Ice

[Drake]

We hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving and safe travels. Now that Thanksgiving and deer rifle hunting is over it's time to start gearing up for ice fishing.

I drove over to Blackduck Lake today and it appears to be totally frozen over now, with a dusting of snow on the ice. At the access it looked like someone had ventured out before me and walked approximately 20 feet out then circled back in, an inch or two is not quite thick enough for me to venture out. We had someone say on the west side of the lake it has been frozen solid for a few days.

I spoke to someone at Upper Red Lake and they said that where there were a few spots of open water yesterday, it is now frozen over today.

Our forecast for the next week is a good one for making ice (hopefully the wind will stay down), with temperatures for the next week only being in the low to mid 20's for the highs (with the exception of Tuesday showing 32 for the high) and the low teens for the lows.

Just a reminder of the DNR Recommended Guidelines for getting out on the ice:

4" of new clear ice is the minimum for walking

5" is the minimum for snowmobiles and ATV's

8"-12" for cars and small trucks.

Again, these are the minimum guidelines for clear, solid ice put out by the DNR and other factors can cause ice to be unsafe. But it doesn't sound like it'll be too much longer now!

[Drake]

Another check of the lakes and it looks like the ice is still holding up. Took a spin to Blackduck and could see some tracks in the snow on the lake where someone has ventured out a short ways. The other smaller lakes in the area are also frozen over.

Today the temps are suppose to get around 34 and the sun is shining, not exactly what we want. The wind is holding at around 9mph but early this morning we had some gusts going around 16mph. Fortunately, the rest of the week is suppose to be colder (highs in the 20's and lows in the low teens). The ice fishing fever is hitting, but not time for us to hit it ourselves quite yet, waiting to see what happens over the next few days.

[Drake]

The ice is on the lakes so we had some anglers up over the weekend. We had a group that walked out on a couple of the smaller lakes in the area (their favorite "mystery lakes") and just using glow jigs had excellent luck, limiting out on crappies and some northerns. The lakes that they were on measured 4" thick. I saw a portable house on Blackduck Lake not too far off the access Friday morning, but still not quite thick enough for me to venture out too far.

While most of the smaller lakes are running around 2-4" of ice, some of the larger bodies of water are pretty open still, I drove by Lake Bemidji late last week and it was still open then.

At Upper Red Lake, I just talked to Hillmans who said that their access is open to those wanting to go out on foot or wheelers. She said that Buddy Hillman was out there now and he was out working on the road about 4 miles and had measured 4" to 6". A couple of anglers had ventured out and brought in four crappies each, while other anglers I've talked to who have stayed in closer to shore have said that they are getting action, but it's walleyes and a few northerns. Sounds like the southshore had a little bit of a problems and when the ice opened up and is refreezing there are spots that are only a couple inches. It's still early so be careful if you're heading out and talk to the access owners about the conditions before heading out.

Again folks, remember that it's still early in the season, so be careful and use caution.

[woodman]

Lake Bemidji is still open, drove by the east end today and the ice is only about 100 yards out. Looks like it will be a little bit until we can venture out on the lake. Hopefully the wind will go down and the temp will stay cold so the lakes will thicken up soon!

[Drake]

Drove by Lake Bemidji today and still saw some open water out there. On Blackduck Lake I talked to someone who lives on the lake and he was out yesterday measuring the ice and said it was 6-6.5" everywhere that he had checked.

[Chris Haley]

I'll be VERY surprised if anybody is driving on Bemidji by the 1st. The temps for the next week don't even come close to zero and the highs range from 28-34.