How long will ice last

[bturck]

Just couldn't resist....."how long will the ice last?"   Until it melts....kind of like my scotch on the rocks.  Stay safe, and Happy Easter to all.........you too Boar........

[Hoey]

Adding to this discussion is the amount and quality of the ice.  Seemed to be about 20 to 22 inches of ice.  The top 6 inches is made up of snow that soaked up water and froze.  The next 10 inches seemed like soft, honeycombed ice.  The last 6 inches was solid hard cutting ice.  

So what is there is not solid and will not last very long.  

[Radway]

I was out of Graceton Beach on Monday and Wednesday of this week.  Walked out.  I saw snowmobiles, 4 wheelers, Polaris Rangers, and an Argo type vehicle.  At no time did I feel like I was unsafe or putting anyone else in danger of rescuing me.  I was in Warroad at the Point on Tuesday.  Arctic Cat had several huge trailers with about 20 sleds out on the ice.  I could see other groups out towards Springsteel and Swift Ditch fishing for Pike.  

Everyone has their own comfort level.  Driving a full size vehicle out?  No way.  Ice near any current.  No.  Using common sense and checking things as you go.  Sure.  

I have no idea how long the ice will last.  Nor does anybody else.  Probably not long.  

[tipupsonly]

18" ice in warroad. Lots of pike this afternoon. All small fish 5 fow. Still a few inches of snow in the ice. Travel good for atv or sleds. Pretty quiet on the lake. Could see guys out by long point and south tip as well. Hopefully find the big ones tomorrow. 

[magnum mike]

There is still 20+ inches of hard ice around the islands.  We had Knight Island reefs and all of Big Traverse Bay to ourselves today.  Very cool feeling.

[jerkbait]

Yeah, the ice definitely firmed back up the past week. It was rock hard again all the way thru. Was a gorgeous day out there Saturday. Fishing was a little slow for us. 

[mpester]

Magnum Mike - Would my son and I have seen you out on LOW around 3/3 - 3/5 about two miles north of Morris Point?  My son thought it was cool seeing a plane land and take off on the ice.  Now he wants me to get one for ice fishing.

[magnum mike]

Yup, that was us.  The Adrian's road has been the only landing option this winter until this last weekend.  Tundra tires or skis are pretty much necessary for winter lake landings.  The window for doing this is fairly small but it opens up MANY options.  We flew over at least a dozen cracks and ridges getting up to Knight Island this Saturday that I don't think you could cross with an ATV.  It also cuts the travel time WAY DOWN!  Be a good sport dad, get the boy a plane!

[tipupsonly]

We pike fished Saturday and Sunday. Good amount of fish but most small. Got 3 that were 39 inches, but mostly males under 30". We were in 5-7 fow. Not sure where the big females are. Oh well. Some years you get into them and some years you don't. Weather was fantastic. 18" of ice and still a couple inches of snow left Sunday night. One crack opened up on us Sunday. If I went back today I would of brought boards just in case. Still a couple weeks left of sleds/atvs or walking on the west side. Saw a total of 10 people fishing all weekend. Was nice to not hear anyone else's auger all weekend. 

[mpester]

Might need to learn to fly first but it sure would cut down on the travel time.  I bet the kid would look out the window more if we were flying rather than driving.

Two winters ago I saw one land on Mille Lacs and they flipped it over before they came to a stop.  They were right where I was planning to move in the afternoon.  No one got hurt but the plane was leaking some gas.

Always made me a bit nervous when an old guy neighbor would fly my mother from Maryland to the Outer Banks of NC.  Lots of time over water.  That guy just died in his sleep a couple of months ago right after he was cleared to fly again.

[401TE]

Mike,

Not trying to start an argument but I think you should be careful about flying low over crowds. Early in March a plane, I'm assuming was you based on what you said above, flew over me and my buddies out on the ice. The plane was about 30' off the ice and was very clearly not landing or taking off as it banked shortly after passing over me. FAA regulations prohibit flying that low, and for good reason. 

No harm no foul as far as I'm concerned but others may not feel the same and if something goes wrong you have no time to recover or avoid a crash. 

