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Posted

We made a low pass over the crowd this morning ( I feel sorry for the guy with the white Chevy & Ice castle half submerged ) and found a nice open spot to land outside the crowd from JR's. Back home with 2 nice limits. STAY AWAY FROM THE CRACKS !

Posted

Must be rough

Posted

We made a low pass over the crowd this morning ( I feel sorry for the guy with the white Chevy & Ice castle half submerged ) and found a nice open spot to land outside the crowd from JR's. Back home with 2 nice limits. STAY AWAY FROM THE CRACKS !

Hope it wasnt Harvey Lee.

If I had a plane I would land on the other side and then fly away when they come to get you.

Posted

If I had a plane I would land on the other side and then fly away when they come to get you.

Posted

Hahaha, I know that guy!

Posted

Hate to ruin your day Buck but it was not me, I was shown a safe route around that area and went that way.

Posted

full-45881-51759-mg_0650.jpg

You mean this truck heard they closed access on south shore yesterday

Posted

That's the same view I had yesterday. If they closed access yesterday, about 1000 people snuck on somewhere

Posted

Drove by these guys this morning as the tow truck was working on them. Poor guys were right on the marked trail. The big crack follows the trail almost perfectly all the way to center bar.

Posted

Did those poor fellas have to call home for a ride?

Posted

full-45881-51759-mg_0650.jpg

You mean this truck heard they closed access on south shore yesterday

That would suck, but at least it didn't go below the ice. Coulda been worse.

Posted

magnum mike #Wouldn't mind getting a plane ride someday never been in a small plane

Posted

That sucks but its pretty brave to be out there with a 3/4 ton regardless.

Posted

I was talking about you Cookie when we came in over Norman Lake. That was quite the little adventure going in there with you, me & The Greek.

Posted

It was kinda unnerving out there this weekend with all the cracking. We were going to go out of JR's but got there after they had closed the road due to the crack pictured above, so we went to the east side out of West Wind. The warmer temps combined with almost no snow cover made for a lot of cracking. I'm used to the smaller cracking sounds made when someone is driving by...but a couple of the bigger cracks were really loud and even shook our house a little, almost like an earthquake. Went out to see if the truck was still there after one of them, lol.

Thankfully nothing happened to us, but we did see someone off in the distance whose ice castle went in a little on the passenger's side. He was able to get it out...but yeah, I think we're going to sit next weekend out with the warmer temps coming, just too unstable for my liking.

Posted

yes we did well that day. I tried to get a group to commit every year but had no luck. I had a blast out there when I took Jeff and we built a blind missed a duck with my recurve by about a inch. jeff was laughing at me and could not hit anything with his shotgun.

Posted

Did you end up landing and fishing near a big orange fish house?

Posted

Yes we did. Orange house just west of JRs. Probably our closest neighbors. Was that you? We did quite well.

Posted

Sure was. Funny story...

The 3 of us were watching your flyover with envy. Then you landed and pulled out the fish house and we were all talking about how that is the coolest ice fishing setup ever.

About 5 minutes into it for some reason we all 3 looked over at the rod sitting on the table, just in time to see it FLY off, and go straight down the hole without touching the floor or ice.

The rod owner was all worked up about it. We went into JRs to clean and eat some fish. We got back out and he said something along the lines of "I wish the plane guy was still here so I could tell him he owes me a rod and reel for distracting me with his awesome setup"!

All is well that ends well. I ended up catching his fish with the hook still in its mouth about 8pm! Rod and reel is safe and dry.

Sweet setup, though. I'm jealous!

Posted

We were fishing on the other side of you today's the east, we were commenting on your setup too. Hell of alot better than the 5.5 hour drive we had to get our limits.

Posted

Wicked cool that you got the rod back. Your buddy must have a few more good trips with that rod for the fishing gods to give a gift like that.

With no wind she'll do 109 kts (127 mph). No traffic, turns or stop signs. It opens up lots of possibilities but the window to land on ice is usually pretty narrow. It takes a few passes to find a spot long enough and smooth enough to set down. A few years ago we were at Lake of the Woods and found 1 spot that would work. After a few hours, we had out limits and were ready to take off only to find 3 wheelhouses set up on our runway.full-204-51773-img_1019.jpg

Posted

Wow,very nice mike! Im jealous. HAHA

Posted

Mike just curious; how much snow can you set down on without skis? how do you judge the depth from the air? is there a reason you don"t have skis. Just wondering.

Posted

Wicked cool that you got the rod back. Your buddy must have a few more good trips with that rod for the fishing gods to give a gift like that.

With no wind she'll do 109 kts (127 mph). No traffic, turns or stop signs. It opens up lots of possibilities but the window to land on ice is usually pretty narrow. It takes a few passes to find a spot long enough and smooth enough to set down. A few years ago we were at Lake of the Woods and found 1 spot that would work. After a few hours, we had out limits and were ready to take off only to find 3 wheelhouses set up on our runway.full-204-51773-img_1019.jpg

And the only time you have to worry about deer is on x-mas eve. winkgrin

Posted

Stories about people getting their rods back from the same fish always blow my mind. What are the odds?

