Annual Ice Fishing Trip Dilemma- What would you do?

Hi Guys,

I have a cabin booked for the week of March 17th through 23rd at our normal resort near Lake Winnibigoshish.

I know weather is the huge variable, but reports from up there appear things are not looking good in the near future. We’ve seen many reports saying they are no longer maintaining roads, slush 18″ plus where there are roads, and miserable ice conditions.

Dilemma: Do I scrub the trip and eat the cabin deposit and go elsewhere? I don’t want the crew wading through and fighting slush and deep snow all week.

I am located near LaCrosse, WI but the group of 6 of us want a location to fish panfish only- gills, crappies, and perch. A six to ten hour drive radius is about our max. We are after quality panfish as opposed to quantity. Now, many of you would say we have an excellent fishery here which is 100% true, but wanting to do a guys get-away with great fishing and accommodations that won’t fully break the bank.

I’m not looking for your “honey holes” to be disclosed here, so please PM me with specifics or give a general area for us to entertain going where this deep snow and slush won’t keep us pinned down. We have a snowmobile and 4 wheel drive ATV so mobility is there- prefer to stay in Minnesota as many have already bought their new 2019 licenses.

Thanks much for any feedback or advice in advance!

Dale Radcliffe- owner- Radcliffe Custom Rods

There are plenty of small lakes in the area of Winnie that are still fishable. Plus if all else fails, beer is just as tasty in the cabin as it is on the lake…

You’ll be fighting tough conditions anywhere you go, but there’s plenty of small lakes with good structure close to the landing in the area. Little Ball Club, Round and Bowstring come to mind.

I’d either get ahold of Joe Scegura, member from this site, he’s in Alexandria MN, and always seems to have a good bite somewhere. Or, I’d hit Big Stone lake on the MN/SD border. They’ve got snow and slush also, but a little less than others, have plowed roads, resorts with rentals and some quality fish.
My 2 cents…

What Resort are you staying At? contact them and see if they will have roads plowed. Any lake in Minnesota will probably have a slush snow condition

I would stick with the cabin you have and start looking at Google earth and mn dnr lakefinder website for good options of smaller lakes that have what you are looking for in them and get out there with the snowmobile.

Are you staying on Winnie or just near there? Reports from Winnie have been brutal all year in terms of fishing and now the snow and slush conditions has only made things worse. You’re not going off any plowed roads with ATV’s so I wouldn’t count on that. You might get around off the roads with a snowmobile but still a tough go. Be prepared to shove a lot. Besides what are you going to do once you get off the beaten path? Snow and slush waist deep and then you drill holes and your standing in 3 or 4 inches of water in 10 minutes. Not trying to be be Debbie downer for you but that’s pretty much how it is.

I would stick with what ya got and take what you can get out of it when you get there. Good luck to ya!

Thanks for the honest feedback. I’m looking also at Glen Alder Reservoir in Kansas.

Anyone you know I could use as a contact there or accommodations?

Maybe if James Holst is reading this he could throw an old friend a bone and lend me his insight????

This is a further drive, but possibly we could dodge the snow and slush issue being further south???

Any info greatly appreciated.

Dale Radcliffe- Owner
Radcliffe Custom Ice Rods

Yes Little Winne Resort is our booked location. Wanted to fish Little Cutfoot Souix, Bowstring, and Sand for starters.

Anyone know if the boat landings are or have been attempted to be plowed out so you can even get to the ice?

????

Fished Glen Elder, and would never go back unless your after drum, the lake is overrun with them as well as white bass, very disappointing. I don’t know if there would be any good ice that direction.

It’s kind of a tough call but if your going with good fishermen I guess I’d still go, it may force you to try new waters and tactics. We cant learn new lakes if we dont go, yes it may be a turd hunt but then again it might be setting you up for great fishing options in the future. If I was going with a group that just wants to get away and do a little fishing I’d cancel and put the money towards something or somewhere else

My dad and I were supposed to head up to Lake Winnie on Thursday, but the resort we were supposed to stay at (Cut Foot Sioux Resort) called me last week and told me that the snow conditions are terrible. They had a group fish Round Lake the last weekend in February, but the group was only out for a few hours as the conditions were so bad (not too many fish, couldn’t move, snow up to their thighs). They called me to discuss the conditions and let me decide if we wanted to keep our reservations. I cancelled them after hearing that news, hearing the the resorts on Lake Winnie were not plowing roads as they couldn’t keep up with the fresh snow and drifting, hearing from a local bait shop that they are not even recommending snowmobiles (at peoples own risk), and the possible snow still to come. They were nice enough to say that since they have openings until the end of March that they would contact me in a week or two to discuss possibly coming up at the end of the month (if the snow pack melts down enough to get after it fishing.

One snowmobile for 6 guys really won’t do much good for exploring other lakes in that area. The small lakes have just as much snow.

Another thing to consider is drilling holes. With thick ice and deep snow along with extension it is much more physically demanding to drill holes so you wont want to move around and drill as much. After your auger gets stuck you will be pissed.That’s how it was for us on Winnie one year.

After the past few weeks I recommend Florida on the Gulf and do some flats fishing…..oh how I wish.

Tom P. wrote:

After the past few weeks I recommend Florida on the Gulf and do some flats fishing…..oh how I wish.

Mexico and Central America have some great fishing this time of year also.