Future FMer's 2nd Annual Ice Fishing Get Together - February 21st

[polarsusd81]

We get on the lake right on Hazeldon Bay. Easiest way to get out there is Taking Hwy 8 to Olinda Trail (Dairy Queen). Go south (right) on Olinda to Glader Blvd. Take a Left on to Glader and go to the T at the end of Glader. When you get to the T, take a left and you will see the lake on the right side of the road. You will see a drive on access just a little ways up the road on your right and you can drive out from there. There is a group of houses out in Hazeldon Bay, and we will meet up on the far side of the houses. Last year all the cars were parked right up close to shore there, and I am hoping we can do something similar this year. We might spread the cars out into a couple groups this year though as it looks like we will have a few more people this time around.

We will have signs posted up starting at the corner of Glader and Olinda Trail. DonBo has made the signs for us and they look great.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Tom, I picked up the signs today. What time would you like them (us) to be there?

[polarsusd81]

Jer, could you shoot me an email?

I went out to the lake today to get a feel for what the fish were doing and check out all the conditions. Lets just say we should be hoping for a little bit of snow between now and Saturday. The lake is like a skating rink right now. That is the bad news. The good news is that it is very easy to drive around out there and you don't have to worry about getting stuck anywhere. There was between 24-30 inches of ice out there and even with trucks driving around the ice wasn't making much noise at all. We drilled a few holes deep, a few holes on the edge of the drop, and a few holes shallow. The deeper holes only yielded one fish, a big golden shiner. The holes on the edge of the drop produced a few perch, and the shallow holes were pretty darn good. We caught a bunch of bluegills, a couple dandies too.

As of right now they are calling for PM snow showers on Tuesday and snow through the day on Wednesday. They are also calling for snow on Friday. If it works out that it snows when the weatherman says it will, we should be alright for traction out there.

They are also calling for highs right around 20 on Saturday, it will be a bit colder than last year, but we should be pretty good. If you are coming out and have a portable fish house, bring it along as you may want to head in to warm up a bit. It is coming up quick.

Frankies is also going to donate bait for the get together again so if you stop by there, be sure to tell them thank you. Great group of people there. Thorne Bros threw in a few rods for the kids. No, not the customs, but some rod and reel combos from JR's tackle, one lights up when you turn the handle on the reel. Pretty sweet stuff. They also donated some hats and jigs. Outdoor Pro Store and ATI Jigs also donated quite a few jigs for the kids and Bruce Mosher from Today's Tackle sent a big package of Ice Buster Bobbers up as well. Should be a few prizes for everyone out there again. Lets just hope the fishing is equally as good as last year.

ALSO NOTE: This year I would like to have the cars spread out over a larger area for parking as I am expecting more people this year. I will try to get a few cars parked in different areas early so others can see the different groups of cars. I will try to get all the cars parked in an area that is as close to frozen solid to the bottom as possible. It wont be very far to walk no matter what. Please help us keep this as safe and as fun as possible.

[gurkster]

Hi Tom,

I plan on bringing the kids out. Let me know if you need help with anything. I can bring extra gear, snacks, help setup, etc. Would be glad to lend a hand if needed.

Rick

rrgierke at yahoo dot com

[polarsusd81]

Rick, I shot an email over to you. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[ole]

Tom, We plan on being there around noon. Should I bring an auger? or will you guys have holes drilled?

I don't mind drilling a bunch of holes if you need them.

Anything else you might need?

glenn_olson@yahoo dot com

ole

[polarsusd81]

Glenn, I am pretty sure we will have holes drilled, but you can certainly bring yours out if you want to move around a bit or whatever. I am going to be out by 11 to start drilling holes and getting stuff set up. I am going to start with about 75-100 holes and see where it goes from there. If it is anything like last year, we will probably end up with 200 or so holes. Swiss cheese, I like Swiss cheese!

[polarsusd81]

Here are a couple of maps that I made up last year.

Chisago and Lindstrom are on the upper right corner of this map of the metro area.

This map shows the lake with a road map. Instead of going all the way out on the point, we go up to where the houses end on the right side of the road and you will see a drive on access. It is fine for front wheel drive cars too.

Take 35 north to Hwy 8 (Just north of Forest Lake)

Hwy 8 to a right at Olinda Trail (Dairy Queen is on the corner)

Take Olinda Trail to a left at Glader Blvd.

Follow Glader Blvd to the "T" in the road and go left.

You will see the lake and drive on access on the right side of the road.

There is a group of houses over the hole out there, we will be fishing on the opposite side of those houses. I am planning to park cars in three different areas to distribute the weight evenly. The areas the cars will be parked will be as close to solid ice from top to bottom as we can get. There is more than 2 feet of ice out there right now, closer to 2.5 feet actually. I am really hoping we get a little bit of snow because the thaw and rain last week made the lake pretty much like a skating rink. It is very slippery out there right now.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Tom, I can't find your email?

my new one is [email protected]

The autoinfo one was being flagged by a lot of anitvirus, Go figure?

[polarsusd81]

Someone is looking out for us and answered the snow dance perfectly. This snow fall we had last night is perfect for traction on the lake. It will be a lot less slippery, with it going from rain to snow it roughed up the surface as it came down. I can't even begin to say how thankful I am for this little snow. Every time I stepped outside last night my girlfriend wanted to smack me because I was cheering for the snow.

[croixflats]

t

[polarsusd81]

Coming up tomorrow guys. Looks like we will be getting another one to two inches of snow today and into tomorrow. That would be great for traction out there. I plan to drive up there again today and I am going to get a firm measurement on the ice thickness. The other day I rigged up 30 rods for the kids to use, hopefully that will be enough for those that don't have equipment.

Let's have some fun.

[skiinglady]

Hi Tom,

I'll be bringing 5 girls and 1 other mom with me tomorrow. The girls are in a basketball tournament so we will have to leave at 2:00. Any chance you could do some prize drawings while we are there? The girls are psyched because some of them won stuff last year and now the other ones want in on the action.

Oh yeah, one girl in my troop caught about 20 fish last year so now the other ones want to beat her record.

[polarsusd81]

Here is a link to the recap.

[polarsusd81]

Here is a link to the Recap.

It was a great time for all that came out. Happy everyone could make it.