Post Current Ice Conditions

[IceHawk]

39 minutes ago, smurfy said:

oh oh....anudder richmond guy!!!!!!!!

And a good one at that Icehead that will be good for the forum!

[smurfy]

1 hour ago, IceHawk said:

And a good one at that Icehead that will be good for the forum!

What are the possiblties I know this feller??? Been outta speckville a long time 

[fishingstar]

4 hours ago, IceHawk said:

Thanks for heads up any exact location of the open area. I fish Star quite a bit and what to make a mental note in my head to avoid a catastrophe! 

From my house I can't tell from my house if it's open water or over flow from a crack. It's out in the aerator area.

I was out there last week and there was 7 inches out there. 

[IceHawk]

Storytell Welcome aboard look forward to reading some of your posts in the future. 

[fishingstar]

On 12/24/2020 at 4:08 PM, fishingstar said:

From my house I can't tell from my house if it's open water or over flow from a crack. It's out in the aerator area.

I was out there last week and there was 7 inches out there. 

was out there today it was a big crack. There is 9" out there today

[IceHawk]

45 minutes ago, fishingstar said:

was out there today it was a big crack. There is 9" out there today

Thanks for update its appreciated!

[CJH]

I was out on a small SW Metro Pond/Lake and we had 6-8in on Sat.  Fishing was sloooooooow, but good to get out for the first time this year.

[MikeG3Boat]

Anyone know about some ice conditions in the Chisago Lakes area?  I haven't been able to find any information.

[JBMasterAngler]

Chisago chain is anywhere from 7 to 10 inches. People starting to park their vehicles on shoreline ice.

[Adudenurse]

I can't vouch for the ice conditions myself but I did see 3-4 f150/silverado class trucks parked out on the south side of first lake on forest last night on my drive home. I think it's a bit early for that but they looked like they were pulling some small wheelhouses too so who knows. 

[CJH]

I found a solid 8in of ice on a SE Metro lake yesterday.  Pretty busy on the little lake I was on.  Fish were more active than the last time I was out!!

[Skill-lessWanderer]

Made it up to lake of the woods yesterday, went home with 10 fish between the wife and I. Caught around 20 total. We were very surprised with how many walleye we caught and the size of them. I didn’t start ice fishing a lot until 2 years ago after a friend took me up to lake of the woods for the first time. We caught around 120 fish between the two days (what a culture shock to catching a few fish a day in the Bemidji area). But I have never been able to replicate that trip ever since starting to go on my own. I started going out of Wigwam due to the high traffic on Adrian’s road. My question is what do I have to do differently to have these 100 fish days that I see all over? Is it like winning the lottery and all luck? Or am I just choosing bad spots? We went out to the end of the road which was 6 miles and made our own spot away from the rest of the crowd in our portable which is what I’ve always been told to do. When you’re out in the basin it seems like no matter where you setup, it’s going to be about 30’-33’ and mud no matter what so structure really isn’t a factor out there. You pass thousands of houses on the way out and wonder if those houses are doing well enough just a mile out to warrant being there and you think the same thing every mile after that. All in all we were happy with the trip and happy with the fish but I just want my wife to see what it was like that day to catch all of those fish, maybe then she’ll want to make the trek more often! Ice was at 23”, really bumpy this year with rough ice on the way out.

[Skill-lessWanderer]

Oh and in other news about ice conditions, we had a vehicle go through Lake Irving today here in Bemidji. They haven’t released all of the details but it sounds like they ventured to close to the inlet where the Mississippi comes in. All we have is the radio chatter from the police department about the incident so not sure if they made it out in time or not. Lots of current coming through there but hoping for the best for that person or people. Kept referring to a missing persons report on the scanner so not sounding good.

[CJH]

16 hours ago, Skill-lessWanderer said:

 My question is what do I have to do differently to have these 100 fish days that I see all over? Is it like winning the lottery and all luck? Or am I just choosing bad spots?

Its fishing, that is not the norm, especially for walleyes-even on a lake like LOW.  If 100 walleye/fish days are your expectation, then you are going to be disappointed 99% of the time.  My adice:  appreciate those good days, but don't expect them.

[gim]

1 hour ago, CJH said:

Its fishing, that is not the norm, especially for walleyes-even on a lake like LOW.  If 100 walleye/fish days are your expectation, then you are going to be disappointed 99% of the time.  My adice:  appreciate those good days, but don't expect them.

 

100 fish days on LOTW or another big walleye factory lake is more common during open water season in a boat than ice fishing.  Especially if you are in a wheel house or permanent shack sitting in one spot the whole time just waiting.  If you move a lot to get on fish, you could probably still do it but that will be a ton of work drilling holes and moving equipment.  Cold temps lowers the metabolism of fish, which reduces their feeding activity.  Warmer temps makes them eat more often.  That's just how they work being cold blooded.

 

Mille Lacs has produced 50 fish days for me in recent years.  June seems to be the best month to fish for them as they are hungry and the water temperature seems to be ideal around 60 degrees.  You can't keep any but catching 50 walleyes or more in a day trip, only an hour and a half from the Twin Cities is pretty good IMO.

 

The other day they announced in the newspaper that even though on average there is about 5 times as much fishing pressure in the winter, the overall catch rate is lower than it is during the open water season.  And that is with most people using 2 lines in the winter too.

Edited January 11, 2021 by gimruis

[Skill-lessWanderer]

Thanks for the quick replies! That really answers my question very well between the two responses. I will now just start enjoying the chase of ice fishing for walleye, not that I didn’t before, but more like I do with musky fishing during the fall. Cherish the days where I do well and learn from the ones where I don’t catch any or very few. Really changed my mindset and I guess I was just a bit naive after that first trip to expect that result every time. Thanks guys!

[cavalierowner]

Is Harty's planning on opening up their access this winter or isn't the ice thick enough to drive on yet? I've checked their webcam every few days and no sign of it opening as of yet.