is it safe out now?

[HandGunner]

is it safe to be on the ice now? im up in the suburbs Anoka county

[Andrew Erickson]

each lake is different. And with this warm weather we had I personally wouldnt try it quite yet. If you go be careful

[Bigtom]

I just watched some fish houses get pulled out this morning. So use caution for open holes from houses and rain.

[FishinFools]

just got home from Blackhawk in Eagan. Drilled about 12 holes, moving out zip zag from shore. Most were 4-5", last one was under 3". (and I do mean 'last one') We had plenty of safe ice to fish on. Just didn't get out to the 10ft hole in the middle. That lake has to be 3ft low right now.

[HandGunner]

how sad when Decembers almost over and its still not even safe out yet! got geared up to start ice fishing just to find out its going to be a short season.

[otterman91105]

Yea pretty sad. Hope it starts to make more ice soon before we get snow. Would like to get my wheel house out before it's not even worth it.

[Knoc]

I just watched some fish houses get pulled out this morning. So use caution for open holes from houses and rain.

Which lake was this? Permanents?

[tunrevir]

Most area lakes have between 4-5 inches of ice right now from what I have been seeing. That being said, it is still early ice conditions and late to freeze areas on larger or deeper bodies of water may well have less then that so use caution when heading out. The good news is that it has been making ice throughout the evening with the colder temps and snow cover gone and should continue to do so with the forecasted cold nighttime temps we are going to see in the next week. Good luck out there and be safe!

Tunrevir~

[herefish101]

The lake i'v been fishing has seven inches in the shallower bay and five inches in the deeper spots, but the bigger deeper end of the lake was still open last week and was froze over today. The Northerns have been runnin wild!

[HandGunner]

just baught a used Marcum Lx-2 for $100 what a steal! anyways going out to some near by lakes just to test it out and catch some pannies just for fun

[nige]

had between 5-7 1/4 inches on a small lake in Faribault today

[habersplat]

i heard4-6 inches depending on the lake

[HandGunner]

FAILED outing on Crooked lake in andover... ice making sounds and cracking a bit plus IDK why the auger is not cutting maybe I put the blades on wrong when I resharpened them... all the auger does is cut ice into fine chips like powder and not chips so it takes longer and I mean LONGER! the Marcum works tho! that was my main goal was to see if it worked... any tips on my auger? it was sharp its a Strike Master Mora hand auger when I angle the cut it would start cutting more agressively but when I cut straight it would slide around and cut ice into powder almost

[noodlerod]

around 5" in NW wright county with alot of open spots

[GoneFish'n71]

As far as I know you cant sharpen the blades on a hand auger yourself and get them to cut. Get yourself a new set of blades, or I think you can do an exchange on those at some places.

[HandGunner]

how would I go about finding placeces that I can exchange them at?

[HandGunner]

replacements are 25 or I can send in the old ones but then again its only $20 plus sending the blades and the shipping so it adds up again to $25 or maybe even more. Im not understanding the blade exchange service with strikemaster. I have the mora blue hand auger. shuld I just go get replacements at a local baitshop for $25?

[S.D. Ice Angular]

Yep!!! just go buy new.

[Trues]

Hey HandGunner, Did you get any holes drilled? How many inches were there? Anybody else out there?

[RebelSS]

As far as I know you cant sharpen the blades on a hand auger yourself and get them to cut. Get yourself a new set of blades, or I think you can do an exchange on those at some places.

You ARE joking, aren't you?!!!? Tell me you are... Five years of honing (as in "touching up") mine every third or so trip with a hard Arkansas stone and honing oil, and they are RAZOR cut-your-finger off sharp. Takes 2 minutes a blade....

[Rake]

I would wait to see if the ice changes before buying blades. I know that my blades are sharp and they didnt cut well on the new ice, just cut small chips like you said. I had a hard time putting any weight on the auger because of the slick ice conditions.

[RebelSS]

You shouldn't BE putting weight (ie; bearing down) on your auger to make it cut...if your blade angle is correct and the blades are sharp, it will cut fine.

[chris63]

Rebel,I'm with you on the honing,just like chain saw,axes,mower blades.The newer blades (china)just don't hold an edge like the old blades do.I think it is easier to buy new but much more expensive.Honing is an art form and does take some practice.c63

[HandGunner]

my blades i think i will just replace. sharpening and grinding wont bring back the original edges and angles, and i dont think it should matter what kind of ice it is it should cut no matter what. there goes $25 for blades on an old auger, blades costing more than what i baught the auger for? sad... originaly baught auger for $10 in better shape than the others you see no rust at all blades were rusty and dull but thaught my sharpening was good enough, aparently not

[HandGunner]

grinded the blades with the handgrinder and went back out just an hour ago by shore to see if it improved which it did but only by little it starts to bite and cut but then slips a little and cuts then cuts like before. only every so turns it will cut and you can feel a positive cut them goes back to feeling like its just barley cutting and just shaving ice, will just have to replace the blades for $25 as I plan to head north for crappies... any tips on what I should bring? all I have are a few ice jigs and summer crappie jigs plus various size hooks sinkers berkley waxxies, should I pick up some live waxxies and minnows? how far out and were should I try to find crappies?