Statewide Ice Conditions and Recommendations

The last year or so ive been working on building a better relationship with my brother. Growing up he was never much into the outdoors but recently hes really taking a liking to camping and also this year ice camping in a pop up. We have plans to camp out on the ice Saturday the 21st. Hes never caught a walleye before so id like to be able to put him on a walleye bite. I have some spots on tonka however the slush is so terrible there that i really am hesitant to try and camp out. Looking at the weather forecast im not sure it will improve much in a weeks time either. Im wondering what areas have less slush that could produce a good walleye bite. Not really looking to drive as far as Red or LOTW, maybe keep it to maximum 2-2.5 hours from the metro. Im thinking Mille Lacs maybe. Been reading reports and it seems they have some slush and a lot of snow drifts but there is less standing water than in the cities. I have an ATV for travel but no tire chains.

Just wondering if folks can share some ice conditions and add to my list of places of consideration.

Its hard to beat Mille Lacs as a option. Two others that I have been hearing of a decent Walleye bite on are Fish Trap lake and Lake Alexander in the Cushing/Motley area. I hear that the ice travel on both of them seems to be OK as of last weekend. A few lakes close to your home and better walleye fishing than Tonka ( In my opinion ) would be Waconia ( But may have lots of Party houses ) or lake Independence. I have a buddy that lives in your area and I know he does well on Independence in the winter months. If you want a few side trip while at Independence check out Half Moon Lake right next to independence. I use to do real well on some nice sunfish and Monster Crappies out there. Its been many years since I last fished it so not sure if its still good or not. There use to be a road that lead to a group campsite next to it. At the end of the road you could park and walk down to it. Rather small lake. I use to fish not far from the Dock on the lake.

fishthumper wrote:

Cushing/Motley area

I’ve heard it’s pretty slushy around there too. I’d do some calling out by Alexandria maybe? Lots of good lakes to choose from, Minnewaska and Osakis usually have plenty of roads and room to roam off on your own.

Half Moon is VERY boom & bust, I used to fish that one too Thump.

Alexandria all day long, plenty of driveabke ice, less snow and crowds, Mary, Reno, Miltona etc..

I would go hit Mille Lacs or any of those lakes on the northwest side of the lake. I have not been to that part of the state since the snow dumping so I am not up to date on lake conditions. Conditions in Ely were very good last weekend except for some slush pockets which had mostly frozen over. Caught a load of walleye also.

From the Outdoor News report

SAUK CENTRE AREA

Sunfish are going on the north end of Lake Osakis in 18 to 21 feet, east and west ends of Maple Lake in 9 to 13 feet, north end of Fairy Lake in 12 to 23 feet, and Lily Lake in 25 feet. You’ll find crappies on the north end of Sauk over 30 to 40 feet and Latimer Lake in 12 feet. Sauk is giving up a few walleyes in 16 to 21 feet during low-light periods. Get away from the crowds. The midlake humps, 18 to 21 feet, on Osakis are also kicking out walleyes. Lake conditions are good; there’s no slush and manageable snow. Trucks are being used, and roads are plowed on many lakes.

Fletcher’s Bait Shop (320) 352-2155

buddah6 wrote:

Alexandria all day long, plenty of driveabke ice, less snow and crowds, Mary, Reno, Miltona etc..

Hey @buddah6 have you been a little further north to ottertail county or the lakes around ottertail at all? I am headed up that way at the end of the week, and just curious about ice conditions and how much snow/slush is on the lakes.

Jerod Redenius wrote:

have you been a little further north to ottertail county or the lakes around ottertail at all? I am headed up that way at the end of the week, and just curious about ice conditions and how much snow/slush is on the lakes.

If I’m not mistaken, I think a snowmobile and an ATV went through the ice on Ottertail recently.

gim wrote:

If I’m not mistaken, I think a snowmobile and an ATV went through the ice on Ottertail recently.

Your are correct and a guy died

It was also at the mouth of the river

Was up in Ottertail county last weekend…plenty of ice…some hard drifts on bigger lakes with slush…got stuck a couple times going off trail…

I have been fishing Long lake just north of Fergus Falls. It had 17” of ice and snow was minimal except a long the south shore. Someone plowed out the access and I asked my dad to open it back up after yesterdays wind drifted it in again.
The bite has been slow for some reason. Lots of walleyes coming through but only able to coax a few to bite a day.

Drove onto Jewett and that was in very good shape to be able drive on.

Haven’t been on Otter tail but the report I heard was it was in great shape to get around on.

The guy that went through was over by the inlet in the NE corner of the lake. It was a foggy night and visibility was a factor in not being able to see where they were.

Michael Best wrote:

I have been fishing Long lake just north of Fergus Falls. It had 17” of ice and snow was minimal except a long the south shore. Someone plowed out the access and I asked my dad to open it back up after yesterdays wind drifted it in again.
The bite has been slow for some reason. Lots of <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleyes coming through but only able to coax a few to bite a day.

Drove onto Jewett and that was in very good shape to be able drive on.

Haven’t been on Otter tail but the report I heard was it was in great shape to get around on.

The guy that went through was over by the inlet in the NE corner of the lake. It was a foggy night and visibility was a factor in not being able to see where they were.

I also heard OT was easy travel…after getting stuck a couple times Sunday we found that to not be true…bring shovels and stay on paths would be my advice if on OT…

I have yet to drive on the ice, but I have not ventured north after the ice reached the right thickness either. The metro – nope not me. I suspect that lots of the drifts right now are pretty hard pack … this ain’t light snow powder drifts … these drifts can “support” the weight of most trucks and thus hang up a vehicle pretty quickly if you lose tire to ground.

