Twin Cities Ice?

  • Mus
    Posts: 5
    December 20, 2011 at 8:49 pm #1303180

    Is there any decent ice near the cities? Last January I bought a $9 rod and got a $10 hand auger off craigslist. By the end of the season I had a pop-up, sled, heater. tip-up, and so on. Now I have my first flasher (LX-5) still sitting in it’s box under the tree on December 20th and I’m going batty staring at the open water in the metro lakes! Can anyone direct me to ice somewhere close to catch a fish with my overpowered 80’s video game? It doesn’t have to be your secret hot spot – just somewhere I can catch something and not die from falling through the ice.

    Mike W
    MN/Anoka/Ham lake
    Posts: 13294
    December 20, 2011 at 8:52 pm #1019669

    What part of the cities are you located in. ham lake on the north side has had people out fishing it.

    Grouse_Dog
    The Shores of Lake Harriet
    Posts: 2043
    December 20, 2011 at 8:57 pm #1019670

    No ice – or skim ice.

    Minneapolis Metro

    tgruenke
    IGH, MN/Holcombe, WI
    Posts: 587
    December 20, 2011 at 9:02 pm #1019671

    I had 4 inches in a lake in Inver Grove. A few more nights of cold would be good though.

    suzuki
    Woodbury, Mn
    Posts: 18615
    December 20, 2011 at 9:08 pm #1019663

    There’s a lot of ice around for the experienced ice anglers. Novices should either wait or follow the crowds closely.

    Mus
    Posts: 5
    December 21, 2011 at 12:56 am #1019750

    I am located in south minneapolis. The only place I am familiar with that had decent ice (5-6″, but that was before Sunday happened) is Waconia, but that is a bit of a drive. It would likely have plenty of people to follow though. I’m not free until Friday, so I was hoping the cold might open up some options.

    go-fish
    Mn.se metro
    Posts: 119
    December 21, 2011 at 1:49 am #1019762

    Was on Nakomis today,5″ of ice on the north side, 1 1/2″ on the south east side, was slow with a bunch of small crappies in 12′ of water,was a great day to be on the ice tho.

    Mus
    Posts: 5
    December 21, 2011 at 2:31 am #1019784

    I checked the north side of Nokomis by the smaller parking lot on Saturday and there was at best 2″ – I didn’t even want to walk on it to test any further. There was also still open water in the middle of the southern half. By Sunday there was more open water in the middle, and all along the bridge.

    How quickly does ice repair with freexing temps – i.e. should the next few days of 18-23 degree nights make it relatively safe to wander out a bit into the 14′ water?

    ozzyky
    On water
    Posts: 817
    December 21, 2011 at 1:20 pm #1019859

    Fish the open water. I’ve been having great success fishing one of my ice fishing spots with open water tackle. Actually catching bigger fish than I do when it’s froze over.

    Mus
    Posts: 5
    December 21, 2011 at 4:11 pm #1019951

    Well, there is not much land access to the open water, and I’m not quite keen on walking on ice towards open water. I barely came to terms with the concept of driving trucks on 24″ of ice last year.

    Plus that would defeat the whole purpose of testing my new toy!

    matt-p
    White Bear Lake, MN
    Posts: 643
    December 21, 2011 at 9:53 pm #1020119

    Quote:

    Is there any decent ice near the cities? Last January I bought a $9 rod and got a $10 hand auger off craigslist. By the end of the season I had a pop-up, sled, heater. tip-up, and so on. Now I have my first flasher (LX-5) still sitting in it’s box under the tree on December 20th and I’m going batty staring at the open water in the metro lakes! Can anyone direct me to ice somewhere close to catch a fish with my overpowered 80’s video game? It doesn’t have to be your secret hot spot – just somewhere I can catch something and not die from falling through the ice.

    NE metro both White Bear and Bald Eagle have 5-7 inches on them as of yesterday.

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