Ice Going Bad !!!

[motley man]

Was out yesterday and the ice is getting that ugly grey look to it. What is this warm spell going to do to what little ice we have. The snow is going fast and the holes in my house are not even freezing over at night.

[tunrevir]

Yes, it is time to think about moving those permy's off the spot they have been sitting for the past couple weeks. With the warm temps and the water running into the holes, it doesn't take long to erode 2 holes into one big one. Then there is always the South side of the shack where the sunlight is reflected onto the ice that can weaken it as well. Add some wind to the equation with a bit of water on top of the ice and you get those perfect storm like conditions.

Tunrevir~

[harvey lee]

This extended warm weather is not good for the ice for sure. I am sure it is getting weaker every day. My wheeler is put away and very doubtful thast it will see ice again this season.

What I would be very concerned about is those who have perms on the lake. These warm nights will keep the holes open and if the wind were to pick up, those holes could grow much larger.

The lakes in southern Mn will be bad soon if these warm temps continue. Vechiles would be out for me of any type with all the open water reports on numerous lakes.

I have not been on the ice for close to 2 weeks so I have not drilled any holes to see how the ice is doing.

My portable is going to be put away today and my boat will come out of storage next week. Few things to do to it yet so it will be ready for the Sippi river fishing not that far off any longer. Then the Mn river will not be far behind as that already has some open water in different locations.

I will keep a few ice rods and a pail out just incase I do decide to walk out for an afternoon of gill fishing.

[Eelpout08]

Been out to the permy for the last few nights now: so far so good but i will not leave it out without checking on it every day.

It is still sitting on 14" of good ice but the snow was more than half melted on the lake and there was some water on top in spots.

There are also spots on the lake that only had 8" of ice a two weeks ago when it was pulled out, so i will be steering well clear of those for sure.

Depending on what it looks like this afternoon, i would say it will be pulled off sooner rather than later.

Fish quit biting anyway.

[Gordie]

My portable is going to be put away today and my boat will come out of storage next week. Few things to do to it yet so it will be ready for the Sippi river fishing not that far off any longer. Then the Mn river will not be far behind as that already has some open water in different locations.

My porty is still in the shed and Im waiting to get the boat in the garage myself Harvey Lee if you still wanna spear you may have to make a trip up this way. we still have some good ice around but I cant see it getting better any time soon. BTW harvey Iffin your looking for a passenger in that boat on the sippi let me know

[harvey lee]

Looks like my first spearing adventure may have to wait until next ice season Gordie. My weekends are full for the rest of this month and with Clint's new racecar, many things to get done on that before race time. Got the car a week ago and it is in a million pieces and needs to be all put together. Takes a bit of time and then there is always running from here to there to get more parts or extra ones.

Yes, I will keep you in mind for the sippi.

[TruthWalleyes]

I'm usually the guy putting on his waders in the LATE ice season when the ice receeds from the banks and the only way to ice fish is to wade through the water and climb on the ice, so its not slowing me down. It is good to see hundreds of ice houses leave the lake though. Lot less fishing pressure and more room for me to hole hop the hot bite areas.

My holes from the last few days have not frozen over...so less drilling necessary

I drove out yesterday, and won't be fishing tonight, but will likely be walking from now on...

I think by the end of this week the ice will look like it does in late march/early april...but we'll see. Potential of a big snow fall this weekend too, which will only make conditions worse.

[sweatervest76]

I went fishing yesterday afternoon, most holes are open and I could tell some were getting bigger from the wind/warm temps. Lots of slush and water on top of the ice, and there even seemed to be small "rivers" everywhere on top of the ice. Large pools of water around houses too. I don't know how much I'll actually go out fishing around my area anymore.

[Zoobert]

I think it's time I pulled my shack and said I'm done with it. The warm temps this season isn't anything worth screwing around over.

[B-man715]

THE END IS NEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What is going on this year??? I thought the Farmer's Almanac predicted this winter to be colder than normal?

