Chances for safe Ice by weekend

Does anyone know if there is any safe ice ( 3″+ ) anywhere in the central part of the state. Without the slightly warmer days on Wed. and Today I would have thought there would be safe ice within a short drive of the Saint Cloud area. Now I’m not so sure. The forecast for tonight is a low around 20. Tomorrow night the low is near 12. I would think both nights we would add a little more ice to the lakes already iced over. If anyone know of any current areas with safe ice , Please let me know. Don’t need to know lakes or hotspots, Just area that there are possibly safe ice.

i’ll wait a bit longer thank you. i love to fish but water is really cold this time of year.

have fun stay dry!!!!! just not worth it yet to me!!!!

I’m going with…”if you have to ask…it’s not”.

They will be thinking of you until the ice is solid.

PS we want you around to pick on Thumper!

100% chance it will be safe. 5″ on Chisago County lakes this morning. Hammered crappies

skinnywater wrote:

100% chance it will be safe. 5″ on Chisago County lakes this morning. Hammered crappies

There’s also open water in Chisago county…..

Nothing is 100% when it comes to ice safety.

Thumper, I’m sure you’ll be able to find some smaller lakes or bays that will have 3″ of ice in your area this weekend.

Use your head. Wear your life jacket. Carry picks. Check the ice with a spud bar as you go.

Having a buddy with a rope is also the safest way to fish early ice.

Later in the weekend maybe. This warm-up delayed things. Saturday night should help.

Tried Little Rock yesterday. Was busting the heavy spud through on one drop near the access. Headed back home.

I have about 8 cubes in my tea that seems pretty safe.

There is skim ice on smaller lakes in the metro. if those lakes can manage to stay locked through this little warm spell I would think they should have 3″ in areas this weekend. My plan is to wait till Monday and check ice conditions then. Central MN im sure there are plenty of areas that will have fishable ice by sunday. As others have said there is no such thing as safe ice.

4” acts like 1” when it’s above freezing and the sun is out. Be careful. Don’t go based on the thickness alone.

Thanks for all the Caution warnings – I don’t take near as many chances these days as I use to. Early ice I always fish with another person. I always carry all the necessary safety gear ( Picks, throwable life cushion, Heavy long rope ) That being said – Give me 3-4″ of good solid ice on a small lake and I’m willing to give it a try. Had we had 2-3 more cold days this week I think there would be a fair amount of options. Like others have said – Be safe out there !!!

Early ice, keep your exit plan in your mind at all times.

I.e. how do i get out, how fast can i get warm.

I’m more nervous when driving on the ice than i am early ice… Because if your truck sinks, so does your exit plan!!

Good luck you hard water guys/gals

They are ice fishing near me on little lakes and channels. North of the metro. Just be careful. Dont assume that any ice will be safe.

Bring your spud (obvious), it’s the only way I feel remotely comfortable on early ice. And actually USE IT when walking out there. I’ve watched an awful lot of early ice videos on youtube this year where the guy preaches ice safety and to use a spud and then walks out to his spot hitting his spud on the ice twice in the 200 ft to get there.

I find it completely idiotic that posters on here think that 3 inches of questionable early ice is safe enough to walk on. Its only a matter of time before someone tries to sneak out there and risk their lives for a few perch. You just can’t fix stupid can you.

Few guys out in Southwestern Minnesota. 4” apparently.

I’ll not be testing it this weekend after hitting 50 a couple of times this week. I need to get my deer anyway.

gim wrote:

I find it completely idiotic that posters on here think that 3 inches of questionable early ice is safe enough to walk on. Its only a matter of time before someone tries to sneak out there and risk their lives for a few perch. You just can’t fix stupid can you.

You must have missed it when I said “there is no such thing as safe ice.”. There is always a risk to being on ice. Minding your own business is generally a risk free activity if you wanna give that a try

To the original poster we had some light rain in the metro this evening and it’s still above freezing. I’m worried my prediction of walkable ice by Monday may be delayed now

Caught a few Price county walleye last night…

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2-4 inches of snow forecasted for central MN, Just started to get ice this will screw it up good. I’m not a happy camper.

mrpike1973 wrote:

2-4 inches of snow forecasted for central MN, Just started to get ice this will screw it up good. I’m not a happy camper.

Agree. The forecast calls for warm weather around Thanksgiving too. Might be looking at closer to beginning of December for the metro. The waiting game

gim wrote:

I find it completely idiotic that posters on here think that 3 inches of questionable early ice is safe enough to walk on. Its only a matter of time before someone tries to sneak out there and risk their lives for a few perch. You just can’t fix stupid can you.

A lot of people ( Mostly none Ice fishermen ) probably fully agree with you.
Like I said earlier – I don’t take near as many chances as I use to when I was much younger. So maybe you can’t fix stupid – but you can become at least a little less. I said I Feel ok on 3-4″ of good solid ice – Not 3″ of questionable ice. Like others have stated – There is no 100% safe ice – No matter what time of the year you go on it. Then again Getting in your auto and driving a mile from your home is probably 1,000X more dangerous and yet each day millions of people ( Probably yourself ) do it and survive.

Hope to get out tomorrow to try tip up fishing for walleye. I seen two guys out Thursday on Lake Nokomis, north of Tomahawk, a co-worker seen a guy out on the Spirit Flowage.

Just thought I’d post a quick update on my quest to find some SAFE ice to get out on. We did find a local lake that had 3-4″ of really solid ice to get out on. The bite was not Great but steady – Lots of hole hopping needed. Ended up with a decent limit of crappies and about a 1/2 limit of nice sunfish. With a few more cool nights I think a few more locations will be available by next weekend. If you decide to get out there – Be sure to be safe !!!!

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