darrell Larson

[Steve Foss]

I don't talk out of my a$$ when I post an ice report. The people who pay attention to this board know that, and don't require chapter and verse. Nuff said by me. Over and out on Birch.

BTW, Burntside ice is shaping up really well. It froze one week ago today. We got about 3 inches of snow after that, but I walked out by Van Vac and a couple other places two days ago, not going out more than 40 yards from shore, and the ice looked good and solid. I found generally about 3 inches where I pushed the spud bar through, and all around Van Vac bay could not see any dark slushy areas. Sheltered bays that froze earlier and took more snow probably are slushy and weaker, as they usually are. With these temps and not much snow cover (and no snow imminent in the forecast), we're making ice fast. Hopefully we'll have a good year for laker ice out there. Last year it was truck traffic from shortly after opener until mid March.

Fingers crossed!

May have to walk out and try a couple spots this weekend for pike on Bside.

[Chode2235]

I did not think this was a stupid statement Redlantern, two weeks ago a walker went through the ice, as Foss mentioned it is a "flowage" now when someone say's there is ten inches of ice, I would have to question that. As far me embarrassing the rest of those that earned the title, you may have forgotten that we speak the way we think. I am not going to turn this into some kind of

word war.

As far as you Mr. Foss, I did not think I was ripping on you, just made a statement, as to how one can tell the thickness of ice without checking it out, you did not mention you had reliable sources in your first post.

You all have a good one.

Darrell Larson

I'd probably change it to Temper Fi myself.

[crawler harness]

I cannot vouch for the ice thickness on Shagawa, (I have not been out there yet) but there is 3 permanant houses out from Sandy point. I witness 3 full size pickups drive out to these houses this afternoon and park right next to there houses. So with that being said there has to be close to a foot of ice by now if it can support that kind of weight. One would think so, but I will not be driving my full size out there for awhile, I will be stickin to the snowmobile. Hopeing to make it out thursday.

[Mike Stark]

I cannot vouch for the ice thickness on Shagawa, (I have not been out there yet) but there is 3 permanant houses out from Sandy point. I witness 3 full size pickups drive out to these houses this afternoon and park right next to there houses. So with that being said there has to be close to a foot of ice by now if it can support that kind of weight. One would think so, but I will not be driving my full size out there for awhile, I will be stickin to the snowmobile. Hopeing to make it out thursday.

i was fishing the west side of sandy point two nights ago. i only had 6.5in MAYBE 7in of ice. i cant believe that there would be that much more ice of the north side of the point.

[Darrell Larson]

Good one, I may take that into consideration.

Now back to what this thread was created for, area ice reports.

You all have a safe winter, and good fishing to all.

Temper Fi,

Darrell Larson.

[Steve Foss]

I fished the afternoon/evening on Birch today, and with 8 holes over the course of the afternoon found 10.5 to 12 inches of ice. Top 3-4 is white but strong. Bottom 7-8 is clear and strong. About 2 inches of snow on top. One extended cab full-sized 4x4 pickup was about 100 yards from me.

With temps like these and not much snow on top, we're probably making close to an inch of ice per 24 hours.

Thanks for the Shagawa report, guys. Looks like it's time to switch gears from Birch to Shags. Heck, Shagawa is only 400 yards via snowmobile trail from my house, anyway.

[danj22]

We dropped off the fish house today. Just off Mckinley park. 13+ inches of ice. Enough for the 3/4 ton plow truck and the fish house. At least a doz. full-size trucks on the ice today as well.

[Mike Stark]

lots of shacks going up on shagawa. most ice i found was 11in. roads are being plowed off sandy point.

is it normal for this much truck traffic on shag with only 10-11in of ice? seems early for full sized trucks plowing roads and parking right next to their shack.

[Steve Foss]

Mike: Yes, it's normal and yes, it's not enough ice, IMO. But when do people like that ever listen to people like us?

[Cliff Wagenbach]

I drilled and measured some new holes on Big Bay, Vermilion today.

14-1/2" to 15" of solid ice!

Cliff

[Mike Stark]

sounds like driving out to the trout lake portage should not be a problem for the bwca lake trout opener.

[Steve Foss]

Folks, go ahead an put any new ice reports in the appropriate area conditions/reports threads.

Thanks!