I fished from my boat below the dam in Guttenberg on Saturday 12/23. When I headed home from there up Hwy 52 to Minnesota, I looked over to Bussey Lake to see if anyone actually walked out on the ice. I was surprised to see two portables set up on the east side. I pulled over on the overlook to be sure I was seeing them. I do not know what the ice was like, since I didn’t check firsthand.
Today (Monday, Christmas Day), I drove over to Lawrence Lake by Brownsville, MN, to see what was happening there. I saw one portable and a guy walking across the ice over on the eat side of the “channel” that runs through there.
I talked to people who were still sneaking out in the Houston County area, but the warm weather made me keep my ice gear in Iowa City. I do not trust ice that has been through as many warm days as southern Minnesota ice has, no matter if it is 6″ thick.
Yes, this is the Wisconsin ice forum, but I wanted to put these reports in one place, even though one is, strictly speaking, from Iowa, and the other from Minnesota. Both Mississippi backwaters are just a mile from Wiscosnin, so I put them together here.
Go Vikings (next year), Twins, and Gophers! 