Superior Ice (Duluth)

http://ais.boatnerd.com/passage/port/soo-locks

Don’t see anything locking through.

Weather actually doesn’t look awful, should be fishable ice into early next week

I think i might brave the wind and get out tomorrow. I know there’s been some warmer temps and rain but I’ve never seen some rain and 40 degree temps wreck a foot of ice in a couple days.

With that I understand this is a different animal than normal inland lakes, but hoping the sheet is now big enough to withstand a little stress.

The biggest issue is all the water on the ice. If it finds a place to go through it usually opens a hole or widens the cracks. Be very cautious where you step.

Then we get to deal with re-freeze which will create layers of ice and water. OH Goodie!!

Yea, I’m packing it in for the season. A short walk revealed that Chester Creek is ripping. Not worth the risk, especially considering the dense fog. Cant tell you’re floating away or breaking up until its too late.

Hopefully this thread has a purpose next season!

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/weather/4584778-lake-superior-iced-over-coast-guard-plans-shipping-breakout

The U.S. Coast Guard will begin Lake Superior ice-breaking operations next week

http://www.duluthharborcam.com/2019/03/the-us-coast-guard-will-begin-lake.html?m=1

Went about 1/2 mile out a little north of Brighton this morning… I wouldn’t recommend venturing out much further than that. With the significant amount of rain we got over the last day and the resulting massive runoff from the tributaries, this is the beginning of the end. The winds in the forecast tomorrow might be enough to send some guys trolling if you are out far enough from shore. The rain is one thing, the hundreds of thousands of gallons of water pumping out from the tributaries is a completely different beast. Not to mention water clarity is going to take a big hit and it will be chocolate milk for a few days.

I disagree gill – I don’t think its going to get anywhere close to cold enough for refreeze.

Now I’m waffling on hanging it up. Its actually pretty cold up here ice looks nice.

The ice was nice, the three of us got 3 Lakers, and 8 herring, and no coho . I didn’t catch a trout my two buddies were lucky enough to in 140ft. Saturday had lots of chasers even had my set line get whacked but I missed it some how with my flouro quick strike rig. The bigger lake trout my buddy caught prob 30″ coughed up a 11″herring thought that was nuts. Then fed it to a seagull that swallowed it hole also nuts. Good time out there for my last trip. Talked to a guy at the hotel was about 5 miles north of us. His first time fishing Lakers landed 5 on Saturday! In 100 ft

Smackem I was fishing fairly close to you guys I think. You were the group with the 3 wheeler right? I heard the commotion about the gull eating the Herring just before you packed up lol.

I was a bit SE of you and caught a small trout right away then very slow the rest of the day. Very few chasers even. I caught the small fish in 115 and spent most of my time in 130 to 143.

The ice was good but started getting small cubes rather than chips when drilling holes in the mid afternoon.

Fished Brighton beach in the morning and Mcquiads in the evening on Saturday. Seemed like a dead sea out there. Had one fish follow at each spot but no hook ups.

Yup that was us

They’re moving at over 11 knots through 16” of ice. Wow!

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Well guys, I’m calling it a year after today.

Finished in style and couldn’t have asked for a better day.

The ice, especially the north east ice is on it’s last leg. By the end of the day it was punky top-to-bottom.

The last straw was watching the swells continue through under the ice…..it was spooky seeing the ice roll under our feet and we got the heck out of there.

We landed a bunch of trout and one guy in the group iced a beautiful Lake Superior King!

Out with a bang

If any of you plan on going out, please use EXTREME caution. I’m a bit of a risk taker (but take precautions) and I’m not going out anymore…..The warm weather, the waves, and the ice breakers are ending the treat of a season in a hurry.

Tommorow is forecasted for 20mph SW winds in the afternoon…..

I expect to see a large amount of ice breaking off to never be seen again I advise not being part of it….

Bring on the open water!

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B-man wrote:

Bring on the open water!

Hoping to wash the boat this weekend. If not, I’ll spend some time polishing some spoons. I think I’m ready.

Awesome meeting you on the ice last weekend B-man!

We stayed close to shore and were able to squeeze two last days on the Gitche. We drove up on Friday knowing that there was a good chance we wouldn’t even make it on the ice and would simply need to turn around and head home. After carefully checking ice conditions we found the ice near town to be safe and actually in much better shape than we had expected. With the warm weather I highly recommend that last weekend was the last day I would feel comfortable even with the greatest safety precautions.

Here are a couple pics from our final days on the ice as well as from an earlier trip.

Will

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It’s always considered a great season when you can get out there. This year there was more ice than I’ve ever even heard about. Fishing opportunities stretched up past Two Harbors. Makes for a unique opportunity to fish known waters from a totally different perspective. You really learn a lot about how and where the fish move to based on different conditions.

It was clear to me this year that wherever the majority of bait is, was where your best chances were of getting big fish. Other places held lots of fish but usually small where there was little baitfish.

I’m missed my opportunity of icing a true giant this year. Had one on for 5 minutes and never gained on it once. I learned a very hard lesson. As convenient as line snaps are, they’re useless if you don’t snap them shut . I am certain it would’ve been my personal best.

Got a chance to fish hard for a couple days right between your trips Will and caught a couple. Beautiful weather and a great way to spend my birthday.

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Thanks Will, it was a ton of fun and glad we were able to meet up and fish. Very nice meeting and your friends.

Got a chance to fish with Biggill this winter up there too.

I made it out more than I ever thought possible on Superior ice. Had some great days, some okay days, and some skunk days.

A buddy and I were even extras in the background of the IDO episode when James and Pat were up…..(please, please…..one autograph at a time) Lol

Overall this season was definitely an experience I won’t forget any time soon.

Looking very forward to another great open water season on the pond this year. We have a few trips on the books already planned, and will head up randomly for day trips here and there.

Going to be fun running the boat over some structure I found while on the ice

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Ahem, I believe you caught some cohos. Some tasty tasty cohos.

That’s better!

I see a ship at the dock in Two Harbors tonight.

Nice fish Gill. Find the bait, find big fish is not something that is specific to just this ice season like you indicted. I work on a Lake Superior charter boat and finding the bait will lead you to the [big] fish all year round on Superior.

Looks like the ice is pretty well busted up out there. Open water visible at TH and Glensheen cams. Just need to get those accesses busted up now.

biggill wrote:

Looks like the ice is pretty well busted up out there. Open water visible at TH and Glensheen cams. Just need to get those accesses busted up now.

Yup, there were two guys out by the French after work yesterday.

Now this morning its gone! Bring on the Steel baby!

Well who has been out after the cohos and steel lately

Ice isn’t safe yet.

biggill wrote:

Ice isn’t safe yet.

Lol good one Gill. Darn wind won’t lay down long enough for me to get out after work. Calm mornings its a zoo out there

biggill wrote:

Ice isn’t safe yet.

Nice! I sure hope it gets as good as it was last year. I got hooked on lakers through the ice.

I’m leaving the extension at home . Hope I’ll be ok this trip!

Last season was simply unprecedented. No one I talked to had ever seen that kind of ice as far north and east as we did last year. I Saturday at Larsmomt with my wife in March and was able to easily walk out to 250’.

I hope to live long enough to see that again.

I guess on the bright side, they say one of the side effects to global warming is the polar vortex patterns so we should see the occasional winter like 2014 or 2015 and maybe 2019.

Most meteorologists are predicting a colder than average winter again. The major patter in control is a neutral to La Niña which equates to about a 70-80% chance of a below average winter.