Feels like we are living in Missouri, not Minnesota........

I see there is still some cold air..........just have to cross the arctic cirle to get to it

Looks like I'm going hare hunting with the hounds this weekend!

[Zoobert]

I just checked the long range forecast at weather.com for my area -- and it's showing above-freezing temps for the next 10 days.

Melt, melt, melt.

Water on the top is gonna get heavy - probably wanna get your heavy perms off before it gets too treacherous to bring a vehicle out there to retrieve it.

Or tie a ton of PFDs to it, and hope it floats to shore in....according to the forecasts ... a week or two. :-)

[vexi]

Come on guys it isnt over till its over, I bet we will have fishable ice at least till the middle of march. Here west central MN most lakes have around 17 inches of ice. Low to mid 30's won't do anything to the ice when its still cool at night. Now if get 50's days and 30's nights then i agree it will be over soon. Last time i checked its only Feb 2 and have alot of winter left to go.

[Spike76]

Last Sunday I cut a spear hole a little north of Brainerd and the ice was 15 3/4 inches thick. Good clear ice. Hopefully a few more weeks of good ice up there.

[cavalierowner]

I was out on Carsons Bay this a.m. There is still a good 15" of good ice and very little water on top of the ice.

BUT...

I was all set to drive out like I have been for the last week or so, but when I got to the approach to the lake, it looked like the puddles and ruts were deeper. So I got out and checked it. Someone had chipped a small hole in the ice in the middle of the puddle! As best as I could tell, there can't be more than 6" or so of ice. And with the water on top about 3" to 4" deep, I'm sure not driving on it. So a quick run home to pick up my 1 person portable and a sled and I'm back fishing after walking out. Looks like I'm back on foot for the forseeable future. Stupid warm weather

And yes, I did see at least 3 cars/trucks drive out where I wouldn't. I wish them the best of luck!

[Stick in Mud]

I'm not quite as pessimistic as many of you....but I never put the big permanent out on the lake anyways, so it's easy to be hopeful when the house isn't at risk of falling through.

[OnAFly]

So what's the over/under for permies going through in the next few weeks of warm weather?

[crappie55409]

This year is terrible for ice fishing! I just bought a new permy this year. Had it out last Saturday for the first time and it was better than i even dreamed of. Been waiting since last April (when i bought it) to get it out. I did drop my cell phone down the hole. Now i can say im apart of the "what have you dropped down you hole" group I just wish i could enjoy my permy for at least a few weeks. Maybe I'll have to head north for a weekend...

frustrated fisherman

[Knoc]

The lakes toward the cities must be horrible compared to my area. The ice still looks good here with people driving around all over (I dont know if I would drive personally, but noones been through anyway). I did get 9" of ice out of one hole today that I drilled but otherwise its a solid 11-15" across my local lakes.

Still alot of ice fishing left in my area. ::knocks on wood::

[Stick in Mud]

Yeah, me too, Knoc. I'm knocking, too.

[Cyberfish]

Bad year for shanties, great for open air fishing though!

[Freedom81]

I'd say, for every 3 over, there'll be 1 under

I'm not say'in, I'm just say'in!

[Ringtailhunter]

Went out yesterday morning to check on my perm. Ice was a little crunchy on top but seemed ok to me so far.

I think this summer I'm going to look for an old pontoon boat, clear off the deck and put my permy on top and mount a small kicker motor. License it as a boat and leave it on the lake all year. I don't think I've seen in the regs where a boat has to be "removed" from a lake any time of the year.

[amateurfishing]

there is still ice left after last 3 days?

[noodlerod]

ROFLMFAO same every year few days of warm weather and the sky is falling !!!! A little common sense goes a long way just use some .

[OnAFly]

Yes, three days of warm weather won't do much...but when the foreseeable future is nothing but 40F temps, it makes you wonder how much longer we really have until we are planking it out to the ice and fishing the same open hole for a week.

We may still have weeks of fishing, but driving days are numbered.