Just my opinion..BUT

[Paul Waldowski]

I would not be driving a car or truck out onto the ice until we get some colder weather. With the recent warm weather that we have been having, ice conditions have deteriorated rapidly in my opinion. It was a little hairy getting of the lake the a couple of days ago and I can't imagine what it is like after a couple more days of warmer weather. When Dusty was talking about the ice being March like, he wasn't kidding. When we were drilling holes you could pick up the shavings and squeeze them into an ice ball and the water would just run out. Not good!!

Several resorts have closed there roads to Vehicles and I think that you will be seeing a lot more unless the weather changes drastically.

Again this is just my opinion, but is any fish worth your vehicle, or worse yet, your life Not in my book

[broncosguy711]

Paul,

what is your opinion on Dickie's stating they have 24" of ice? or at least that is what they are telling a few? could that be true?

thanks

[Paul Waldowski]

I guess the best way to answer that would be to say that I was up there for 2 days and drilled alot of holes (200 would not be an exageration, had to give the Nils its first really good workout...) and nowhere, and I mean nowhere, did I find ice more that 16 inches thick. We were doing alot of moving the first day by sled, so it wasn't like I stayed in the same area. Do they have 24 inches, I don't know...they certainly could.

[J Smith]

Hey Paul, thats another reason I'm switching to Crappies, I did'nt like the feeling I had when we were 2 miles out for 4 days last week on E. flat. I'm fishing the bays that have Crappies that are as thick as the ice-say 12 to 16 inches-or so! You've made a goooooood point.

J.

[broncosguy711]

Cool thanks. It is jsut that I rented a shack and asked ice thickness and for it to be 8 inches less then actual really stinks. as I do not want un safe ice, and that they have a 15 day cancelation policy before a fee. Will give them a shot this year, but who knows after this. thanks again.

[BradB]

Paul,

Could you be a bit more specific as to where you found this ice you consider unsafe? Were you driving out to the gravel, the flats, how far from shore? My 10x20 out of MTB is over 14" of good, strong ice. It's about a half mile from shore. I can imagine that there are other places on the lake where the ice is not as strong, where there are cracks, pressure ridges, variable ice conditions. I assume these places are further from the bays, and further from shore. The ice I have seen on the road from shore to my house has been good and I haven't seen any deterioration.

[Paul Waldowski]

Brad,

I'm sure that the bays have a little bit thicker ice. Sorry I wasn't a little bit more specific. I was talking about anything further than 3 - 3.5 miles out. Where it was getting really bad was the flats. I saw guys driving one ton duellies pulling 8 x 20 houses out there. Crazy!!!!

[BradB]

Thanks for the clarification. I fully understand. I trust the resort that I work with and I won't go any further than they tell me I can safely go, ever. And I never go off their maintained roads. I feel safe doing this.

[buzbunni]

Thanks for the tip Paul. I have never fished Mill Lacs (soft or hard water) and was looking forward to going up this Sunday for my first experience driving on the Big Pond...I guess I'll have to wait.

I might still go to chase the specks though...

BTW, any tips on where a first timer might start out would be great. Can you drag (walking) out a one-man to panfish spots?

[TC123]

Hey Paul, I'm assuming you would consider travel by snowmobile still fine - right? I'm going up tomorrow, I thought I would go out of the Garrison side and make my way out to 8 mile (never been out there before).

Could you tell me where would be the best place to park a truck and trailer for the day and what should I expect for the snowmobile ride?

thanks...

[Walleye71]

If you need a reason not to drive (on the east side anyway), check out Fisherman's Wharf. They had a plow truck go through yesterday.

[Paul Waldowski]

Buz,

Sorry, not a lot of help here for specks on the pond. Best bet would be to call a few resorts on the S.E. side, Like Mac's Twin Bay, or Liberty Beach and see what they have to say. With Ice conditions the way they are, alot of places will shuttle you out with a wheeler or such for the price of the road pass.

[Paul Waldowski]

TC,

Travel by sled should be okay but definitely do not take my word for it. Call the resort you want to head out of first. Make sure that you're traveling with someone. Several of the areas of slush that you will encounter are fairly long. Avoid the gray area, as that means there's slush below the snow.

Call Linda at Twin Pines and see if you can park there, that way you can follow there road. The first couple of miles were in good shape and after that you should be able to road in our tracks as they go right to 8 mile. Any more questions, feel free to shoot me an e-mail or call my cell. Not sure how much I'll be able to check this post today.

[Rainydaze]

Hi Guys!

Just thought that I would weigh in here! I just returned from the north side flats on the big pond. I pulled out the otter with my atv, and to say the least it was an adventure. We left from the public access, and headed out about 8 miles to some of the smaller flats. We hit at least 5 slush pockets that tested the 700 4x4 with chains! Slush on top of the ice makes travel undesirable at the least. I saw several full sized vehicles on the ice, but I wouldn't be out very far with anything but a sled or atv. Be careful out there! As a side bar fishing was alright. Fish weren't extremely active nor were they shut down. Not worth going through the ice however!

[metrojoe]

I don't have a sled or atv and unless I can find a spot that is within a reasonable walking distance, I'm waiting until we get some good ice makin' weather before I head up again.

It amazes me how that little bit of snow can keep that water on top of the ice from freezing.

[JustinJ]

I was up there this morning. Fishing was good. Non stop perch action. I drove out on the SE. The folks that I paid to get on the ice said it was safe. I questioned them thoroughly and I felt comfortable. There was a lot of large rigs pulling large houses onto the lake this morning. It looked like the resorts got the green light. Also, at 7am there was visible slush on the sides of the road near snow drifts. The ice roads themselves are hard as a rock. I was driving my intrepid and had no clearance issues. By 11am the slush was solid from the gusty winds.

[Guest]

I fished out of Fishermans Wharf yesterday and tuesday. One of thier trucks had its front end in when we came off the lake last night.

You know the ice is getting iffy to drive on when you see the plow driver plowing a new road with his DOOR OPEN!

I wouldn't go out in a vehicle either.

A snowmobile, go wherever you want, no worries. An ATV, a little tough going through the slush, but doable.

[FishingwithJake]

Justin, do you mind if I ask what you were catching them on? I was out there with a buddy earlier this week and we kept seeing them on the camera but we couldn't get them to bite.

[JustinJ]

Fishing,

glow jigs and crappie minnow heads

[J Smith]

Boy oh Boy Skindog; I know what you mean, Terry McCoid was trying to check the ice thickness around 5 years ago when his 1.5 ton went through. He had a dually with studs in all the rubber. The Ice was around 14-18 inches at the time. We had houses out a half mile further from shore than where he went in. The CraZy S O B jumped back in the truck and tried to back it out of the ice. He got lucky because the Power windows opened to let him get out of the truck. About 14 years ago the same thing happened to a guy who had a dog in the cab of his truck and died in an attempt to rescue his best friend. What peole don't realise is the Pie factor of the Ice. These are the Point's where the Ice can Break away.

Especially when the Ice is at a critical point of deterioration-such as NOW!

Be Cautious

Fish Smart not Hard

J.

[black max]

I was up on sat. and were on wheelers and portables but we were the exception it looked like. There were trucks out every where towing houses all over the lake. We fished out of terrys and his road looked like a freeway most of the day. There were 3/4ton trucks doing 40mph out on the lake on and off the roads. I didn't see anyone go in but when a truck went by you could sure hear the ice popping. The snow is pretty minimal now and beat down. We had no problems going anywhere with the wheelers. The slush had frozen on top of the ice, but when it warms up again it is gonna bu slush all over again.