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Posted

Just to stir up the forum from its death I thought I'd throw up a new post. What's everybody's prediction of this season's Ice? I'm gunna guess good early ice and and just have hope that the ice stays at least good enough to ride wheeler on for the winter! As a snowmobiler I hope for a record amount of snow not seen in decades... might be better off tying to win off a lottery ticket though.

Posted

Hope you are right.  The past two hard water seasons were way too short.

  • 1 month later...
Posted

I'll venture a guess and say 1st weekend of December we'll have a good 4" to walk on. 

Then it will continue to freeze to at least 12" before it gets snowed on :cool:

Posted (edited)

I'm going to predict that these warm winters with less snow are going to be occurring more frequently and that safe ice will be a thing of the past.  Open water fishing will be back sooner than you think next spring.

Billy G - go get that lottery ticket!

Edited by gimruis
Posted

Haha I'll get right on that, some snow predicted tommrow night though, i think my theories might be coming true....

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

With this cold I wouldn't be surprised to see fishable ice by Thanksgiving.

 

Posted

It's possible, definitely up North. I'm pretty big into weather and the latest models have us creeping back into the 50s...maybe low 60s for highs come mid month. It can very well change though! As a whole I think we'll have a great winter compared to the last few...finally a La nina pattern. Also plenty of cold building in Canada. I say first weeksfct.us_nc.thumb.png.ebca35d11db4b1588abffa1735d8fd5d.png of December...and very soon for places in Nw MN.

Posted

It sure looks like everything is getting locked up around southern Minnesota. Could be earlier than planned..

Posted

It's all open...it's ready to go..But we won't see any big time cold for awhile..Still in better position then last year. I was open water fishing the first weekend of shotgun in a t-shirt last year. We'll be alright. 

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Looks like a stretch of warm weather for the next week or so. No safe ice in November for southern Minnesota this year.

Maybe safe ice for the weekend of December 9 in south central Minnesota if the temps are just a bit colder than currently predicted.

The weekend after that is looking good unless the predicted temps for December get warmer, or you get a bunch of snow up that way.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Any updates? I think I'll be heading up that way next weekend.

Posted

Alot of open water pockets on bigger lakes still, some people out on cannon on 3 inches about 60 yards or less from shore. 

Posted

Thanks for the report--about what I figured, which is why I stayed down here in Iowa this weekend.

I am fairly optimistic about getting on the ice in southeast or south central Minnesota next weekend; whether I am on a lake around Faribault or Waseca, or one of my old backwater haunts on the Mississippi remains to be seen. Maybe Clear Lake, Iowa.

Whatever I do I will post my results.

Posted

Can't get on the lakes yet, but there are still fish in the river.

Cannon Eye 2017.JPG

  • Thumbs Up 4
Posted
23 hours ago, geliason said:

Can't get on the lakes yet, but there are still fish in the river.

There's no reason to go on the frozen lake when you are catching fish like that in the open water of a river.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Posted

Saw a bunch of houses on Union today. I didn’t know that lake had anything worth catching. Is it just an early ice lake?

Posted

I may make it over to Elysian, Francis, or Tetonka this Saturday. Depends what I find on the Mississippi tomorrow afternoon.

From what I have heard the ice on the backwaters around Winona and La Crosse may actually be in better shape than that around Waseca and Faribault, which is kind of odd for early ice. Usually the south-central MN lakes freeze up just a bit quicker.

Posted

I'm 4-5 hours South, but my cousin texted me yesterday and said guys are walking out from the North side of French.  He said there's still open water on the South side though.

Posted

use caution on the lakes in southern mn  there is a lot of lakes that have one or 2 spots of open water.  with that said where ive fished there has been a solid 5-6 inches as of yesterday  clear, cedar.cannon,elysian, circle.  i would use a spud bar to check if your going where people havent gone yet.

  • Thumbs Up 1
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Buddy saw 2 cars out on Roberts last night, a little brave among other words if you ask me! I bet there's some good ice being made now with these below zero days we've been having.

Posted

I found a lot of 9” ice but am sitting on 7 1/2” now. Several vehicles on the ice including many 1/2 ton trucks. Way more brave than l am.

84EF38F9-F157-475E-B46C-2B1E8635C5C6.jpeg

34DB121A-25D8-4341-9905-7158B6FA92F2.jpeg

Posted

Man people like to push their luck, or maby they just have lots of money laying around to get their cars and trucks out of the ice! What you reported for ice just goes to show like most people should be aware of is that if you have this much ice here and there it doesn't mean you have it everywhere

Posted

What lake were you on there are some lakes like roberds nw corner point that geese kept open so that ice is a week or so behind the rest of the lake.

Posted

On Roberds yesterday. A good 8-10 of clear ice. Still not driving thickness for me. Lots of marks on the flasher. 16.5 FOW and ended up with a 4 lb white bass (biggest ever for me) and a 16" walleye right at sundown. 

Posted

I've never caught one before. Are they good to eat? Good fighters? Never been on that lake before, any advice on some good spots to check out? My wife and son have never been ice fishing before and this winter I told them we would check out a bunch of new lakes and I wanna put them on some good spots.

Posted

We were out on sabre last weekend and didn't catch anything.  I think we were just out at the wrong time cause quite a few people started showing up when we were about to leave. Must be a good late bite there.

Posted

I have not eaten white bass. I hear if you filet them but leave the belly meat off they are pretty good. I've found Roberts better on early ice for walleye, same with French. Better luck with crappies after that. Best idea is to go the the DNR website lake finder and download the lake maps.  Look for breaks, inside curves and points. Mark what you think will be good spots, then for 10. Bucks you can get the Navionics app for phone or iPad. 

