Will we ever get rid of the snow and slush?

Still thinking of making a trip up to the Ottertail Chain for crappies and Tullies. Cancelled the last trip because of all the snow. Have some time off at the very end of march and into April-Anyone have a crystal ball? So could we possibly melt off the snow and slush and leave me some ice to walk on? Or is it an imposible mess ’till ice out. Anyone know of a resort that keeps roads going as late as possible. (would think resorts on Winnie would want to get people onto perch) Thanks!

Tough to say, heard they just got 10-12″ with this storm. I fished ottertail county first weekend of March, conditions varied but several lakes had plowed roads with no slush at all, couldn’t get off them of course. Used the sleds on a few others and only slush problem we had was after drilling holes. Obviously each lake is a little different.

I’ve been told, but have not seen first hand ALL the resorts on Winnie are no longer maintaining roads. to much slush and water on top of the ice.

I went fishing and pounded the big gills Friday evening on a small(er) lake in central MN. I was out on the lake last Sunday and the slush was horrible. Friday there was no slush all froze solid. Made for easy walking and when I drilled holes yep sure enough all froze slush. I kicked down to the ice and there was not a drop of water.

Great report AF23

40’s and rain mid week should help get rid of some of the snow. Slush, not so much.

I would think the rain should actually help. Get rid of snow, and take weight off the ice which will reduce slush. If it re-freezes after all the rain, conditions should improve significantly.

Then again, I’m kinda hoping it just continues with the melting cycle at this point.

Just to the north of ottertail county it is pretty slushy in general. Now that it has been a week past the permanent removal deadline most plowed roads in my area are no longer being maintained and with the 13″ of snow we just got over the weekend you would need a snowmobile or snow shoes to leave the access. Last I was out there was at least 20″ of snow on top of the ice before the 13″ we just got.

Thanks for the report Aaron.

Judging from the lakes in Woodbury, if it freezes we could have good walking. Snow is just about gone.

Yep, would think snow would pack down and freeze which should be great for walking-will try it on WBL sat.
Oh, their are lakes in Woodbury????????????

tim hurley wrote:

Yep, would think snow would pack down and freeze which should be great for walking-will try it on WBL sat.
Oh, their are lakes in Woodbury????????????

More like ponds.

“Oh, their are lakes in Woodbury????????????”
Well played lol. I was just doing a drive-by. Officially we’ve lost 17” of snow. Hoping to do some hole hopping!

After the rain and warmer weather we have lost about 6-8 inches of snow. It is still knee deep on the the becker county ottertail county border. I am going tulibee fishing tomorrow and thinking it should be crusted enough for walking on.

Aaron-let me know how you do! Good Luck

Ok we lost a lot of snow but the water that was on the lake PARTIALLY froze, so now each step you break threw have your foot in a few inches of water then on to the next step. Got to some more solid footing after about 75′ of bad. Beautiful night, caught some nice fish, warm, had the area to myself, bit of an adventure.
So was it worth it? Was to me (couple times thought’ what the heck am I doing here!) Dig out those cleats.

I was out yesterday on a Grand Rapids area lake. I heard similar reports from buddies on other lakes.

So in 3 hours of fishing the 1-2” crust we walked out on softened and was breaking walking in. 10-12” of water and slush under the crust. The lakes will turn back to crap in a few days when they warm.

Turn to crap then drain and dry I am hoping.

Some guys decided to try their luck driving to their spot (or remove a fish house, I’m not sure) in their 1/2 ton pickup. They looked like they were having “fun” as we left the lake.

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I had 2-3 inches of ice, one inch of slush and 2 feet of ice underneath. No snow. Good walking. (Washington County)
Heard of people driving on Peltier.

Great report Rod-your conditions were better than mine and we were in the same county.

I ended up fishing this weekend, tulibee were biting great! snow is very crusted over, even kept the snowmobile on top of the crust. had 3″ of ice then a 4″ layer of slush and then 20+ inches of ice. Made for slushy holes but other than that I had no complaints. Tapping maple trees on the other hand was a chore as the snow in the woods was not nearly as crusted over.

Oh and the tulibee were well worth chasing, large fish with a few dinks mixed in ended with 15 fish in an hour and half. They were suspended 15′ below the ice anywhere from 40′-70′

Lakes are a sloppy mess in central MN. Accesses have ruts filled with ankle to knee deep water and slush. Every access I’ve seen or heard of is still walkable. Some are good for ATVs and sleds. The Hill Access on Osakis has a few people driving out of it with half-tons, but one of them is going to dunk the front end their truck in the next few days once that water starts to drain and opens up some holes/cracks.

What I’m mostly seeing is 1-3″ of soft ice over 2-6″ of water, then wet, saturated ice underneath. I broke thru up to my knees at an access yesterday when I was testing to see if I could take the wheeler out. Problem is that top layer of ice is hardly more than hard slush by evening, so you’re dealing with a solid half-foot-plus of slush.

Gotta dry and drain some in 10 days-can’t snow again-right? (yes I’m kidding, I’ve lived here my whole life)

Conditions on Big Marine were solid this morning. Frozen crust, an inch of slush then 2 feet of ice. Three vehicles and an ATV on the ice on south side. Fishing was slow in the north end. Should have gone south

Walking conditions where overall much beter on WBL-however much worse right at the access.

Snow and slush is gone on the Gunflint Trail lakes. The weather was great this weekend. I have one weekend left to harass a few lake trout.

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Anyone have a report on the Lake Winnie area? I am heading up from Wisconsin on Thursday with my dad for the weekend. We are going, so it is just a matter of how hard it will be to get out/move around. We will be bring a couple of snowmobiles to get around once we are at the lakes.

Thanks in advance!

Tony Marcoe wrote:

Anyone have a report on the Lake Winnie area?

My folks live in Nevis (about an hour SW of Winnie) and they still have a bunch of snow, and my dad said no one is going out fishing due to the slush. However, most of his buddies are retiree’s who are just fine staying home if there are any adverse conditions.

Thanks for you input, BigWerm! I talked with the resort we are staying at (Cut Foot Sioux Resort) and they told me that they had a few groups stay there this weekend and got out on Little Cut Foot Sioux, Round Lake, and Big Cut Foot Sioux. They said conditions are getting better as the days go, but also told me that Lake Winnie is basically not being fished because of the snow/slush.