Cars (& yes trucks) are built for roads and roads are built for cars I would not likely throw my vehicle into the mess that is probably 80% of the lakes out there. Other ‘snow’ vehicles will have problems too-ice is thinner than usual, snow is thick and irregular, lots of slush, not good. We need a big thaw followed by some sub zero temps.

tim hurley wrote:

Cars (& yes trucks) are built for roads and roads are built for cars I would not likely throw my vehicle into the mess that is probably 80% of the lakes out there. Other ‘snow’ vehicles will have problems too-ice is thinner than usual, snow is thick and irregular, lots of slush, not good. We need a big thaw followed by some sub zero temps.

I buy my vehicles to use them. My truck was solely bought to pull my fishing and hunting stuff around the world. It has seen many many Miles of off road. Just always have to be cautious no matter on the ice or deep off road. The world is better where the road runs out

tim hurley wrote:

Cars (& yes trucks) are built for roads and roads are built for cars I would not likely throw my vehicle into the mess that is probably 80% of the lakes out there. Other ‘snow’ vehicles will have problems too-ice is thinner than usual, snow is thick and irregular, lots of slush, not good. We need a big thaw followed by some sub zero temps.

It’s mid Jan. Doubt that is going to happen. If you are waiting for that may as well wait till next year. Get out however you can and enjoy the lakes not being super populated with people right now. JMO

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tim hurley wrote:</div>
Cars (& yes trucks) are built for roads and roads are built for cars I would not likely throw my vehicle into the mess that is probably 80% of the lakes out there. Other ‘snow’ vehicles will have problems too-ice is thinner than usual, snow is thick and irregular, lots of slush, not good. We need a big thaw followed by some sub zero temps.

I buy my vehicles to use them. My truck was solely bought to pull my fishing and hunting stuff around the world. It has seen many many Miles of off road. Just always have to be cautious no matter on the ice or deep off road. The world is better where the road runs out

Amen. Trucks are made to go off road and see some use and abuse. Too many people treat them like a fancy suv. It’s kinda like the lab that gets bought by a family to be a house dog and never gets to do what it was bred to do. I feel bad for hunting dogs that don’t get hunted and trucks that don’t get to do their thing and see some mud, slush and snow. Let her buck!

As for the ice travel in northern MN it’s tough and mostly walking or snowmobile. These are the winters I’m glad I have a snowmobile. Lakes that typically get plowed are not because it would beat the hell out of a plow rig with all the frozen slush. Going off road will get you stuck in a hurry. It sucks but it’s great for the fisheries to give them a break. Most people are lazy so the lakes are a ghost town.

FinnyDinDin wrote:

It’s kinda like the lab that gets bought by a family to be a house dog and never gets to do what it was bred to do. I feel bad for hunting dogs that don’t get hunted

I would say that the vast majority of labradors (or other hunting breeds for that matter) are not specifically used as a hunting dog. There’s nothing wrong with having a lab and not being a hunter. They are generally calm, well behaved, mild-mannered dogs and make fantastic pets, whether they are hunted or not. A lot labs are also service dogs because of their disposition and trainability. What a waste huh?

I have a british lab and I use her for hunting, but that takes up a very small fraction of the total time she is here. 95% of her life is being a member of the family, not a hunter. God forbid people should have a dog and not use it for hunting. The horror!

Gimruis I’m getting you a jump to conclusions mat for Christmas next year, sorry to ruin the surprise. He didn’t say anything about service dogs, or the horror of being solely house dogs, just that he felt bad for hunting dogs that don’t hunt. Your reply is pretty over the top bud.

Anyone have an ice report for Clearwater?

Here is what I am thinking …

1) generally the ice situation is pretty bad across much if not most of Minnesota and Western Wisconsin
2) exception is mostly larger lakes where resorts generate income by having plowed roads. Even many of them continue to struggle, but the plowed roads are building enough safe ice to generate some level of positive income. Many are limiting travel to smaller vehicles or seasonal pass customers only
3) the outlying lakes with decent ice … people are not sharing on a forum because even local word of mouth will result in these lakes being overrun by desperate ice fisherman.

I have resigned myself to ice fishing less and when I go … it will be a grind. A coworker (much younger than me) has been out quite a bit, but admits he is often standing in slush or even water, etc… I told him he should build a Smitty Sled.

Your number 3 is right on the money, and I hope it continues to do so. But I’m sure these lakes will be over run with castles once facebook gets wind of it.

Looks like the right place to put this. Guess a big crack opened up out from Adrian’s on LOTW’s today!!

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glenn57 wrote:

Looks like the right place to put this. Guess a big crack opened up out from Adrian’s on LOTW’s today!!

isnt Adrians under brand new ownership this year? not a good start to their tenure if this happened right on their road. i mean maybe not something they can control but i havent heard of trucks going through right on a resort road before

Crack opened on Swift Ditch too. Its not just Adrians. This sort of thing happens almost every year on LOW typically vehicles dont go in however. Unfortunately one sank yesterday on Adrians but another was retrieved.

Yeah we were in a Arnesen’s sleeper this weekend, and the ice was moving like I’d never experienced out there overnight Saturday. They even had someone out bird dogging for the track vans on the way back in, also something I hadn’t seen before up there. Had about 20″ under us, used to it being 3 ft when we are up in January.

Yeah its certainly not making much ice the last few weeks. Supposed to get cold later this week so that should change.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Supposed to get cold later this week so that should change.

Even with a cold front, I’m not sure much more ice is going to be made. There’s like 3 feet of snow on top insulating it. Might help with the slush situation though.

gim wrote:

Even with a cold front, I’m not sure much more ice is going to be made. There’s like 3 feet of snow on top insulating it. Might help with the slush situation though.

There is a lot less snow on the ice than I expected. Was up in Longville two weekends ago and you could drive anywhere with a truck. The wind really blew it off the lakes up North.