Seems this year is going to be straight from not enough ice to hold a vehicle to too much snow to drive on.
The lake near me had about 4.5″ of good clear ice before the warm stretch followed by a foot of snow. Now 1-4″ tonight and possibly another foot at the end of the week. I guess this year if you want to fish a tracked vehicle is not optional… 
We were without power for ~25 hours in this last storm. Old man winter showed up with a big ‘ol middle finger this year!
Yep it sucks. Even last year took an ice fishing trip up to Bowstring and it was difficult to enjoy because of the snow depth on the lake. This upcoming blizzard won’t help.
The extreme cold should make some ice even with all the snow cover. I honestly haven’t been out anywhere near the metro so I don’t even know what we had before we got the snow.
this blows no doubt but i walk out on 80% of my lakes not by choice but location. i am wondering if my smitty is built high enough now….ughhhh
this blows no doubt but i walk out on 80% of my lakes not by choice but location. i am wondering if my smitty is built high enough now….ughhhh
Throw some snow shoes on and it’s not so bad… but pulling a sled through it? Ugh…. 
Last year we did a four-day or so trip. First two days on Red Lake and the last two on a small lake in Aitken County. Red was fine. We drove out.
Well, the small lake in Aitken County had about 2′ of snow on it … wind never blew it off that lake. Beneath the 2′ of snow was about 3″ of slush.
If you drilled holes in the ice … the 3″ of slush quickly became 8″ of slush. It was not geysers or anything like that, but the pressure on the ice had to be crazy high.
If you fished in one spot too long you could not move about without slush and water moving up to the top of a normal winter boot. Knee high rubber boots were not packed.
this blows no doubt but i walk out on 80% of my lakes not by choice but location. i am wondering if my smitty is built high enough now….ughhhh
I built 2 of them think i had 2x8s . Have not been out yet , but i here we have 4 plus inches of slush under a ft of snow . That will not be fun !
Yup going to be a fun winter for fishing lol.
This cold weather is helping out a lot. The lake I was on last night in north central MN had a good portion of the slush already frozen. There was still a little bit of water in my snowmobile tracks but not the couple inches of water like Friday/Saturday.
Talked to a guy who said heavy snow has brought down trees and blocked trails in northern MN-one more problem.
Checking the landings around here and none have been plowed, most were plowed shut, I wonder if the county had it done that way to keep people off the lakes until it gets thicker ice.
Back on the lake tonight. Slush was almost completely frozen up with these temps.
Can also verify heavy snow and ice on the trees in North Central part of the state. We lost power for a while last weekend due to branches taking out power lines
Back on the lake tonight. Slush was almost completely frozen up with these temps.
Can also verify heavy snow and ice on the trees in North Central part of the state. We lost power for a while last weekend due to branches taking out power lines
How much snow and how much solid ice under the refrozen slush? Any water coming up when you drilled?
We had 10-12 inches of good ice before the 24+ of heavy snow. I am concerned that even if the slush freezes the water will come up the holes as soon as you drill due to the weight making a new slush pool. I hope that’s not the case. I won’t be out till the day after Christmas or New Years.
On Monday when I was walking around pheasant hunting in central MN, the previous layer of snow that partially melted due to rain was slush under the fresh snow. Every time I stepped, I went through the powder and down into slush. The snow on top was preventing that slush from freezing. Can’t imagine a new layer of snow above it will help.
Granted, I was not on a lake. I was on solid ground hunting, but I encountered this slush everywhere I went.
Lots of snow blew off the lake so not the same as a field. Also not not things hold heat on a lake like field.
West of the metro no snow blew off any lakes,the slush in places was fairly deep and unfrozen as of Sunday.Not sure if any of that has changed much with the 4 inches of fresh snow added on top the other day.The wind coming may actually help blow some snow away but as of yet that hasnt happened and we are going to add 6-8more inches of snow.Lots of frozen ruts from 4 wheelers make for a tough walk near the landings,if truck driving ice is ever acheived this winter watch out there are going to be some rough landings.It will be interesting to see what happens to the lakes after this next storm.
How much snow and how much solid ice under the refrozen slush? Any water coming up when you drilled?
We had 10-12 inches of good ice before the 24+ of heavy snow. I am concerned that even if the slush freezes the water will come up the holes as soon as you drill due to the weight making a new slush pool. I hope that’s not the case. I won’t be out till the day after Christmas or New Years.
We had about a foot of snow last week and then another 2 inches or so Monday. I didn’t have any water coming up once I drilled. You can definitely tell where the slush layer was drilling holes but all seemed good for now.
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