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Waconia... Driving out?


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Wondering if anyone at the Marina can verify if people are driving out to pilsbury yet. Heard rumors and wanted to be sure before pulling a small perm over there.... Thanks. smirk.gif

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You might do best by calling there if you want a quick answer. I think its 442-2096. Take a look at the "Wacko" post a ways down, that was from 3 days ago. I think others gave ice thickness out there. If not I found anywhere from 8-12 inches Saturday.

Please be careful everyone...

Tackleman

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Was out there last night. Same ice conditions! Can't believe people were driving. Once again I measured 8 inches of clear ice and now about 4 inches of frozen slush/snow. I think I will wait another 3-4 inches before I drive. I can see pulling my big house out this weekend, but with a four wheeler only. And to answer your question, yes there was a car and a full size pickup sitting on Pilsbury...... confused.gif

On another stupid note a guy was driving his four wheeler about 40MPH with his lights off in the dark going through clusters of houses. Boy this lake attracts alot of lame brains !

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Thanks doser. I'll be walking out for a few more days. Can't justify the risk. I just have a hard time figuring out what some people are thinking. Or are they thinking at all? Maybe that's the question. confused.gif

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Did not see any cars/trucks yesterday. My boy and I walked out last night from the marina to the bay, still only 6-7" of good ice and 4-5" if frozen slush on top. Wanted to head to Pilsbury but just too far of a walk.

But with the cold weather, things should be looking up if the weather holds...although I sure enjoy the peace and quiet. Things will change in a hurry when people start driving around.

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This is what I saw driving out last night-

15 cars

1 ranger

1 kamikaze full size truck

It's only a matter of time before too many people park in one spot and we have a disaster.

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I had 2 toyota corolla's or similar, one Chev 1/2 ton, one Ranger, and one Dodge full size within a radius of 60-70 feet of my house last night, none mine. I guess I'm on the spot on the spot... crazy.gif

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Alright, people are driving out. I wasnt one of them but personally, i would have felt "safer" driving out then parking on the ice with the other 30 cars right of the landing. I could see driving in a small truck(ranger/s-10) or a car, but a full size truck? Those guys have alot of____ or none left at all. On a positive note...fishing out there last night was really good!

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Well on the east end........tried something new and I bet some people were like what in the world is he doing. grin.gif

Anyway marked some fish before dark, nothing however. Heading back out tonight. If anyone wants to say hi, should be out there by 4ish in a blue FT guide, wearing all camo and walking.

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Any reports from your 1/19 outing??

I'm going to start looking for some eyes this weekend on wacko. Found some last weekend, however, they were all 6-8 in fingerlings. They were hungry and hitting hard...just a bit on the small side! A strong year class anyway. Was hoping some larger critters would move in but none did while I was on watch.

Does anyone have any general walleye reports to share - is anyone on any decent eye's on Waconia?? Are the eye's on rocks, heavy weedlines, breaks, flats? I'm not looking for any spots, just some general info. I've never looked for them much in the winter there but am up for the challenge - a little direction would be much appreciated. I know they're in there...just gotta find them...then hope they're hungry grin.gif

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Sorry I didn't get back on this sooner.

We at the In Towne started driving our smaller vehicles (Nissan Frontier/GMC Astrovan) on Jan. 18. We were pulling a 7 x 14 on wheels with the Frontier to Waconia Bay. We have also been as far as Center, Harms, and Pillsbury.

We NEVER say it is safe, no matter what the ice conditions are, but we do feel comfortable driving to those areas.

We have done a lot of checking across the lake, and are happy with our findings. Anywhere from 9 - 14 inches have be found, with an average of 11 inches (the top 3 inches is white frozen slush).

Take our info for what it's worth. Drive at your own risk.

Good Luck Fishing!

Jimmy

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well 1-19 - nothing marked a couple fish before dark, fished until 7 with 3 lookers.

1-20 - fished off the NW point and north of the island 2 line breaks, caught fish before dark, nothing after. Released everything nothing to brag about either.

1-21 - fished the bay in town. 3 small crappies pulled the plug at 6:30.

Just nutz with people driving. Felt like an earthquake with 2 FULL SIZE TRUCKS went by me. Walking is just fine by me, don't want to be the one that drops their pickup through.

IMO, any 2 days of above freezing weather, I wouldn't me driving trucks at least. Don't know if I'll make it out this weekend.

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Is there another name for pillsbury? I was looking at my gps with the lakemaster chip and don't see a reef called pillsbury.

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Its not mark on the Lakemaster chip, but it is straight west of center reef which is marked on the chip.

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No need for coordinates. Go out of the marina and go around the point to your left and look for the houses. You don't need to be "On" the reef, in fact that's my beef, there is no particular hot spot, it's a bowl and the fish suspend in it so no need to all gather around in small area or right on top of each other. Just head out and go south or SE or SW of all the houses and find a depth in the 20-24 foot range and set up. If you go north of them you'll be in weeds and 6-10 feet, where you will catch sunnies/gills if you want.

Join the mayhem & good luck. Red glow Phelps tick jigs of course.

Tackleman

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Mayhem is right. Holy cow, I drove by yesterday, quite the little city popping up out there. Any size to those waco crappies? I've fished Pillsbury in the past and found mostly smaller crappies. I'm assuming most of the people got out there this last weekend. I was up at Brainerd... fished the sw side of the fishable area in 24 fow... No luck this year. wink.gif

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I was out last Friday and a guy came buy and was looking for a scale to hang a 15.5 inch crappie on, and last Sunday I had a nice 12.5 inch crappie. only in 10 FOW and fished about 6 feet deep right in the bay. I move to the SE side of the lake and the crappie are still active. I had no problem moving the fish house and their is about 14 inches of ice where I am now.

TT

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14"-15"

Not bad, but we will have to see if these 40 degree days take any of that away.

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