The area lakes that I have checked have anywhere from 0″- 6″ of ice on them. I have been scouting quite a few small, low-lying lakes and am still seeing 4″-5″ of ice with varying quality. As most know, extreme caution should be used when checking lakes under these conditions. I wear a life jacket, ice pics, and I check thickness often with an ice chisel. My best advice here is this; don’t travel to a lake and venture out unless you are willing to turn back when ice conditions are marginal.
As of Wednesday night, 3″-4″ of snow has fallen and it is fairly wet and heavy, this does not help the shallow lakes in the short-term but a few cold nights should negate the effects of this mess (I hope). On a side note, most of Leech Lake proper and Walker bay was still open but is now icing over again!
Scouting these small lakes is very interesting to me, as no two are really alike. Many are not worth returning to at all. Some are dominated by small Bluegills while others are over-run with small Crappies. Still other lakes have just enough variation in size structure to warrant a return.
This afternoon I checked a lake that I haven’t been to in a couple of years. The Crappies were stacked up pretty thick, though they were mostly on the small side. I didn’t have to venture too far, released many, and kept 3 for my dinner. All-in-all, it was worth the trip. I’ll be checking every possible safe and fishy area in the next week until Leech locks up.
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