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in chase of fish


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I was wondering if one has to frequently move an ice house on Mille Lacs through out the ice fishing season? I have never had an ice house on that lake before, and I am not concerned with having to be on top of fish 24/7. If i feel like getting out there and doing some serious fish chasing i'll do that without the ice house. Would it work to have a permanent ice house in the same general location through out the year almost as the home base, but yet still catch a few fish there?

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Maniac/ For first time house owner on mille lacs your pretty much on track about moving around. Problem is its alot of work moving a house around depending on its size. Do you have retractable wheels? A permanent house is great to use a base camp. We have ours usually in less than 10 feet of water. We use it only to sleep and cook and usually catch a few walleyes at night, unlike fighting pout all night in deeper water, but some guys like that too. We then chase perch during the day using portables. But yes the permanent makes a great "base camp" get a good portable, mobilty is important.

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thanks for the info. i'm glad to hear that actually because i wasn't looking forward to lugging that ice house around. If i can catch a few walleyes at night (maybe not that many) and chase during the day i'm happy. If your in 10 ft of water, were would be a good general area on the east, south or west side. I would guess rocks, but i really am not to sure. I am familiar with the lake in open season so any general tip as to where to put a permanent is a big help. thanks.

Where's the ice?

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I used to run a 10 x 18 house for many years. It is a heavy house and lot of work moving. You need to keep it jacked up on blocks so it won't freeze in and the banking can take some effort depending on snow cover. As you stay in the same spot for a while the ice will sag a bit. The water will want to come up and seek its level which can be a problem. When the snow blows in and creates more weight the ice will sag more. You need to keep adding blocking or move to a new spot. Also the ice will get thicker around the area except where the house sits. This adds to the need to block or move. If you get a major snow and have drifts do not open a hole or you will flood. There was nothing worse than being in ankle deep or worse water trying to get ready to move. I have run a light weight 8 x 14 for the last 3 years. Less work to maintain it. As was previously stated , having a nice house for base camp is good. Being mobile is much easier with portables and its great to get back to the bigger one for a night of shallow water fishing.
As for possible spots , I have fished the east side rocks for 25+ years. The best time is early ice before the traffic and noise drives the bite to hit and miss. With my new house I can get it out with ATV's and for the last few years I was out 2 weeks or more before vehicle traffic was possible.
Just one more thought , ice is never totally safe. There is always a chance for problems on "big" water. Its no fun to wake up and find a pressure ridge or crack between you and shore. Always work with a resort who makes it their business to help maintain roads. It makes the fishing a better experience.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
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