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Lake Waconia Ice Report


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Hey everyone! Just dropping by to update what Ben at the In Towne Marina found for ice thickness as of 3pm 12/06.

Ben went walked out to Waconia Bay and found ice thicknesses between 2.75 and 3 inches. Some small areas had as much as 4 inches, but those were areas that water penetrated the surface from cracks, drilled holes, etc...

As far as the main lake, we haven't done a thorough check as of yet, but all indications are that it is going to be very similar to what we found in the Waconia Bay. The whole lake froze on the same night, and there is a blanket of snow across the entire lake.

Unfortunately the accumulated light snow has had a real slow-down effect on the ice growing. We've been gaining 1/4" of ice per night the past few nights.

Hopefully things pick up soon.

I'll try to post any new info as I get it.

Jimmy

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Hey Jimmy,

Keep those posts coming! Glad to hear we're heading in the right direction. Say hi to everyone!

Dino

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Hey Jim good to see you are still online !!!! Cant wait to get out and see you guys. I am so ready for the season. keep up the postings

Lane Canfield

Chaska Fisherman

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Hey there InTowneGuy!!!

Welcome back Buddy!!! I'm finishing the repairs on the Lil' Green House as we speak. At 6" to 8", it's going out... Maybe... grin.gif you know me and ice.. shocked.gif LOL!!

Glad to see you back in the forums!! Keep us posted!!

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Jimmy,

Does the in towne marina have any live bait yet? and if not when do they plan on getting some? and can you do a post with some info about operationg hours, dice game and access fees and if the in towne marina is going to host a fishing tournament or anything.

Thanks for the ice report, can't wait to drag the portable across the ice.

TT

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Cant answer them all, but I can answer some. Hours this week, till today was 2-6pm and 'hours to expand as ice thickens'. I stopped in the marina yesterday and at the time, they said there was only about 3" of ice. I didnt notice if they had bait yet... I believe the access fee was $2 or $25 for a season pass.

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I drove by InTowne tonight and saw about 4 portables and a couple of guys walking out. I hope to get out this weekend with the portable and try my luck.

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My dad, Jim took a walk on the ice today. He Checked Waconia Bay, Under the Wires, the south side of the island, Cemetary Reef, and the hole by the In Towne. He described the ice as this: 40 percent had 3 inches. 40 percent had between 3 & 3.5 inches. 20 percent had between 3.5 and 5 inches. Of course, the thicker areas were by cracks and anywhere water had bled through.

We haven't done a check beyond those areas, although it will more than likely be similar. It's still a good idea to check ahead of yourself with a chisel.

As far as the questions by Tommytanker, I don't know how in depth I can go, cause I don't want to upset the moderators, but I'll be general. Yes we have what you need. Our hours are lengthening as we gain more ice. This Sat. we open at 8 am. Our dice game starts 12/16. We are not hosting a fishing tournament.

Thanks for the questions, and I'll let everyone know more as the days go by.

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Thanks for the update InTowneGuy.

Lane, Dan, and Derrick, how you guys doing? Can't wait to see you on the ice this year.

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InTowneGuy,

Heard somebody tried to put a permanent out last night, and it went through the ice.

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Yes, I heard the same thing. From what I understand, someone broke through with a house on wheels over by the Public Access on the east side, about 10 yards from shore. I heard they got it out ok, but the ice by the public access may be messed up. I haven't been over to check it out, but the rumor I guess is true.

As far as the rest of the ice goes, we are still in the range of 3-4 inches in alot of areas, but you will find some ice as thick as 6 inches where cracks were. Still time to be cautious. No 4-wheelers have been out as far as I can see, and we are waiting for more ice before we use ours.

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Hey there Sarpy !~!~ good to see you online. Are you heading out this weekend at all? I may try to head out for the evening bite on Sat or maybe sunday. I will keep you posted. Hope all is well with the rest of the crew

Lane

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Mmmmmm .... Aren't we stuggling just to get a portable on the ice and some one wants to push their luck with a perminate house ???? I'll leave that one alone.

I did get my portable out today, had some good luck with the eye's and some small perch, didn't bring anything home and the ice was 4 inches of good clear ice.

A few portables houses out on anderson and cemetary reef and some snowmobiles buzzed us a couple times. I might try my luck out on anderson reef tomorrow and i'll look for the floating fish house and let you know what I find. (glad to hear the got if off, must have been fun).

Anyone else have any luck?

One more question, my wife has been driving me crazy about putting a tip-up out, does that count as one line? and if so it's going to be one of hers. I never have use a tip-up in my life, I guess that's not going to last much longer is it.

