mille lacs ice conditions 3/26/05

now that spring is here, the ice conditions are changing daily. i was out in cove bay saturday, 3/26/05. there was a few holes of about a 2 foot diameter out in front of my house by the bayview bar. it looks like they were caused by the weeds under the ice attracting the heat of the sun and undermining the ice. the ice around the bullrushes was also getting honeycombed. i was out on the big lake friday, 3/25/05. i was in my pick-up, the ice on the big lake is still at the 30″ mark, it’s the shoreline that is getting bad. with rain and 60deg temps in the forcast, it looks like the ice fishing season on mille lacs is comming to a end. i can’t wait to get out in my new boat. i am going to see if the perch are still in the spots where we have been catching them on the ice. as far as i know, bobber went out on saturday also, maybe he can pipe in and post the conditions he came accross. if you venture out, just be carefull and remember to check with the local bait shops or resorts for the latest conditions…..tom f

The lake has changed in just the past 24 hours….the lake was ok for my trip Saturday but on this Easter Sunday the standing water has started to show up in the bay. My boat harbor was fine, no water on Saturday as I drove my ATV on it going out on the lake, but as of this afternoon it has water standing. It’s amazing how intense the sun is this time of year. I do think we have a few weeks of ice fishing yet….I would suggest the use of ATV’s only. AS Tom said, the shorelines will start to go first. Do check with your bait shop or resort as to the current lake conditions.

i forgot to mention that the creek next to my house started to run. there is still ice on the creek but it is flowing over the top of the ice. the water has pushed the ice down. it started on thursday. every morning it’s frozen and by noon it is flowing good.

I called over Hunter Point Resort today to see about lake access. They said that the ramp was pretty broke up. People are driving out of the public access just north of the resort at their own risk!

I would only recomend Snowmoblie or ATV use at this time on…….I plan to fish again on Wednesday. The lake is starting to show alot of standing water as of today. The sun is taking it’s toll of the conditions…….it’s changing fast. I checked on the creek down by Hunter also tonite, it still has ice out in the mouth of it. Once it opens up…..the Northerns will be running soon!!!I’ll be listening for the frog’s soon. When you are able to here the frog’s in the evening the walleyes will be in the creeks spawning!!!!!!

If you get the rain we are getting in the cities it will eat that ice faster than heck. I noticed the local lakes all changed over the weekend. Definitely wouldn’t catch me on them any longer!! I saw a lot open water on the lakes in the Watertown, SD area as we passed through yesterday.

I stayed on land today…..I’m too old to be out in this weather. I did see a number of trucks and ATV’s out front prior to the rain storm and during! I saw a number of them driving just off shore looking for the access at Hunters. The visibilty was not the best with all the rain and wind we had. I’m not sure how much rain we recieved…..might have been around 1-2 inches or so? The ice is now turning black. I think it will still take a few weeks for it to come off the lake. But this weather change the past week has really changed it around here!

The rain did a number on the west metro lakes also. They really honeycombed!!