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Driving On Horseshoe Chain Of Lakes


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drove past the chain on christmas eve, noone even parking on the ice on cedar island side. one on horseshoe side and i did see 1 truck with a big castle type house in Mertens bay but nowhere else. none out on long on the south end either. on a personal note i would absolutely NOT drive on any lakes yet. 99% of the the vehicles i seen where parked on dry land!!!

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3 hours ago, smurfy said:

drove past the chain on christmas eve, noone even parking on the ice on cedar island side. one on horseshoe side and i did see 1 truck with a big castle type house in Mertens bay but nowhere else. none out on long on the south end either. on a personal note i would absolutely NOT drive on any lakes yet. 99% of the the vehicles i seen where parked on dry land!!!

Yeah, I saw the same thing along 22.  I did see some trucks parked on either side of 22, Mud and Horseshoe, but they were right on the banks.  I fished the main drop on Horseshoe, and found 12-13" of ice.  

 

With that in mind, I would not be driving on the chain yet.  Heck, there was still a lot of open water last weekend.  

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Dont do it......  would guess a few good cold nights there will, but not right now. Ice has been inconsistent this winter

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Saw a half ton pull an ice Castle out this morning.  been seeing 13+ in most places but, like Rick said ice froze up pretty strange this year so not real confident its 13 everywhere.  

 

after this weekend it should be safe i would guess, but im not going first

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just got back from a cruise around the chain. not much activity on the south end of long. lot more activity on browns then I've seen in a while and 5 vehicles on the ice there. when I drove by xmas eve there was no traffic going on cedar island but looks busy now. houses and vehicles scattered all over horseshoe. doesn't appear anyone is taking vehicles across the river yet to becker, lot of ATV traffic the way it looks.

 

anyone with ice thickness reports??????????

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14+ in Horseshoe as of Monday. Trucks going from the winter access around the point past the meth hole and beyond it seems the no problems.

 

Lots of cars getting stuck at the point though (large drift there) so if you don't have 4wheel or all wheel drive I wouldn't try driving on the ice.

 

Small fishing update as well, evening walleye bite has been fairly consistent from 330-5, but not much the rest if the day.  Seems to be slowing down though, haven't heard much about the Crappie bite but think that should be starting to get good here soon.

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Made it out last night to Horseshoe. 16-18 inches was what I was seeing out there. Was getting around with no issues. 

As far as fishing goes, set up in the 30-35 ft range. It was my first time out on the Chain. I went with buddies who had been there before. We caught a total of 6 catfish between the 3 of us. All were caught on jigging lines with spoons and a minnow head. I can see now why people enjoy fishing cats through the ice. :) 

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Just wondering if anybody knows if trucks are out on becker yet and how much ice? Thinking about heading up on saturday. Thanks for any info

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8 hours ago, EaglesEdgeDeer said:

Just wondering if anybody knows if trucks are out on becker yet and how much ice? Thinking about heading up on saturday. Thanks for any info

Becker is the only one I havent seen anybody driving on yet. I know the main lake has a bunch of ice, just not sure about those cat tails...

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

scary!   may have to do the dreaded walk next week. 

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I was out on Horseshoe w/ the kids last Thurs/Fri. Drove out to the MethHole. I had about 18" of ice. Didn't see much for fish though. Hoping to head out this weekend.

20190104_152934.jpg

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Will be on horsehoe  tomorrow first time for the yr If see my little camper/fish house and a white chev 2500 with topper stop by for a pop or beer its nice to meet new people from the forums Thanks Randy

 

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Heard you on Horseshoe and then a bit further south.   Hope you had some luck and stayed warm. 

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Nice kitties guys,  I have been laid up knee replacement in Dec. finally got the OK from Doc to go fishing anyone driving out to becker lake ?

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

yep,  lotta smalls. eaters there but a lot of weeding. 

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I was out on Horseshoe the last two Saturdays.  I've had pretty good luck "near" the meth hole in about 23-24'.  I've caught all cats on a dead stick, so bites have been so lite that the bobber is just moving ever so slightly.  Also, been using half a minnow with a glow jig.  The bite has been pretty slow both days until dark.  Then it seems the bite continues as long as you want to fish.  It does come and go though.  I would have times with bites on both rods, and then maybe 25 minute of dead time.  Then 3-4 fish as fast as I can reel them in.  

 

One thing to note, it's getting pretty darn close to needing an extension on the main lake, just a FYI.  

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
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    • CigarGuy
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    • PSU
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