Ice Out 2021, What Say You?

Ice went off on April 26th last year. I am predicting April 21st this year.

April 24

April 6th

April 25

April 19

Having drove past it today… I’m going to say April 4th. It’s pulled away from shore and awfully dark!

Median ice out is Apr 25th but I think it will be early this year. There’s a few 60s in the 10-day.

I’ll go with 4/13.

My birthday. 4/12.
DT

I’ll go with April 10th. Looking at the Web Cams, it sure is looking dark & the 10 day forecast has a couple days pushing 70.

rjthehunter wrote:

Having drove past it today… I’m going to say April 4th. It’s pulled away from shore and awfully dark!

So much for the 2021 year class fish if ice out is early!!

Bowhuntr wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>rjthehunter wrote:</div>
Having drove past it today… I’m going to say April 4th. It’s pulled away from shore and awfully dark!

So much for the 2021 year class fish if ice out is early!!

I’ve never heard the correlation between early Ice out and poor walleye year classes, can you expand why this is?

There are a lot of warm and windy days in the forecast.

I think it’ll go on April 4th

April 15. The ice is getting dark. It has been a pretty warm March.

lunker33 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bowhuntr wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>rjthehunter wrote:</div>
Having drove past it today… I’m going to say April 4th. It’s pulled away from shore and awfully dark!

So much for the 2021 year class fish if ice out is early!!

I’ve never heard the correlation between early Ice out and poor walleye year classes, can you expand why this is?

Early ice out makes for a better pre spawn spearing season.

lunker33 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bowhuntr wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>rjthehunter wrote:</div>
Having drove past it today… I’m going to say April 4th. It’s pulled away from shore and awfully dark!

So much for the 2021 year class fish if ice out is early!!

I’ve never heard the correlation between early Ice out and poor walleye year classes, can you expand why this is?

Similar correlation would be….by expanding the deer season by several weeks would that reduce the deer heard? What happens on that lake between ice out and opening weekend of fishing?

lunker33 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bowhuntr wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>rjthehunter wrote:</div>
Having drove past it today… I’m going to say April 4th. It’s pulled away from shore and awfully dark!

So much for the 2021 year class fish if ice out is early!!

I’ve never heard the correlation between early Ice out and poor walleye year classes, can you expand why this is?

It seems there have been strong year classes of walleye on years when the ice came out late. The best class of walleyes in recent times was 2013. In 2013 Ice Out was May 16.

Oh, and as it turns out, it is pretty difficult to deploy gill nets when the lake is covered with ice, and netting ends with the walleye opener.

10-4, message received and makes a lot of sense! I was wondering if I missed the biological memo while receiving my Biology undergrad.

yep, there will be plenty of time to fill the nets

I’ll take April 10th.

-J.

ptc wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>lunker33 wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bowhuntr wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>rjthehunter wrote:</div>
Having drove past it today… I’m going to say April 4th. It’s pulled away from shore and awfully dark!

So much for the 2021 year class fish if ice out is early!!

I’ve never heard the correlation between early Ice out and poor walleye year classes, can you expand why this is?

It seems there have been strong year classes of <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye on years when the ice came out late. The best class of walleyes in recent times was 2013. In 2013 Ice Out was May 16.

Oh, and as it turns out, it is pretty difficult to deploy gill nets when the lake is covered with ice, and netting ends with the <em class=”ido-tag-em”>walleye opener.

It really has nothing to do with nets. It has to do with more consistent warming water with late ice outs. Early ice outs can have wild swings in water temps due to cold fronts still coming through leading to worse recruitment.

Justin riegel wrote:

It really has nothing to do with nets. It has to do with more consistent warming water with late ice outs. Early ice outs can have wild swings in water temps due to cold fronts still coming through leading to worse recruitment.

2X Steady warming water temps are better for egg development and fry survival.
Much more likely to happen with late ice outs.

The sheet is moving!

Attachments:

1. 

   8683B0A9-517B-4B05-ABB1-39708F7092DF.png
   

Joe Jarl wrote:

The sheet is moving!

It sure is. Some is headed towards my house. But it looks like the wind is switching.

Attachments:

1. 

   lake_20210331140324_Snapshot.jpg
   

ptc where are you located on ML? We are on the absolute north end and I started getting a little worried on Monday when the wind was 20 mph straight out of the south. Had to talk to some neighbors to ensure that we didn’t have a new bobsled run in our yard.

deertracker wrote:

My birthday. 4/12.
DT

My birthday too. I will say the 11th as that was my Grandmother’s bday.

I am 1/2 way up the east side.

ice was in my bay, out of my bay, and back in the bay this morning. hopefully we don’t get any heavy winds, it would be bad for the wrong side of the lake…

Today is the day!

From the Mille Lacs Messenger:

http://www.messagemedia.co/millelacs/news/april-7-official-ice-out-for-mille-lacs-2021/article_366c01be-97b4-11eb-8544-53985f6c5939.html

April 7 official ice out for Mille Lacs 2021!

by Erik Jacobson

It’s official! The Mille Lacs Messenger calls ice out on Mille Lacs Lake today, April 7. It’s about two weeks earlier than average. We did have a milder winter than usual, and with the late “ice in” date of December 16, it made for a shorter ice season overall. Earlier in the week the only extensive open water was in the bays and the southwest corner. The sun and warm temperatures over Easter weekend really helped to rot and honeycomb the ice out there. Then on Monday night, the northwest wind came and blew the sheet to the south end.

This was the first significant shift of the main sheet. That is a tell tale sign that it’s not going to be long. At that point, the sheet was basically a floating raft of slush just waiting for a wind to blow it off. Tuesday night brought more rain and a steady east/northeast wind. That was enough to clear the lake. As of Wednesday morning, the only ice left were some remnants on the west side and southwest corner. And with that, a boat could clearly make it from Garrison to Isle without encountering any major ice floes. That is the method that has been used for years to call ice out. Satellite imagery is another great tool, but this morning, it was too cloudy to get a good look.

Mille Lacs guru Steve Fellegy has been part of calling ice out on the lake for decades. He messaged the Messenger early Wednesday morning and said, “If it was me, I would make April 7, 2021 the official lake Mille Lacs ice out date. Ninety-five percent is ice free, with a few stretches of slush less than a quarter mile from shore and slush ice on the southwest side.”

From the looks of the lake, he is spot on. And with that, another benchmark of the spring season has passed with the official opening of the big lake. With the earlier than average ice out, hopefully it will lead to a nice long open water season for all to enjoy.

Feathers wrote:

April 7th

And the winner…

Where’s Andy/walleyestudent? Thought he would be chiming in here, although come to think of it I don’t think I’ve seen him post anything in quite some time…

Holy cow was my April 24 guess WAY off