Mille lacs opener

[AdamT 0]

I have a week trip planned for opening week on the big pond.  Should I reschedule?  I know the record ice out for that lake is May 16th. Does it look like that will be broken this year?

[TrueNorth 19]

Sure does't look good now but things can change in a hurry.  Pretty darn tough to break all time records.  Same discussion going on at Vermilion which is May 23rd.  

If I had to bet the farm, I'm wagering the big pond being ice free the week of May 6th IF long term forecast is reasonable close.  

 

[gimruis 131]

I read recently that Mille Lacs generally loses its ice about a week after the other smaller local lakes in the area (Onamia, Shakopee, Farm Island, Platte, Sullivan, Borden, etc).  So maybe keep an eye on those to see what their progress is.  I also read that some of these bigger lakes further north usually lose their ice about 13 days after Lake Minnetonka.  So that's also something to watch.  Minnetonka's all time latest ice out date is May 5.

Edited April 18, 2018 by gimruis

[brrrr 8]

if the long term forecast holds, I would guess the lake will open up really close to opening weekend. like Friday through Monday. there will probably still be some ice floating out there for a few days after that. it really depends on next weeks weather. its going to be close

[Sculpin 134]

There were trucks out on Isle Bay yesterday, and ALLOT of snow remains on the main lake. I think significant open water for the opener is a long shot at best. 

[Bass Thumb 167]

I'd be surprised if the lake is entirely open by Opener. I almost needed at auger extension eight days ago when I was up there.

[pikeandchester 91]

Drove around the entire lake today. From the road it looks like the warm weather has melted most of the snow. Only saw about a half dozen people fishing. Ice isn’t pulling away from shore yet. Stopped at the Borden access and walked out a bit, kicked myself for not bringing the fishing equipment, easy travel out there. 

[leech~~ 755]

Was out on the lake today. Easy 24-26" inches of hard ice yet.

[smurfy 238]

On 4/21/2018 at 7:48 PM, leech~~ said:

Was out on the lake today. Easy 24-26" inches of hard ice yet.

I see this is an ice report but not I caught fish report!!

[leech~~ 755]

2 hours ago, smurfy said:

I see this is an ice report but not I caught fish report!!

Trying to stay on Topic from what I read. Ice out by opener.......so

[Kettle 34]

For those interested in current conditions Red Door has a webcam and the north end typically goes the fastest or at least that is what it seems.  I'm all for a late ice out, similar to 2013 when the last really good year class of walleye were produced.

 

Kettle

[st.louis.eyes 2]

check ice progress here...sat imagery

or here..nasa sat imagery