Exploring bigger lakes

[BDiss]

So this will be my third year of ice fishing. Most of my experiences had been in the metro area but had always wanted to hit up some of the bigger lakes like mille lacs, leech, lake of the woods etc. the question I have is how does the ice roads and access work? I do not have a truck so I am concern about the on and off. are there a lot of cars that use the access that the resorts provide? The ground clarence on my car is not the best so I really don't want to get stuck especially because I fish alone the majority of the time.

[pushbutton]

I fish with a car most of the time, and most of the time it is not a problem. Most of it depends on the weather and far you go out. The fringe of the road systems are not always as well maintained. Likewise, some resorts doing a better job than others. Yes, sometimes, the access itself can be tricky with clearance. If in a car always try to make sure you have a cell phone reception and extra provisions. If windy or snowing probably best to get off before the office in the resort closes. After hours phones are not always answered. Actually having a car makes me more carful and have never had any issues, when driving the burb, however, have gotten myself into some sticky situations because of the sense of more security.

[Iambjm]

One of the best accesses on Mille Lacs (in my opinion) is out of Appeldoorn's. Paul does a great job of plowing and keeping his roads open, yes you have to pay a fee but it is worth it if we have a heavy snow year. There is nothing worse than getting stuck out on the ice. I have been on Leech and I was not impressed with the plowing that I saw, we paid $10 to get on the lake and they had the road plowed only one lane wide. One area was loaded with water and they did nothing to bridge it or try and plow around it. The most important thing to remember if you are using plowed roads is DO NOT drill within 50 yards of the road. You will end up flooding the road and that is not good. I was on Winnie a couple of years ago with a friend and there was a ton of snow, we unloaded our gear at the road and waded through knee deep snow to set up. The road had been plowed into a big circle where several wheelhouse were setup. We saw a guy lower his wheelhouse, heard him drilling and all of a sudden he came bailing out of his house, raised it back up and moved it. He said that when he drilled his first hole the water came gushing up and out of the hole all over his floor. We fished for just an hour and by the time we got back to the road we were wading through 4" of water.

I go out of Jerry's Resort on the south end of Upper Red and they do a pretty good job up there also. If you do go out on a big lake I recommend a GPS, It is so easy to get disoriented, especially if the wind picks up and the snow starts blowing around.

[BDiss]

thanks for the tips. Will probably be hitting up some of the bigger lakes this year. I got plenty of pto banked up and need to use them before they disappear. hope to see some of you all on the ice.

[RiverChuckNorris]

Post a msg on the appropriate board for whatever lake you decide to go to, a day before you head up BDiss and fellow HSO-ers will be happy to keep an eye out for you as well. That being said, ice fishing out of a car isn't really a big deal. Especially out of well maintained resorts like Appledoorns on ML

[Glockwinger]

I will second (or third?) Appledorn's roads on ML. Used them many times and very well maintained. Paul and his crew are very good. All the above info is very good regarding traversing the lake in a car...especially knowing when the office closes.

If you head to Winnie, Highbanks resort also has very good roads, but their access is steep and can be tricky with a car if the access is icy.