I know the weeds are still healthy because of thin ice and no snow- Nice that ATVS & cars are not messing things up. Seems like whenever I can drive to a spot the bite is very slow-is that because of the time of year, noise or both? Anyway have not fished in a month and am getting a bit stir crazy here.
I would say so as you can’t fish most main lakes……….
going north on Friday, taking a few ice rods/tackle and open water rods/tackle. I understand the stir crazy feeling….
Here in N. WI, I’ve always considered early ice up to and not very often past New Year’s Day. By then we’d get that first brutally cold blast that seemed to signal that early ice was finished. We also always have had really pretty good fishing in early ice locations until then as well and it always seemed like walleyes and panfish make a solid push into their basin and offshore structural patterns after the first.
Mark
Nope, it’s still late open water. 
I’m still claiming early ice. Very little atv use so far, most r walking out. For me, fishing has been fair. Still checking a few spots that I won’t risk, others spots I’m finding 6- 8.
The kid and I killed nice crappies last night locally on 5 inches of ice. Lots of fishable ice around, just as much bad ice. I was down working in Owatonna last few days. I stopped and checked a bunch of spots all the way home. I found fishable ice in most areas.
Now rain is coming, some parts of the state could get an inch of rain!
Think maybe when the shallow weeds die off they many slide deeper-weeds should still be very healthy, I’m fine with no motor traffic out there.
From the StarTribune today
Mild weather, shaky ice are spoiling Minnesota’s early ice fishing season
Anglers are itching for a deep freeze to turn around a season mired in a slow start, with ice production weeks behind schedule in some areas of the state.
By Tony Kennedy Star Tribune DECEMBER 21, 2023 — 5:28AM
RICHARD TSONG-TAATARII, STAR TRIBUNE
Unrelenting warmth has stunted Minnesota’s ice fishing season. In many places, the ice is too thin to support fish houses like this one — occupied in February 2021 on Lake Independence near Maple Plain.
SAVE
For 29 consecutive winters on Lake Mille Lacs, Kevin McQuoid rented fish houses to customers of his lakeside resort near Isle, Minn. Only once during that span were the shacks still parked on dirt by New Year’s Day.
McQuoid sold his business two years ago, but he’s anticipating another holiday dud as Minnesota’s ice fishing season remains mired in a slow start. Unseasonably warm temperatures as far north as Angle Inlet on Lake of the Woods have disrupted the “early ice” period that anglers cherish as the best time to catch fish through holes in the ice.
“The week between Christmas and New Year’s was always our biggest week of the year, by far,” McQuoid said. “I’m looking at the forecast and there’s definitely going to be some disappointment.”
Even with rain and 50-degree days in store for this weekend in the Twin Cities, the ice fishing season isn’t an all-out bust. On the southern bays of Mille Lacs, for instance, ice fishing has been in good shape for more than a week.
But without exception from Lake Pepin in the southeast to Rainy Lake in International Falls, ice production is weeks behind schedule. Worse yet, there’s no immediate hope for the type of deep freeze needed to make ice that’s thick enough to support plows, long ice roads and the full spectrum of ice fishing equipment.
“A lot of people are forced to stick to ponds, bays and smaller lakes,” said Andy Petterson, founder of Ice Fishing Minnesota, a Facebook group that recently surpassed 100,000 members.
He said preseason excitement has given way to widespread frustration. “On our pages you can definitely tell that people are tired of talking about ice fishing,” Petterson said. “They just want to get out on the ice.”
Petterson himself has fished on lakes this month that were strong enough to support foot traffic one day, only to have the surface fall apart a day or two later. High winds, in particular, have been wreaking havoc. On Upper Red Lake on Sunday night, for instance, emergency responders battled gusty conditions in the darkness to rescue 35 anglers from an ice sheet that broke away and drifted 200 feet into open water.
Less than 48 hours later, a pair of hopeful ice anglers landed a small Cessna airplane on Upper Red, submerging the front end in a wreck they walked away from. According to the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Department, there was only a couple of inches of ice where the plane broke through a half-mile out from shore.
“People are probably being a little riskier,” Petterson said. “They’re getting the itch so bad.”
Dave Peterson, an outdoors radio show host in International Falls, said he’s usually driving onto the ice by now, towing a portable shelter with his four-wheeler or his snowmobile. But it wasn’t until a couple of days ago when he finally found a workable fishing spot with 9 inches of ice.
“Early ice is the best fishing we have, but we’re three weeks behind schedule,” said Peterson, known locally as Fishmeister. “I’ll be pretty careful where I’m going out.”
He and other experts provide the same safety tips year after year: Use a spud bar to test early ice for thickness, keep a pair of ice picks handy to escape the water in the event of a collapse, and follow the advice of local outfitters and resorts when it comes to mapping fishing zones and danger spots. More specific to this season — because of the lack of snow — anglers are being urged to wear ice cleats to prevent falls.
Joe Henry, an all-seasons fishing expert on Lake of the Woods, said this year’s emphasis on safety is as important as ever. Ice fishing for walleyes and saugers has taken off on the big lake, including the placement of rentable fish houses, but he strongly recommended that everyone follow localized guidelines for what vehicles to travel in and where to fish.
