will this warm air kill the ice?

[mrpike1973]

will 3 days of this weather ruin 6-9 inches of ice

[Finlander]

Not without rain! Rain will eat the ice away rapidly as it tries to drain into the lake. So far this drizzle won't do anything. The lack of sunshine today will not make the ice melt, only the snow which will be good if we don't get any snow before it gets cold.

Think Negative! As in -20 below!

[Bambito]

Pike.... I notice you live in darwin. I live in Hutch and went out today to try my luck on some lakes south of hutch. It did not look good on the two lakes i went to. Lots of water on the ice and I assume it does the same thing rain does and drains in to the lake from the top of the ice. I walked out about 20 yds to drill a hole to see how thick it was, but when I did that the rope broke on my auger. Probably a blessing it did cause I ended up going home to fix it and didnt go back out. Would not trust the ice right now but im not a big risk taker when it comes to early ice!!! just my 2 cents!

[LMITOUT]

Wait until the rain comes tomorrow night. We'll be starting all over again.

[harvey lee]

Yes, this will delay the SAFE ice for some time espically if we get rain.

I can wait a few more weeks to make it a bit of an easier winter for our wildlife.

One can always go fishing in Jan.

[IceHawk]

Was out in the st cloud area on a couple lakes and they are starting to look tough, water forming on top and the ice is definately softening IMO.

[mwal]

If a wind comes up with water on the ice it will degrade very fast

Mwal

[LMITOUT]

Wed evening:

Blustery, with a west northwest wind 7 to 10 mph increasing to between 20 and 23 mph. Winds could gust as high as 32 mph

[otterman91105]

Drove by some lake's around wyoming. They don't look good and the weather is going to be 42 degrees today. With 38 for tommorow. Rain on the way hope the lake's can hold up and stay closed up.

[BLACKJACK]

I was out last night, ice is about 7 inches but starting to pool water and getting that black look. Last two mornings on the way into work the temps were 38 and 34, not getting any freezing at night. Fishing was ok but not great, not worth the risk, think I'll let it get cold again over the weekend and head back out Mon/Tuesday. Hope we don't get any snow though, nice pulling the portable on the clear ice!!

[OnAFly]

I'm guessing we'll see lakes that haven't completely froze over yet become much more open. I had plans to hit one of these this weekend, but who knows now.

[EBass]

I was worried about the ice on Sat when it was cold for the past week. I won't be out there this weekend since it hasn't been below freezing since Sunday and 1/2" of rain coming.

[bASS_BLASTER]

I was bored last night and thought about this.

Since 1 gallon of water weighs apx 8lbs. 1 gallon of rain covering 1 square foot is about 2.9". Since we're going to get .50" of rain that equals to 1.33lbs per square foot. 1 acre has 43,560 square feet x 1.33lbs = 58,079lbs of weight per acre x 2427.66 arces (White Bear Lake) = 140,996,065 lbs rain sitting on top of the lake and then add run offs and warm weather = unsafe.

All this little rain equals a lot of weight. And this warm weather has postpone my trips. There are still more fishing season left guys.

[Northlander]

The St. Louis River and bays had some ok ice in the 4" range but fater 2 days close to 40 and drizzle the ice is gone in spots and very thin in others. Big cracks opening all over. Buddy fell through yesterday morning. I would stay off any rivers and make sure you check the ice on the lakes. Bring a buddy and ice picks. Some rope and a tossable float tied to it is a good idea.

[bASS_BLASTER]

I always wonder why everyone talks about floating devices and floating suits when all we need to do is wear life jackets. Anyway, thanks for the update Northlander and be safe all.

[MNice]

I think in the South metro (my area), we'd be better off if the lakes opened up & started over again. Seems like if it gets slushy and refreezes, it's pretty much carp for the rest of the year.

[fishinalot]

Whatever we get rain or snow will all shape together and refreeze.

If it snows on the wet ice, it might turn to slush but when it turns cold again it will all freeze as one.

Now if we had 6"- 8" of ice, cold weather and got dumped on like last year ( 17" of snow ) we would be in trouble!

We will be alright boys, just might take a week or 2 to do it.

[popriveter]

Forecast calls for temps to stay below freezing from wed (overnight) to sometime sunday. That said, the ice has already taken a big step backward and today and tomorrow might put us back close to square one in the metro.

[simple1]

I was going to head out this Thursday but I just don't trust the ice after this warm up. So it looks like I will be making a trip up to Thorne Bros to look at ice rods for my 3yo. Its going to be hard not to sneak out on the ice, but I don't think waiting 1 more week will kill anyone, but not waiting just might.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

I don't think this will 'ruin' the ice, per say, but it is certainly going to set things back a few days. The forecast is looking much better once we get beyond tomorrow.

[Gordie]

It really screwed with the spear shack as it almost went thru hole and the wind really cut up the ice around the shack.

Now there talking about rain. So if you guys got houses out I would definatly think of blocking them up quite a bit so they dont freeze in.

Houses that are metal soak up a bit more heat and the ice seems to melt a bit quicker around those types of shacks

[JollyJoker]

I have been out Sunday, Monday and tonight on my atv pulling a small trailer. There was 8" sunday night of very solid ice. Last night was don to 7 1/2" and a bit of water on the ice. Tonight it there was 6 1/2 to 7" and alot of water on top and tonight was the first time the ices cracked when I drove over it and it felt soft. Last night the fog was so bad it took me about 35 min to find the landing I could only see less than 2 feet in front of me (very scary) and my gps was way off and would not get a signal half the time (driving just looking at the gps is no fun). I will let things freeze up again before I go out. Hard to stay away because the fishing has been great. Stay safe guys and wait a few days.

[FishinFools]

That sounds pretty hard core! Driving blind by GPS! Might be time for a new unit...

What latitude were you at with 8" of ice?

[Dusty]

I went north today about 80-90 miles and found 8 to 10 inches but the access was getting bad on the way off. I am not going out again until cold weather comes, which looks to be a ways off.