Posted

The window for early ice is pretty narrow. It's not so much the depth of the snow but what you can or can't see beneath it. Any ridges, cracks or holes can be bad...really bad. You have to be able to inspect your landing site from the air. These tires are several sizes bigger than standard and more forgiving. You get better floatation on the snow from skis but then we are back to what you can't see beneath it. Skis are better suited for landing on the snow covered ground. We have been lucky this year with good ice and almost no snow. Low clouds this weekend will probably spell the end until spring. After the first good spring melt, everything usually flattens out and it's game on again.

Posted

And the only time you have to worry about deer is on x-mas eve. winkgrin

Posted

the deer on Christmas Eve are usually at higher elevations, unless you're near some roof tops.......HO HO HO

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • monstermoose78
      Ok the ice was 15-16 inches and less than 2 inches of snow. It’s was -15 this morning and the weekend looks to be cold again. The fish were there but not biting with change in weather. 
    • Dash 1
      I guess the vikings are a lot like fishing.  Very entertaining but frustrating at times. I've probably been cheering the vikings for 50 plus years  that i can remember and once again it's all about (there's always next year).  
    • Dash 1
      I remember Jeno's boxed pizza years ago.  Mom made it every Saturday night while dad and I watched All Star Wrestling.  
    • smurfy
      Chef boyardee box pizza. Good stuff 
    • smurfy
    • leech~~
      Smurf, still trying to get his lure jigging down when using the camera!  🤭   https://www.facebook.com/reel/517510734635573
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the South Shore... Ice fishing is going great on the south shore of Lake of the Woods, with resorts and outfitters reporting thickening ice conditions with two feet of ice in some areas.  Many ice roads are now open to 1 ton vehicles pulling a wheelhouse.  Every road has different weight limits, check with each resort for details before traveling up and out on the ice.      Some good fishing this past week.  As a rule, fishing activity is happening in 28 - 32 feet of water.  Resorts do just about everything they can to get customers on fish and this past week, some resorts made some long runs, resetting fish houses in new areas miles off shore.  Most are reporting good fishing as a rule.     It is common to sort through some small walleyes and saugers to get your keepers on LOW.  Naturally, some big fish are showing up, especially in deeper water.  In addition, this has been a very good year for jumbo perch with good numbers being caught.  Other fish in the mix are eelpout (burbot), pike, tullibees and an occasional sturgeon.      Anglers are using the one-two punch of jigging in one hole and deadsticking the second hole. In the jigging hole, a jigging spoon tipped with a minnow head or tail in gold / pink, gold / glow red, glow white / pink, or Wonder Bread have worked well.     Especially in the deeper water, some anglers are finding success on rippin raps or using jigging spoons with a rattle as well.     On the deadstick, a small jig with a live minnow hooked behind the dorsal fin set 6 inches - a foot off of the bottom is working well.  One day the jigging line catches most of the fish, the other day a deadstick is hot.     Electronics are very helpful to see suspended fish, know when fish are coming through and adjust your presentation to the mood of each fish.  Most resorts, outfitters and bait shops in the area rent electronics by the day.   On the Rainy River... The Rainy River is still producing some nice walleyes and saugers, primarily in the mornings and evenings.  A jig and minnow working well.   Catch-and-release sturgeon fishing continues to be good for those targeting them.  An oversized hole, or three holes drilled together, with nightcrawlers or frozen emerald shiners on a sturgeon rig fished on the bottom are what anglers are using.     Ice conditions on the river can vary significantly due to the current. To stay safe and maximize success, always work with a local resort or outfitter familiar with river conditions.    Up at the NW Angle... Ice fishing continues to be very good up at the Northwest Angle. Resorts have fish houses set up on various pieces of structure as well as adjacent to structure in deep mud.  A consistent mix of walleyes, saugers, jumbo perch, pike and tullibees in the mix.     Shallow structure is best right away in the morning and as the sun starts going down in the late afternoon.  Mud is more of a slower bite but all day.   The ice road from Jerry's on the mainland (Angle Inlet, MN) to island resorts (as of this past week) was open to 1 ton vehicles.  Guests drive right to their island resort after picking up a road pass at Jerry's or Point North Services.  Venmo is also available at all resorts.  Work through your resort for specifics.   Ice fishing is in full swing across Lake of the Woods and there are openings for lodging, fish house rentals, sleeper fish house rentals and meal plans across the area.  Ice fishing is extended on LOW with fish houses allowed on the ice through March 31st, walleye / sauger season open through April 14th and a pike season that never closes.  
    • Brianf.
      From your fingertips to God's ears...  Finally got some snow!   Several inches of new snow fell before and during the weekend.  Sunday eve when we left, the high winds had already begun to create some drifting on the lake.  It was fun riding for sure.  Lots of folks on the lake this past weekend too.  We fueled up the sleds at Shamrock and saw as many people fishing in that area as I've ever seen in the Winter on Lake Vermilion.     Our weekend results were decent.  Jeff and I and a buddy caught probably 50 walleyes between the three of us, mostly fishing a jig/plastics with our three biggest being 24", 25", and 25.5".  We also got one large pike of unknown length.  During the midday on Sunday, we targeted whitefish and Jeff managed one big one.  We released all of our fish, except for three small walleyes that our buddy wanted to bring home for a meal.  Definitely a fun weekend on Lake V!   
    • leech~~
      The Vikings are the Vikings so it's nothing new.  It is kind of sad that Darnold's off season stock is now going to drop like a rock after these last two games. It kind of shows he's not a big game guy.  🤔
    • smurfy
      I'm blaming leech... his food selection has been lacking game days recently  🤣
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