Ice Reports

[Rick G]

Any area ice reports? I'm hearing that most of the smaller bodies of water in the area have now frozen over. Should make it out sometime this weekend to try my luck .

Good luck, and please stay safe

[eyeguy 54]

be safe out there !  

[tworiversman]

I already went in the drink this year be safe. video on youtube. Mattmohs Outdoorshow

[eyeguy 54]

checked a local pond and it had 1 inch of nice ice. did  not walk out, just stabbed it from shore. 

[Rick G]

1 hour ago, tworiversman said:

I already went in the drink this year be safe. video on youtube. Mattmohs Outdoorshow

Lol....this don't look safe :-) 

[kunzi26]

I'm hoping to have time this Sunday to go check ice conditions. I'll post reports if I can get out

[tworiversman]

Lol! Its KILLING me that the ice has been late for 2 years in a row. Wish we could go back to 2014, I was ice fishing the weekend before thanksgiving.  

[smurfy]

the water puddle/lake just south od maple grove parkway is froze over. locke lake by hasty as well as i believe its called schroeder lake by clearwater are iced over as well!!!!!!!!

[Rick G]

Just went out to do a little checking. Chain is not safe yet, found from 3/4 of an in to just under 2in of ice in most areas. Did find one place where thete was almost 3in, but it was in one small protected bay.

Also hit a few of the smaller lakes South of town. Saw one person out in a small flip over on one of the lakes, didn't find anything I would call safe yet.

[eyeguy 54]

thx for the report. early next week hope to get out.  

[tworiversman]

Thanks for the update! I will be out checking some local lakes after work! I already learned my lesson so I won't be walking on. 

[Barefoot]

I just checked the cedar Island Access there was about two-and-a-half to three inches of ice

[kunzi26]

Down visiting in southern WI with family and our neighbors just watched someone go through ice and drown on a small lake near Lake Geneva. Everyone please be careful when checking ice! 

[Stick in Mud]

The ice on the small pond on the west side of the road heading into SJU was able to hold my weight (which is substantial, alas).  I didn't have a chisel, and I wasn't about to go any further out.  Still, very good sign.  I'm sure there'll be guys out by the end of the weekend, if not sooner. 

 

 

[Fishing Frenzy]

Ice Report: Pearl Lake 4 1/2 inches on shore line. 5 inches out a couple hundred feet. 1 guy out fishing way out there. 

Grand Lake 2 inches about 10 ft out from public access. 

[Bass Thumb]

Good reports. I hand-angered out a couple holes on a lake south of town yesterday and found only 2.5" of ice near shore, 30' out, and 50' out. Could have probably fished, but it felt unsafe. Another half-week or week of waiting is a small price to pay for safety. 

[Fishing Frenzy]

Just stopped by Goodner an hour ago. Two guys were out fishing. There was a consistent 4 1/2 inches from shore out to were I went which was a few hundred feet. 

[Bass Thumb]

What sort of effect, if any, is this snow going to have on this early ice?

[Fishing Frenzy]

It may slow down how fast it makes ice. On a postive side makes it easier to walk on. 

[smurfy]

no real ice report but, took a drive around horeshoe chain this afternoon. other then just about getting hit at a stop sign by a to fast of a driver making a corner . the roads aren't real good. there was 1 portable on schnieder in front of that campground, 2 spearhouses on becker, no one on browns, 1 porty and 3 vehicles by long access across from browns access. roughly 8-10 on horseshoe mainly off 22 by the island. did see 4 out around the corner from there. no one was out on what I believe is cedar island!

[eyeguy 54]

popped out on an area lake and 3 to 4 inches was common. fish were not there but it was fun to get out and drill a few holes and start the season. First fishies were small but good to get out. Hopefully this snow gets done so it can freeze up more. 

[huskybass]

Howdy,

Just wanted to share my findings from this weekend.  

SATURDAY

First, we started on a shallow lake not far from the Clear Lake area.  Seeing others out on the ice, we started making the trek with ice pics around our necks.  We were greeted with some good clear ice that measured just under 5" consistently.  Fishing was slow, but hey, we made it out.  Drilled 50+ holes, snapped a gator off at the surface of the ice, but overall not what we expected.  Stared in 10' off a main point, and ended on top of the break in about 7'.  We left just after dark.

SUNDAY

Tried another lake that we typically hit up for early ice, Becker area..  Had about 4" of ice with 4-5" of light snow on top.  Wish I would have been able to see the ice before the snow came down, but again, it looked to be fine clear ice.  The walk was longer..  Hauled 2 big portables out by hand that we never even set up.  100+ holes were drilled as we hole hopped the whole time we were out.  Covered water from 8.5' to 15'.  Small perch were hesitant to bite.  Our target species were know where to be found (gills, crappie).  

Overall, kind of disappointing, but again, we made it out there.  Hoping this snow doesn't impact the ice making too bad.  Going forward, lows are going to be low, highs are going to be low as well.  Maybe a strong wind will blow this light fluffy snow right off.

Glass half full.

[tworiversman]

On 12/10/2016 at 2:01 PM, Fishing Frenzy said:

Just stopped by Goodner an hour ago. Two guys were out fishing. There was a consistent 4 1/2 inches from shore out to were I went which was a few hundred feet. 

 

hey that was ME! 

Goodner is sitting right at 6 inches. Fishing is SLOW! didn't get a darn thing. marked a few but no takers. 

[Naturboy]

I was at Pearl yesterday and there was 4 inches by shore, and about 5 3/4 out near the drop off.. fish were tight lipped

[eyeguy 54]

sounds like a lot of tight-lipped fish around here.  hopefully they get hungry next week !  

[DrJuice1980]

34 minutes ago, Naturboy said:

I was at Pearl yesterday and there was 4 inches by shore, and about 5 3/4 out near the drop off.. fish were tight lipped

 

I was there on Saturday and same thing.  I had something rather large on but punted it by the hole.  Had some decent marks show up, sniff for quite some time and leave.  Some heavy sniffing.  Nothing iced, 3 hook sets, the one decent and other 2 felt like pike spazzing out.  With the change in weather, I was going to head out there again yesterday thinking the marks would turn into bites but I guess that didnt happen.

[Fishing Frenzy]

Seems like the weather doesn't want us to be able to fish. Snow storm on Friday and Saturday is a high of 1 below  and 4 below on Sunday. Hopefully the weather people are wrong like they usually are.

[kunzi26]

23 hours ago, Naturboy said:

I was at Pearl yesterday and there was 4 inches by shore, and about 5 3/4 out near the drop off.. fish were tight lipped

 

I went out last night (12/12) and measures 6+ in pretty much all the holes I drilled near the drop off. Couldn't seem to find anything besides a few marks that were also tight lipped. 

 

Also was out on Beaver and had about 3.5" about 50 yards from shore on both north east and north west side of lake as well as just off he point near public access. 

 

Was planning on going out on Wednesday all day but with the temperature and wind forecast it seems pretty miserable with my lightweight pop up. Hopefully next week will be a little more calm. At this rate we may be able to drive out by Christmas or New Years. 

[Bass Thumb]

5.5"+ of solid, glassy ice on Goodners today. No worries there, aside from the quality of fishing! People weren't staying very long. 

[Fishing Frenzy]

3 hours ago, BassThumb. said:

5.5"+ of solid, glassy ice on Goodners today. No worries there, aside from the quality of fishing! People weren't staying very long. 

Yeah I've been hearing from people that it's really slow fishing out there.

Edited December 14, 2016 by Fishing Frenzy