I would like to get my boy out this weekend fishing. I would be fishing southern Minnesota. I checked a couple lakes today and the ice hasn’t pulled from shore yet. So am wondering if the ice is still goood to walk out on. Just seeing if anybody on here has been out the last couple of days and wondering how the ice is? thanks
Don’t know the conditions there, but forecasted high in the mid 60s on Sunday could make things pretty messy out there. That’s warm enough that conditions could change rapidly I would think, especially if you are out there for an extended period of time. Stay safe!
Bring spikes for everyone’s boots if you do go. All the melting on top of the ice will make for some extremely slick conditions.
The Pool 4 backwaters are losing ice faster than I’ve ever seen in March. Generally once the melt starts, it is a matter of weeks before things get real sketchy. We have had almost all sunshine and temps above freezing during nights for the past 10 days.
I think with some caution and experience, things will be fishable yet this weekend. After this weekend all bets are off. At 60 degrees and sunny, an auger hole can grow quite large in a few hours with all the standing water running down it.
The images below are from the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Department (lower end of Pool 4 backwaters and upper part of Pool 5). Two anglers went through. This area they went in at does not have current. It’s a long ways from any channel.
Stay Safe.
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Don’t let anyone but yourself tell you when it’s safe especially when taking kids. Make use of your spud bar. Every lake is different from the other one and every lake is not consistent when it comes to ice. Be smart, be safe.
The St. Croix channel is starting to open up again but we haven’t lost all the snow pack. I might ask more questions if all the snow had melted and the St. Croix was getting that “leadened” look. As a general rule: If there’s still snow drifting and snow cover in shaded places the ice “should” have more life left in it. You have to melt the snow before you’re going to melt the ice and I don’t think we’re there yet. Always take care in areas prone to thin ice.
My guess is with a few precautions you will still be good in Southern MN on Saturday or Sunday. Main lake ice should be good. Some of the problems could come in accessing the ice if the only access point is on the north side of the lake receiving a lot of direct sunlight and is one that was heavily used by vehicle travel all winter. If you can find a lightly used walk in access on the south side of a lake or an area that’s been shaded, then you should be perfect, I would think even for ATV use. Keep in mind things like melting water running into the drilled holes can open up a hole fast, especially if there’s a bit of wind to swirl it around. Checking with a spud bar as you go is always a good option. Better to be safe than sorry and use your own judgement.
Where did those guys fall thru, exactly? We were out down there in that area yesterday and heard all the sirens. We had at least a foot of crappy ice. Maybe more.
I might be overly cautious, in my older years but its ATV time now, the Ford stays on shore. Polk County Wis. It’s the landings that go first, how much salt and water running on to the lake
A decent rule of thumb is if there’s water on top of the ice you should be ok to walk. If there is none it’s porous and I wouldn’t pick that day to be my last.
We’re driving the truck and 24′ 7000lb house out this weekend. Ice is good in Alexandria. Every body of water is different though. Like someone else said, always check for yourself.
The conditions in Southern Minnesota are way different than in Central and Northern Minnesota. It looks like this may be the last weekend in southern Minnesota. I’m thinking we will have at least 2 more after this weekend and possibly even a 3rd in the Central or northern part of the state. It all depends on the weather. Some rain and wind could really move things along fast. As much as I enjoy ice out fishing – I’m all for a earlier spring this year.
I predict the rare and coveted t-shirt wearing ice fishing afternoons this weekend. So bummed I wont be out there!
I predict the rare and coveted t-shirt wearing ice fishing afternoons this weekend. So bummed I wont be out there!
Its going to be nice where I’m heading in the morning – not T-shirt nice – Unless you are way more man tan me. About 31 Deg. with a 10-15 MPH wind. It does show a daytime high of around 42 Deg’s – I’ll take it
I’m new to late ice, so take my assessments with a grain of salt. I was going to try to fish the metro area a little after work today. I tried a small (100 acre) lake within 2 miles from the house and the ice was pulling away from shore around most of the perimeter so a plank couldn’t even reach.
I figured bigger might be better so I checked out Nokomis and they had a lot of the shore barricaded off with signs and such saying danger unsafe ice and whatnot.
I checked out one more small lake nearby and similar to the first.
None of the 3 lakes had people on them. All 3 were pretty cloudy looking on the surface and did not seem to have any snow base sans some frozen looking mounds on Nokomis. So with all that said, and decent lakes in the area? If not, how far out are people thinking they’d have to go Sunday to find solid ice for walking?
the ice in southern MN will be toast in the next 10 days. 60 degrees on sunday with wind tomorrow and rain coming following the weekend…..Can’t wait to get the boat out! Just hoping we have a somewhat normal spring this year. best fishing on the river is just weeks out
smart ass remark coming,hide those who are easily offended.
the ice isnt looking real good in my glass of 100 proof right now,pretty sure it wont survive the weekend,or the next twenty minutes as far as that goes,,,,,,,again.
carry on.
edit to add,all ice around my area is gone as of noon today even though there were flocks of geese standing on ice this morning when I went to work at 6:30
There was a single truck parked on the north end of Medicine Lake this morning near French Park. I would guess he drove out from the west beach park access. The north access gets pretty soft this time of year due to the sun, and Harty’s access on the SE corner is gated off. I drove by the that end this morning and the ice was tight to shore.
I don’t think I will seeing any more vehicles out there after today.
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