Lac Qui Parle Lake

[CForar]

Going out to Lac Qui Parle next weekend and want to know if ice conditions are good for the most part of the lake?? Also any word on crappies?

[ice_medic]

I have no idea on how it is up there and i am wondering the same. heading up there on tuesday and wondering if i should bring the sled with or not.

[vexi]

20"+ of ice very little snow

[ice_medic]

thanks for the report. Trying to decide on big stone or lac qui parle or both. Thanks again for the report

[carpshooterdeluxe]

Who's bought tickets to fish the ice castle tourney? Looks like it should be a good time.

[bk_MN_iceman]

Haven't bought tickets yet but plan on going up Friday hitting the contest saturday and coming home sunday. Never fished the lake before.

[greatwhitehunter]

Bought a ticket. Never fished it before so we'll see how it goes. Is the parking near the landing where the tournament is held?

[carpshooterdeluxe]

I believe they want participants to park at Watson Hunt Camp and they are running shuttles to the lake.

[bk_MN_iceman]

Is anyone else concerned about the shuttle running you to the contest?

My friends and I are staying on the lake somewhere, will have to leave the lake, drive to the hunting camp and get out with our gear and get on a shuttle/bus.

I don't take much to this type of contest but even so, 2 rods, bait, tackle box, flasher and a chair is quite a bit of gear to be bringing on a bus is it not?

[swmndeerhunter]

I agree with ya. Don't know how I'm going to be able to carry everything in one trip on/off the shuttle. Gotta bring your rod case, vex/marcum, chair, bait and they say bring a chisel. They need to have a place where you can enter it from the lake if you want. Seems like if they get a big crowd it could be a mess.

[greatwhitehunter]

When we fished the tourney in Alex, we would drop a guy off towards the landing with all the gear and then drove the truck to park and shuttle back. Seemed to work pretty well.

[bk_MN_iceman]

That's a good idea. I'll keep that in mind. Hopefully they don't bark at us doing that. I was hoping we could drive the truck directly to the landing but I'm assuming they don't want that. New to the lake so I don't really know the layout of the landings and where we're going to fish all weekend compared to where the contest is.

[BLACKJACK]

I agree with ya. Don't know how I'm going to be able to carry everything in one trip on/off the shuttle. Gotta bring your rod case, vex/marcum, chair, bait and they say bring a chisel. They need to have a place where you can enter it from the lake if you want. Seems like if they get a big crowd it could be a mess.

I'm also concerned about the logistics and the lines for the buses, tickets, etc. With all the gear people will have its going to cut down on the bus capacity. Then the mess getting back when 3000? people all want to board buses. As an old Navy guy waiting in long lines is not appealing.

[greatwhitehunter]

That's a good idea. I'll keep that in mind. Hopefully they don't bark at us doing that. I was hoping we could drive the truck directly to the landing but I'm assuming they don't want that. New to the lake so I don't really know the layout of the landings and where we're going to fish all weekend compared to where the contest is.

I am new to the lake too so I have no idea how close you can get to the landing without "getting in the way". Even if you could drop a guy off a couple hundred yards away it would be better than lugging everything through the buses. I guess we'll find out!

[bk_MN_iceman]

What do you guys think the turnout will be? I read on one of the forums that as of yesterday 900 tickets were sold already. Think it will be a massive turnout? Or are we looking at 1500 or less? Lots of good prizes - it'd be better odds if less people show

[westguy]

No vehicles within 100 yards of fishing site just park 101 yards away

[lakebumm]

As of early this afternoon it was at 1050. I would guess somewhere around 2000 people since tickets can be bought at the lake the morning of!! Basically fishing a mud flat.

[bk_MN_iceman]

I saw that on the map it is pretty flat. hopefully we can get a decent spot on the outer edge or something and happen to catch whatever swims through!

[BLACKJACK]

I would guess that there will be a big last minute sale of tickets and 2500-3000 people there. The early ticket sale ended Dec 31 and most people that were thinking about going wanted to see if the weather was decent. 11 above with a 6 mph wind is no picnic but better that -10!!!! Plus they've been doing a lot of advertising, heard about the contest on two different radio stations.

I can't believe that they'll be drilling holes on Friday night and then telling people to 'bring ice chisels'. Its supposed to get down to -3 Friday night, how much ice will refreeze on those holes by 11 AM??!

[bk_MN_iceman]

I was thinking that too with drilling the night before. Going to have a 3" hole AFTER chiseling!

[BLACKJACK]

Thats only if you have a good chisel!!! I was thinking of carrying something smaller and lighter like a crowbar...

[bk_MN_iceman]

I have a homemade small chisel with a lot of weight and a strap that does some damage but hopefully they're not that frozen. Maybe they'll rethink their plan and drill the day of. I have a feeling if they don't they'll be redrilling some holes.

[ParaPro]

They aren,t drilling on Friday night. I have a buddy who is helping with this event and he told me they are going to start drilling around 3 am sat morning

[BLACKJACK]

Thats good to know!!!

I was wondering, how far apart will the holes be? How do they line them up? And are they doing them all with hand held augers or augers on a machine like a skidsteer?

[jnorm1984]

Freezing of the holes won't be an issue. At the big brainerd extravaganza the holes are drilled the Friday morning before, we've never had issues chipping out the holes... I would recommend bringing a coffee can and charcoal to keep the hole open

[BLACKJACK]

\ I would recommend bringing a coffee can and charcoal to keep the hole open

So how does that work?? Light and put on windward side of hole? Full can or half can? Pre-soaked with lighter fluid?

[jnorm1984]

Basically all you do is chip out a hole right next to your fishing hole a couple of inches deep, set the can in and light it up...it will keep your hole ice free for hours....I bet you could find a pic somewhere on the forums

[swmndeerhunter]

Looks like it'll be 7 degrees at 11:00 with wind chill around -7. We'll see what it's like in the morning, but might have to sit this one out.

[RayG]

Any results from the contest?

[JosMN]

Guy won with a 16lb bigmouth buffalo from what i heard.