 

 

[magnum mike]

Before landing on ice, you must look at your proposed landing area closely.  Many times we don't touch down because there is something wrong with the ice.

 

The FAA regulations are very clear and there are no restrictions about over-flight on a lake.  While I certainly do not want to frighten or offend anyone, no flight regulations were violated, there were no safety issues and from feedback we receive EVERY time we do this, the vast majority of the people we talk to including those that come to us, really enjoy seeing the aircraft.  Yours is the first negative comment I have ever received.

[magnum mike]

This was NOT me!

Edited March 30, 2016 by magnum mike

[401TE]

Check out 14 CFR 91.119

[Duluthian]

91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General.

Except when necessary for takeoff or

landing, no person may operate an aircraft

below the following altitudes:

 

As Mike implied.  And people wonder why all the good information posters have gone. Enjoyed the picture Mike glad you can get two of your hobbies to coincide every once in awhile. 

[401TE]

Read my initial post, the plane I saw was not preparing to land or takeoff. It was flying over people, not roads for landing. Mike himself says the only place suitable for landing this winter was Adrians Road. We were by a bunch of fish houses nowhere near a suitable place to land. 

 

Anyway, as I said above no harm no foul as far as I'm concerned. But the FAA may not view it the same way so I wanted to give him a heads up. Settle down. 

[jerkbait]

Here is my answer to the OPs original question. A lot longer then anyone would have thought. The way the ice is looking I think a person will be ice fishing until the end of walleye season. Who would have thunk it.

[vman11]

Yeah it's going to be a bit.  This week does not look good for rapid ice melt.  Hopefully the predicted rain holds and the wind whips, to weaken it up.  I say 3 more weeks before the main basin is free, 4/25?

Here is the satellite from Thursday.  Open water in the normal current areas from 4 mile bay to Kenora.

[Hoey]

Was out Friday and Saturday.  Hard to tell if anyone else was out and about.  Only human life we encountered were the Arctic Cat test team.  The ice is solid 19 to 20 inches.  

On Friday we went out on 4-wheeler since there was no snow on shore and very little on the ice.  It snowed 2 inches or so over night so we went out on sleds Saturday.  The ice has not changed much in the past two weeks.  There was open water near all of the in-flowing ditches.  

I agree with VMAN, the ice will hang in there past the closer.    

[Vexilar]

Has the fishing been any good or picked up?  I heard very good on reefs but that is too far from shore for me this time of the year. 

[Boar]

good itll give the river females.a break

[magnum mike]

We fished the reefs last weekend.  There are HUGE ice heaves all over the Knight Island reefs and we could only fish the edges and fishing was NOT good.

[vman11]

Satellite from today.  Guys still ice fishing out of Long Point and Springsteel based on first hand knowledge I received.  I don't know that fishing is great, a few weeks ago it sounded pretty good.  Looks like it warms up but Flag Island NWS forecasted temps are 10-15 degrees cooler than mainland.  Hoping the lake is clear 4/23, but weekend of 4/30 seems more realistic.

[Hoey]

On Friday the ice was white and light gray.  After a bunch of rain on Saturday night it was light gray to black.  Around Rocky Point, the ice has not moved much, even with all the wind.  I am thinking another week and a half.  

URL had visible ice from shore on Friday, but no visible ice on Sunday. 

[Hoey]

Today's wind out of the north is moving the ice around quite a bit.  It won't be long.  I am thinking completely off by the 27th.

[jerkbait]

Yep, it was really moving yesterday. The ice is piled up on the sand bar out front 10-12 feet high when we got home from work yesterday. I am guessing right about the end of the month for sure.

[Hoey]

Strong NE winds today have the ice moving a good clip.  So it must be piling up on the SW shores or just crumbling away.  Hurraaayyyy!!!  Let the spawn begin and over with by the opener.

[vman11]

NE wind did a number on the ice.  Still hanging on in Little Traverse, Whitefish Bay and north.  Now we need a strong SW wind to mix it up.  Should be gone on the MN side by end of week/early next week regardless?

[Hoey]

We can probably end this post for the year!!!!!  

[Hoey]

It looks like we are a week ahead of last 2016 ice out.  This is from April 11, 2016.

Yesterday's sat shot looks like this.