“Whatever the rules are, don’t deviate,” Henry said. “If you follow the rules you’re going to be just fine.”
Thus far on Lake of the Woods, fishing is happening closer to shore than is the norm. Farther out, some sections of ice have taken a beating from high wind, said Jeff Andersen, the fishing pro at Sportsman’s Lodge and Border View Lodge.
But Andersen said 33 full-sized sleeper houses were in place on the ice this week near the resort properties. Still, he also is cautioning Lake of the Woods anglers who venture out on their own to beware of changes in ice thickness.
Because Lake of the Woods is so vast and deep, Christmas sometimes comes and goes on the lake before the ice grows thick enough for full-on road building and fish house placement, Andersen said. He’s still hopeful for a season that will stretch into March. He said January bookings are very busy and February is filling in.
“Fishing is really, really good now,” he said.
In Lake City, 380 miles south of Baudette, Nick Schlesser is a large lake specialist for the Department of Natural Resources. He is used to seeing ice anglers on Lake Pepin by the first week in December. This year, conditions were favorable for an early start because both units at the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant are offline. When the plant is running, warm-water discharges delay the production of ice.
But as of Wednesday of this week, Schlesser said, the thickest ice on Lake Pepin was probably less than 2 inches thick — not enough to safely cross on foot.
“We’ve had skim ice form, but then get ripped apart by the wind,” he said. “It’s not looking good … 50-degree weather in December does not make ice.”
The Boat Show is in less than a month!
The Boat Show is in less than a month!
You’re a half full kind of guy!
I’m pretty happy the traffic on lakes is dead. No wheel houses, no truck, NO TRASH. The spot wr fished yesterday is typically a popular spot. We drilled the only holes that I could see for a long ways. I love it.
Yes its a so nice without trucks and big houses running around.
Yes its a so nice without trucks and big houses running around.
I’ve been going out for 3 weeks now and walking out has been more than worth it. Usually I’ll get a week of walking before ATV’s and permanent houses show up. No doubt, this mild weather holding pattern has definitely kept a lot of fisherman off the ice. I hope it goes well into 2024.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Charles wrote:</div>
Yes its a so nice without trucks and big houses running around.I’ve been going out for 3 weeks now and walking out has been more than worth it. Usually I’ll get a week of walking before ATV’s and permanent houses show up. No doubt, this mild weather holding pattern has definitely kept a lot of fisherman off the ice. I hope it goes well into 2024.
I was thinking the same
For my area, I’d call this EARLY EARLY ice. Right now it would be tough to find more than 3 ” of ice in this area. Still open water on some lakes.
Last year was tough for the drivers too. Lot’s of slosh on many lakes across a pretty wide path of MN and WI.
I’m with Mark Benson, I think of early ice as anytime up to New Years. I always have success in front of the cabin on tipups up until New Years. Rest of year I could leave my tipups out from Friday until Sunday and can’t buy a flag.
I’m good with the 50’s until about mid April and then we can warm up.
I’m good with the 50’s until about mid April and then we can warm up.
I agree.
Man dies after falling through ice on Big Toad Lake in northwestern Minnesota
Authorities in Becker County found the man in water with his ATV upside-down.
A man reported missing hours after leaving home to fish on Becker County’s Big Toad Lake was found drowned early Saturday.
The Becker County Sheriff’s Office received a report at 2:05 a.m. that the man had not returned home from a fishing trip, according to a press release from the agency. Deputies and emergency workers responded with an air boat and flotation gear, finding the man in four to five feet of water with his ATV upside down at 3:22 a.m.
He was brought to an ambulance where he was declared dead. His name will be released after family members are notified.
According to the sheriff’s report, the man’s wife said that he left home on his ATV to go to his fish house on Big Toad Lake on the afternoon of December 22. He didn’t come home after several hours, and did not answer his wife’s phone calls or messages. She called his brother to help find him, and he found a crack in the ice with open water.
“Please use caution when venturing out on the ice,” the Becker County Sheriff’s Office Facebook post which shared the news read. “No ice is safe!”
Big Toad Lake is 18 miles east of Detroit Lakes.
If we have 3″ of ice in Feb. is it still early ice?
You can push it a bit on foot but much harder when you are on a vehicle. Had a very good friend loose a brother to a ATV accident on the ice-be careful.
based on what i heard today its not safe most everywhere…..CO fairbanks out of deer river got 3 calls today of houses going down!!!!
That warm rain put the hurt bag on most places with less than 7 inches of ice I would think.
One went in on Osakis now too
Early ice just went back to boating.
I took my boat out in north metro yesterday
Can we call it first ice and second ice ?
This is absolutely crazy.
South Central MN looks like it should in early spring, spots in the grass are turning green and the lakes have very small if any areas of visible ice. I’m still of the mind set that this is better than the crappy ice we had, with any new rain/snow fall it will not slow the process. Hoping for some sold cold weather in the near future.
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