TT

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the ice didnt look to messed up but now the shack is sitting on the shoreline and if i am correct subject to a parking fine as no fishhouses are to be left on land at a landing also looks like a few guys are useing the abandoned train tracks to drive on with their trucks on the notrh side by the crossing to get to their hard side shack just off shore and from the looks of the house id say kids and beer not a good combo

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I went out last night and fished the bay. And I was suprised to see only 3" of ice. What's up with the ice? We had how many below zero days? Anyways, there were prolly about a dozen or so portables in the bay. Fishing wasnt that good though (at least for me). I ended up catching 2 SMALL walleyes on crappie minnows. Go figure.

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Hey In-towne guy...

Do many guys catch any amount of keepable perch out there? I am interested in coming out to chase perch some day. Where would I fish for them?

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Hey TJ,

I can answer your question about the perch. There are cleanable perch in lake waconia. But you can't compare them to any of the well known perch lakes like Winnie, mille lacs, cass, etc. but there are definetly some 7-8 inchers in there maybe a few 9 or ten inchers, but that is probably pushing it. On Friday night i caught the biggest one i have ever seen out there and it was for sure a keeper on any perch lake, but in 20 years of fishing that lake, that is the only really big one i have ever caught, otherwise like i said, some cleanable ones are in there if ya want to clean them. If you would like to target them i would hit cemetary or andersons just off of the weedlines pretty much any time of the day. With a little of better luck in the evenings and morning. Around 8:00 AM is when those pesky little suckers start pulling my rattle reels around. well good luck and hopefully the info will help you.

JS

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I was out both saturday and sunday mornings. Did pretty good on the crappies saturday but they weren't as ready to bite sunday. There was anywhere from 3-5 inches of ice with most of it 3-4 (at least where we, Oil Painter and I, were). Was rather suprised to see some four wheelers moving about both days and also saw a couple of permenant houses out there sunday. Ice fever can sure get a hold of a fella.

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Well Sunday afternoon and evening was extremely slow for the eyes out on Cemetary. a couple lookers but no bites. One crappie that was about as big as my fathead. I am looking forward to getting out a couple times this week and see if we can locate anything. I couldnt believe that a couple four wheelers were out both days. CRAZINESS !!!!

Hope everyone is being careful out there !!

Lane

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Just wanted to update what we found for ice today 12/12...

Ben walked to Waconia Bay, Under the Wires, South Side of the Island, and Cemetery Reef. He found a lot of areas with 4 inches (60 percent of what he checked). These were the areas that had snow cover, but were clear ice. He also found a number of thicker areas. These were between 4 to 5.5 inches, and were not clear ice, they had frozen slush. He also found an area that had up to 7.5 inches (although not a large spot at all). This spot was also thicker due to frozen slush, and no snow cover. At another area, near the south side of the island, he found as little as 3 inches (where there was thicker snow cover).

So to sum up, the majority of what he found was around 4 inches. We feel very comfortable walking out there, but as of today, we are not using the 4-wheeler.

Sorry if this is confusing, but the ice is extremely varied this year.

Stay safe,

Jimmy

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Thanks Jimmy for keeping us posted on the ice conditions...good job! Anybody been over off the beach? I'm assuming it would also be that 4" to 5" range. Any fishing reports to share?

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The ice is still very good for walking on, just bring good boots. It's very slushy out there. We have seen a few snowmobiles and 4-wheelers out there, but we still haven't used ours, and are not recommending it yet. Use caution.

As far as the outlook, this snow couldn't have come at a worse time. The ice will grow at a very slow pace now. Unless some miracle happens, we won't be driving vehicles until after the new year.

On the other hand, for those of you who like peace and quiet on the lake, you've got it.

Lets hope for a good cool down, and for the snow to stop!

Jimmy

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Thanks Jimmy,

I'll be out in the morning and last weekend I seen a couple portables out on Anderson Reef, anyone know how the ice is out that way? I think I'll use the public access if I see there has been some other traffic out that way. I'll let everyone know how it goes. any other info would be great.

TT

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Ran into a lot of slush under the snow this evening. It made for some hard pulling. 4-5 inches of ice where we were; out from In Towne (30 yards from where we set up it wasn't much more than 3 inches}. Saw some crappies on the camera but couldn't get them to bite.

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I went out the public access today and made it about half way out to Anderson Reef, with the snow and slush it made it really hard going with the portable. there was about 4" of ice and 2" of slush. Did'nt see but a couple perch and no takers. A couple snowmobiles did go past us but did'nt see any 4 wheelers out that way. It looked like a good size hole where the perminate went through the ice and there was a perm over by the cliff out a couple hundred feet. Hopefully the sub-zero temps will help the ice.

Anyone else have any luck?

TT

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