Posted

Thanks for the advice. I bought a southern mn lake map book from fleet farm a couple of months ago and flagged a bunch of lakes and was marking spots I wanted to try. I'm definitely gonna try those lakes you mentioned. I don't really care if I catch fish but I want them to. I want them to have as much fun fishing as I always have, even if you're not catching anything.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Wanderer
      Nope!  But it’s more funner!
    • smurfy
      I don't need no livescope to catch fish....🤔🤪  It's all in how ya wiggle the worm!😜 Just sayin  🤣
    • Kettle
      Obviously this is more of a hot topic due to forward facing sonar. With that being said, I know people who have pulled crappies out of basins 40+ deep since the fl-8 and zercom flashers came out. That's over 30 years ago. I do think there's a push to ban these in MN and I could see them doing it here. They'll have to pay my livescope from my cold dead hands 😆 on days I can't catch a walleye jigging or rigging it's nice to turn it on and throw corks at individual fish
    • Kettle
      It wasn't just you, I was fishing west of you about an hour on Monday. Fished 8am-4pm, no fish, two keeper walleye and one small one from 4pm-630pm. Marked a lot of fish, they would come up to a jig and swim away. They were skittish to the dead stick too
    • leech~~
      I wonder like divers, if we let them decompress every 10' for 1/2hr. If that would help?  🤔  It would slow the bite down a bit!  🤭
    • carlsonmn
      That was a better study compared to last winter when they setup the vertical tube nets and tried to release exhausted fish from being studied and expected them to be able to swim straight down a 3' hoop net.     That lake's crappie population from this latest video was pretty deep at 40-50', and no doubt from those depths that is barotrauma for most.  That is deeper than most crappie holes but certainly how some are. However from helping give fish a good release from the 35' and less range and tracking them with live sonar most of them swim at a shallow angle back to the depths and I watch them rejoin the school and be active.  Uncut Angling's video helped counter some of the initial narrow findings.  
    • SkunkedAgain
      If you fished with me more often, you'd never have to make this statement...   38" of ice - love it. I'm really going to have to dig around for my auger extension. I don't think that I've needed it in over a decade.   Too bad nobody has a locomotive chugging across the ice to do some logging, like the good old days.
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the South Shore...  Ice fishing remains strong across the south shore of Lake of the Woods out on Big Traverse Bay.  Resorts and outfitters on some parts of the lake have ice roads extending over 16 miles staying on nice schools of walleyes and saugers.  Many fish houses are over deep mud.  Some are on structure.  It is always fishing of course, but overall, February has been very productive for most anglers.   Extensions are being used on ice augers as the ice continues to thicken.  The thick ice this year will be good for the extended ice fishing season Lake of the Woods enjoys with fish houses out through March 31st, walleyes and saugers open through April 14th and a pike season that never closes. Most fishing activity is taking place in 26-32 feet of water.  Anglers are finding a healthy mix of walleyes and saugers, with a good number of jumbo perch in the mix this year.  Some big eelpout are also showing up.  Anglers are reporting plenty of fish for fresh fish frys and usually extra fish to bring home.   The one-two punch of a jigging line and deadstick is the way to go.  On the jigging line, jigging spoons with rattles tipped with a minnow head have been consistent.  Lipless crankbaits and jigging rap style lures also doing well.     Lures with a light have been working well in the stained water.  Please remember, in MN, lures with a light or water activated light can be used as long as the battery is mercury free and the hook is attached directly to the lure and not as a dropper line.     On the deadstick, a plain hook or a small jig with a live minnow 6 inches to a foot off of the bottom.    Some days, mornings are better, other days, it's the afternoons.  There is no distinct pattern, they could come through at any time. On the Rainy River...  The start of the day and end of the day have been best for those targeting walleyes on the river. A jig and minnow or a jigging spoon tipped with a minnow head is also producing some fish. Some big sturgeon being iced by ice anglers targeting them.  It is a catch-and-release sturgeon season currently.   Although ice conditions on the river are good, they can vary significantly due to the current, so anglers should always consult local resorts or outfitters for the most up-to-date safety information and fishing advice. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing has been strong in the islands area of Lake of the Woods. Resorts continue to move their fish houses around, staying on the best schools of walleyes.     Anglers are catching a nice mix of walleyes, saugers, and jumbo perch with an occasional pike or tullibee as well.     Big crappies are still being caught just over the border.  Fish houses are available, check with a NW Angle resort for info on crappie fishing.   Lake of the Woods enjoys an extended ice fishing season with fish houses on the ice through March 31st and walleye and sauger seasons open through April 14th. Perch, crappie, and pike seasons remain open year-round.    
    • leech~~
      Maybe you should put rattle wheels down, if your going to sleep for 6hrs! 🤭 😆
    • JerkinLips
      Monday was my worst day of winter fishing on Vermilion in the last 4 years.  Caught only one 14" walleye in nearly 8 hours of fishing.  Missed two other bites and was marking very few fish.  Maybe the fish were taking Monday off after a big weekend.   No more water came up on the ice under my house.  Think it was because I haven't banked snow around it for a couple of weeks so the bare ice around the house is getting very thick.  I measured 38" of ice under my house and the Ion barely made it through even with the extension installed.  Needless to say I banked around the house this time.  Another lesson I learned today is don't drill holes if ice is frozen on your blades.  I did that on one hole and it didn't center properly and drilled at an angle on the edge of the opening.  Hope I can correct the location and angle on my next trip up.   Not much change in the surface lake surface conditions.  The drifts may be a little higher and are definitely harder.  There are still a few bare ice spots on the lake.  Very little activity on the lake today.  There are about 3 dozen houses from McKinley Park out to Birch Island.  Another person pulled there house off today, and I am sure many more will pull theirs off this coming weekend.  Only 13 days left of walleye season.    
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