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Ice out date?


Sheephead Slayer

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Snowout may 15th. Ice out? Hmmm. I got July 7th. Two lines each for the 4th of July!

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If the ice is out prior to opener, will the new night ban be in effect for opener?

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If the ice is out prior to opener, will the new night ban be in effect for opener?

Night fishing: No fishing from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday, May 12, through Monday, Dec. 1.

So, no.

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Thank you. I didn't read into it close enough I guess. Good fishin or bad, been a tradition my whole life!

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May 2nd....really doesnt matter to me anymore....the lake is "toast" given the current management of the resources out there.

Cant fish for muskies during the best times - at Night! Nothing like a pig causing a heart attack right next to the boat.

Smallies - fun to catch but will not eat them. I hope this fishery survives and is at its current state in 5 yrs.

Walleyes....well, we all know the deal on this one.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Any one have a comparison report from this time last year? Was a bummer last year with it frozen but the next weekend was fun. Little worries about this year again.

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We are ahead of schedule almost everywhere, however I don't think they are up there, I am still hearing reports of 2-3' of ice and still snow cover on the lake

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We are ahead of schedule almost everywhere, however I don't think they are up there, I am still hearing reports of 2-3' of ice and still snow cover on the lake
Not true, we are about 2 weeks behind the median dates of ice out for lakes in the lowest 1/3 of the state. For instance Lake Pepin is open by March 31st half of the time. This year it opened on April 13th. You can see for yourself the DNR has a web page dedicated to this information.

The Median date for Mille Lacs is April 25th. One more cold snap and there is gonna be ice on the lake again this year for opener.

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I was talking about last year, obviously we are behind where we should be, but ahead of where we were last year at least in central MN, I don't think that holds true in Northern MN.

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As of 4-21, I would say we are 8 days ahead of last year in the Mille Lacs area and accelerating for next couple of days. I now wouldn't be surprised to see my area lakes (Platte/Sullivan, Rock, Bulldog, Long) ice free by Sunday.

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Only 2nd hand. 12-20" as of two days ago. Hopefully this rain is melting.

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The ice is looking pretty dark on the webcams. More rain next week should seal the deal and get the ice breaking up and moving around.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am going to say that ice out will be Thursday afternoon sometime smile

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Are we ice free today? I see nothing but water on all of the cameras.

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I could see some ice way out in the early morning webcams on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the daily satellite imagery has been horrible over the last several days so we haven't been able to get a good look from that vantage point. Here's a partially obscured false color photo from yesterday (ice/high clouds typically show as turquoise). Looks like there may be some slush floating around, but I fully expect to be on the water at midnight on opener.

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Just drove from Rutgers on Bay Lake to the cities...Vineland bay has ice that is very chunky from shore to a few hundred yards out. That is the only bay on the west side that has ice. wind has been from the east for several days so any ice should be on the west side. pretty close to being out!!

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Yep, and the big west wind today will move everything back east, though I doubt there'll be much left by tomorrow.

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ICEBERG RIGHT AHEAD!

Head's up in the morning (or at midnight) for you boys and gals going there. Might be some issues.

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Just wanted to post that ice-out was declared by the Mille Lacs Messenger on the morning of the 7th. As the Captain pointed out, there is still some sizeable ice chunks floating around. More dangerous, yet, are some sizeable blocks of wood from the fish houses that were never retrieved when houses were pulled.

I just came off the lake and with 15-25 mph winds from the west and rain, it's cold. The water temp is currently 44.5 degrees. The wind should be dropping after midnight, but if you're going out, make sure to dress warm and bring gloves. You'll be happy you did. The walleyes are in shallow (2 feet) and spawning right now. I marked alot of spawned fish out between 18-22 feet. Those will be much more catchable.

Good luck all...

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How do you know the deep fish were walleyes and were spawned out?

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • mulefarm
      With the early ice out, how is the curlyleaf pondweed doing?
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
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    • leech~~
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    • Rick G
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    • monstermoose78
    • monstermoose78
      As I typed that here came a hen.  IMG_7032.mov   IMG_7032.mov
    • monstermoose78
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    • monstermoose78
      Well yesterday I got a little excited and let a turkey get to close and I hit the blind!!
    • smurfy
      good......you?? living the dream..in my basement playing internet thug right now!!!!!! 🤣 working on getting the boat ready.......bought a new cheatmaster locator for the boat so working on that.   waiting for warmer weather to start my garden!!!
    • monstermoose78
      How is everyone doing? Holy moly it’s chilly this morning I stayed in bed and will hunt later today when it warms up.
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