I live next to lake nokomis in Minneapolis and went out there on Saturday. It was a mess. 4 inches of ice with 3 inches of slush with 3 inch of snow. Every step you broke threw the first layer. Step in a hole that was glazed over and snowed on top of that.
I stepped in a hole*
Aboxy17 
I was out last Saturday (12/17) on a south metro lake. The slush was almost frozen solid – small guys could walk across it while big guys would bust through the crust. It should be solid by now. Ice thickness was about 5-7 inches.
I walked out from Big Marine Park yesterday. Found 9” to waterline, top 2” was frozen slush with clear ice below. Ankle deep snow made for a slog pulling the Kenai.
There were muskrat holes nearby and I kept seeing large bubbles rising up the holes. Methane, I thought? Nope, no smell. And I had a couple big bumps on my line. Then I saw something swim past the holes a couple times! I thought it was a muskrat. Kept me on my toes in case it wanted to come up for air. It would have been like Whack-a-Mole with a plastic ice scoop!
As for fish, I had a lot of lookers and caught a pike to pickle.
It would have been like Whack-a-Mole with a plastic ice scoop!
Haha. Those muskrats are mean sons of bitches. Your plastic ice scoop isn’t going to do much lol. My old man had one come right in his spear house once years ago. He speared it, hauled it out onto the ice, flung it off, starting walking back to his house, turned around and saw the injured thing coming after him! So he stuck it again with the spear behind the head and put it down for good.
Wow! We gained about 2.5 inches from Sunday to yesterday. We continue to catch good numbers of smaller walleye. Struggled to find bigger fish yesterday. Also had to leave at 4:00 so was not able to fish the evening bite.
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So he stuck it again with the spear behind the head and put it down for good.Haha!
Just saw a jeep patriot whipping shitty’s on crystal by the boat launch. I will wait a while
Brought my nephew for his first time fishing to Cedar in Minneapolis. He doesn’t live far and we had limited time other wise I would have taken him somewhere better! But Cedar, just off the paid parking lot where the fishing dock is, had only 5 inches
Have been amazed by footage of UFOs taken by highly trained military pilots.
Still, not as amazing as someone icing a METRO walleye, nice work Aboxy!
Well I finally got out for the first time to some new lake I have not tried. Ended up catching the biggest metro crappie I have seen! Small plastics worked pretty tightly. If the plastic wasnt perfect they would come up and eye ball it but not eat. Whoever said to pre drill shallow before night helped me out
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Awesome! Good for you!
Nice crappie
Well I finally got out for the first time to some new lake I have not tried. Ended up catching the biggest metro crappie I have seen! Small plastics worked pretty tightly. If the plastic wasnt perfect they would come up and eye ball it but not eat. Whoever said to pre drill shallow before night helped me out
What does predrill shallow the night before mean?
Wouldn’t your holes just freeze over before you got out there?
What does predrill shallow the night before mean?
Wouldn’t your holes just freeze over before you got out there?
Yeah I worded that terribly. What I was trying to say was to drill shallow holes early before sunset to not spook fish out of the shallows by drilling after sunset.
Yeah I worded that terribly. What I was trying to say was to drill shallow holes early before sunset to not spook fish out of the shallows by drilling after sunset.
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That’s a great idea. And also nice crappie. Straight from late season bow to catching crappies
Nice Carter!
That’s a great idea. And also nice crappie. Straight from late season bow to catching <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>crappies
I cant take credit. I saw a few people post about it here. But just trying to keep up! Also caught some 12s but the 13 was wild.
This snow is going to make my walking crappie spot that much more work. Still only 8 inches of ice so no trucks yet. Was only 2 inches of snow on top so was a nice easy stroll.
I am also finding them shallow weeds.
Snow – enough.
I am screaming UNCLE, but mother nature will not listen.
Ugh.
Im liking the snow. Keeps a lot of guys either close to the launch or not out at all.
100 holes a trip, foot of fresh snow doesn’t even slow me down
Much of my comments above are geared towards clearing vehicles, driveway, neighbor’s driveway, mailbox area, and the fire hydrant area.
That said, hoping all this additional snow (weight) does not create another slush situation. We have great rubber boots, but slush still sucks.
I agree with the snow limiting participants, especially trucks on the ice as winter progresses. I think all the truck traffic impacts the fishing as much as the February weather. I built a Smitty sled last year in January when it was extremely cold. I am ready to move over most areas!
I have been pretty successful with about a dozen holes a trip. The crappies and sunnies have been in their traditional areas (at least where I find them this time of year). Bite has been very subtle but they are there!
Kidding about the 100 holes-
BTW, you guys who are getting fish in shallow weeds, don’t you think those fish will be sliding into the basin soon? I would think a lot of those weeds will be dying soon with weak Jan. sun and a thick blanket of snow on the ice.
Kidding about the 100 holes-
BTW, you guys who are getting fish in shallow weeds, don’t you think those fish will be sliding into the basin soon? I would think a lot of those weeds will be dying soon with weak Jan. sun and a thick blanket of snow on the ice.
These fish stay pretty close to weeds in this lake all winter.
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Those are really nice crappies. Well done.
Most of our fish are in the 14′ to 22′ depth range.
22′ is shallow weeds?
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