Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Ice Update for the Big Pond?


Grabs

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 94
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Grabs

    13

  • Alphid

    9

  • EBass

    4

  • Mykal

    4

Top Posters In This Topic

The ice on the north end is 8 to 12 inches. The warm weather did nothing to the ice. The 1/2 inch of snow on the ice never even metled. Fishing yesterday it was 45 degrees in Brainerd and my holes were still freezing up in a matter of seconds. The break hasn't moved in the past two days so the ice is pretty stable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank again Chiro,

My buddies are stoked on bringing up the permanent. It's 8x10 and pretty heavy. We're thinking about taking the wheeler and big trailer towing it out there.

Are there any permanents that size out there now??

Still looking at the south side.

Just want to be safe.
Thanks,
EBass

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mines 8x16, but its an Ultra Shack. I plan on being out there this weekend without any problems. Although I don't think we will be driving until next weekend, things should get off to a bit quicker starter than last season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Grabs, Ebass,
I stopped at Dickies today. They told me to hold off until next weekend with my 7x14, 2200lb permanent. They have a solid 10" but, they said they have made NO ice for 4 straight days now!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would just call them and ask them. I helped a guy pull out a 10x20 this weekend. It might be a bit lighter than yours though. I pulled it with my wheeler on 10-11" of ice on the SW side.

I would suspect you could get that house out there this weekend. But I am not certain what the ice is like on that side.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anybody have any idea what the ice conditionas are like at Barnacles? Wondering when I can get the 10X20 out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bump!

Are there any new updates that will help those of us with big, heavy houses and trucks know when we can go out?

Mac's Twin Bay is reporting water on the ice and the probable deployment this weekend of houses 10' x 16' or smaller into the bay only. No driving yet.

Can anyone else report? It would be much appreciated by the hundreds, if not thousands, of us waiting to put big, heavy houses out and drive trucks to them.

Brad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are big houses out into the bay on the SW side. I pulled a 10'x20' around with my wheeler last weekend, there was nothing less than 10" of ice, more like 11-12" on average.

Sounds like those of us on the SW side will be the first ones out again this year. Last year we were driving on the 1st, which was really early, I expect we could be driving by the end of this weekend if not sooner. Just need a good cold snap to seal things up a bit. I may move out towards Spirit this weekend. Last weekend there 8-10" on average.
My best advice is to talk with your resort owners, they are going to have the final say anyhow. But it does look like some ice making weather on the way for the next 10 day or so.

Good luck to those heading up, I will be up for the next 2 weeks, with a brief break to come home for X-mas and the a trip to LOW.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Grabs. I appreciate the report. I'm over on the SE side and hope wer're not far behind you.

Keep those updates coming, fellas.

Brad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A buddy of mine is putting his house out of Dickies. He called in this morning to get an ice update...they said 13 1/2 inches. They are allowing 1/2 ton pick-ups on the ice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Grabs,

Thanks for the info about the ice. Too bad the bite isn't on.

Do you know who Scott Niewind is? Just wondering.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Grabs, thanks. Sorry we missed you last weekend. I am off to North Dakota for the holidys. Be back on the 28th. I am going to Devils Lake on Sunday. Keep the reports coming. I'll see you when I get back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Guys!
I've got my big shack sitting at Twin pines, and am anxious to get it out. Does anybody have any reports out of Twin Pines or the Garrison area? How is the ice. Bridges?
Thanks in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just got home from Mille Lacs. I was up there on Friday the 20th and came home today.

The ice is looking very good on the SW side. We have a easily 11" out to Andersen's Reef and I suspect just as much all the way to Spirit Island, but there are a couple of pressure ridges on the way there though.

There should be a new road marked to the Island soon. Only small vehicles are driving out to Andersen's at this point, and they are driving all over in closer to shore. Most of the houses are out with the expection of the largest ones, many 10x20s are out. With this solid cold weather I suspect we will be able to start driving full-size trucks by Thursday, but check with resort owners first before venturing out.

The ice is very clear, but be very cautious of the pressure ridges.

And the bite...well not good at all. Only 2 5" walleyes in 4 days! Hopefully that will pick up soon.

Also, Sloppy Joes and 1 1/4 are full of houses out of Brandt's but no one is driving there yet either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just went by the big pond on 169 tonight, lots of houses out as far as I could see.There is a presure ridge running from the very north side all the way down past Eddie's.Most of you may already know this just thought I would post what I saw.People are getting across it as there were a few out there tonight, saw a resort truck out beyond the ridge as well.Don't know who's truck though, there sure is some strange and dangrous looking ice on Wigwom bay and Vineland bay.Must have been ice that pushed up just before the big lake froze?It sure looks ugly and I did see some water on top if not open water in the middle of some of it.Didn't have time to stop and fish, besides had the troops with and no gear.
Good fishin, Benny

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I fished last Saturday, on the southwest side, caught 2 24's a 23 a 8 and one perch. I also missed a couple of pigs. Used green and silver jig, tiped with minnow head, in 26 feet .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I fished last Saturday, on the southwest side, caught 2 24's a 23 a 8 and one perch. I also missed a couple of pigs. Used green and silver jig, tiped with minnow head, in 26 feet . One other thing I wanted to mention, was the number of dead minnows, I observed through the ice, dead....against the bottom of it. The fish caught were all very skinny.......I think these fish are starving. I would be more for a limit of 3, keep what ya catch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is almost no way the fish in Mille Lacs are starving we have had someone in our fishhouse 7 days so far this winter and almost the entire time you can see small perch and Walleye in the underwater camera. Of course I really have no idea but that is just my guess.

Macs Twin Bay is reporting 11-13 inches halfway to Hennipin Island and are letting people drive out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a re-print from todays report from Lundeens:

"The ice thickness has improved a little since last week - up to 11 inches on much of the main lake. There are still some pressure ridges to be reckoned with, so we recommend that you travel during the daylight - just as we have the past few weeks. The resorts are pulling their rental houses and many of the private houses out. Some are letting people drive out, others are still requiring ATV's, snowmobiles or shuttles. The bays along the south end have up to 15 inches and vehicle travel is common. Overall, things are shaping up from the past few weeks.

Conditions are changing daily - call your favorite resort directly to see if they will let you drive out.

The walleye bite has improved A LITTLE - scattered reports of multiple fish (a decent ratio inside the slot!) have been trickling in, but most are still finding the walleye bite slower than normal. 18-22 feet has been the best range, 25-28 the next. Vineland Bay, Garrison Reef and 9-mile flat are good starting spots. Shiners on a set line are your best bet overnight, and Hawger Spoons or Weasels tipped with a piece of a minnow are
tops during the day. There are a ton of small perch with a handful of jumbos mixed in coming from the South Bays. Northern fishing is decent in these bays too.

There is currently no significant snow on the ice."
(www.lundeens.com)

[This message has been edited by ackotz (edited 12-27-2002).]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Mykal!

Wanna get together and fish this year?

Have you been out by Green Lake or Clear Lake recently?

Shoot me an e-mail when you get back to 'Sota...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.



  • 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!!😅😆
    • 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
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.