ICE WATCH ?

[jwmiller33]

Jim, Randy and I hit Fish Lake again today for the evening bite. Todays clear skies, compared to the heavy overcast yesterday, made for a much shorter window where the fish were very feeding aggressively during the low light hrs. Otherwise, the pattern was pretty much the same as last night. Boy the ice was BOOMING and cracking tonight. At times, the water was splashing around in my hole on the really big booms. Lots of ice going to be made over the next few days. I will be having a nice fish fry tomorrow night.

Not a bad night at all!

[jwmiller33]

On the way to work this AM coming down the hill from Proctor into Duluth, I saw the St Louis River was completely iced over from shore to shore all the way down to the Bong Bridge, with the exception of a small channel in the middle closer to the bridge. Not nearly thick enough ice to fish on quite yet but it is a good sign nonetheless. There is a overnight low of 3 degrees for Duluth tonight, so LOTS of ice is going to be made over the next few days. I would guess that by this weekend, you could walk out onto a lot of the inlands lakes in the area. Always be extremely cautious, don't go alone on early ice and always bring the picks, life jacket and rope just in case.

[Jarrid Houston]

Agree, but I would still be cautious on the larger, deeper, bodies of water! Picks, rope, jacket would still be advisable.....Had little ice over in sconnie, but still made it out on a local lake. Couple slimers for us. Gd luck

[titelines]

Hit a lake north of Duluth yesterday and had the place to myself. Wore my life jacket and brought a heavy pick, found 3"-4" all over. Lake had a large crack from shore to shore across the middle and water had come up the night before. Didn't venture further than that, but still had a nice point to fish off of. Managed one nice crappie and a couple nice northern on tip-ups. Ice was really booming when I left at sundown.