We checked out the ice roads this morning, and overnight, there were quite a few cracks that showed up.  They are located off Pope, Point headed to the east, and another running north of the Banana |Reef headed east across the Tullibee Hole and continuing to the East south of Hennepin Island.  Both are 3″-4″ wide.  We marked them with cones where they cross our roads to prevent travel over them.  Being this late in the year, we are not going to put out ramps or bridge them.  We will advise no vehicle travel across or beyond unless it’s you have an ATV.

We will open our access to “light” 1/2 ton trucks and small (under 18ft) single axle wheelhouses to limited areas starting today.  I’m not going to allow tandems or heavier vehicles out with the conditions and ice depths we have in front.  Vehicles weighing under 6000lb curb weight can go out to rentals and to portable also.  All will get an updated map so they know where they can go.

The bite overnight was pretty good for Walleye, and yesterday’s Perch action was decent also. So we will see if it continues.

Update:  At Noon what was a 4″-5″ crack north of the Banana extending NE towards Hennepin Island and going west North of the Tundra turned into a Pressure Ridge.  Everyone stayed south of where we marked it on our roads. So we are going to leave it alone.  Fishing reports were good in checking with the rentals with nice sized Perch. Walleye action was best overnight for most.

Keep a Tight Line!

Eddy

Overnight, the few that were out had pretty good luck with the Walleye. Perch activity yesterday was decent for most, especially when the sun came out.

Our thinnest stretch of ice went from 15″ to 15.5″ when we checked it this morning. With the cold weather today and tonight, I’m pretty sure it will hit the 16″ mark by tomorrow morning. Most of the ice on the other side of it averages 16″-17″ or more in the areas we have staked roads to. If it gets to 16″ on the thinner stretch, we will start to let out “light” 1/2 trucks and single-axle wheelhouses, (under 18ft) after checking the ice in the early morning. With this colder weather, I’m sure there will be some cracks, but they should freeze as fast as they appear if they are small ones.  I will update the report as soon as we know what it looks like first thing in the morning.

Rental customers and portable fishermen will be able to drive 1/2 ton trucks and smaller vehicles out to their houses or to portable starting today. We have plenty of parking for tandems and trucks that want to camp and/or portable with wheelers.  And if you have a UTV or ATV capable of pulling a small wheelhouse, that is an option also.

After this weekend the temps will be warming up some but it looks like we will still have below freezing nights so we should be able to keep the ice until the season is over next weekend. I will keep the place open for Northern Pike, Perch and Tullibee fishermen as long as the ice holds up.

Keep a Tight Line!

Eddy

We had no one on the lake overnight last evening, so there is nothing to report. There were a couple of portable fishermen out, but I have yet to hear from them.

We checked the ice in the thinnest stretch that we have to cross to get out (that most of you already know about from my posts, and is now approximately 15″.  With that, we will be letting vehicles out that have a curb weight of 6000lb or less to the rentals and portable fishermen starting tomorrow. Most of the ice in the other areas we have staked roads to are 16″-17″.   Single axle wheelhouses will need to be pulled by ATV, UTV, or SxS as of now for the weekend.  But with the next couple nights of colder weather that might change. We will measure the ice tomorrow and decide from there.

We missed the snow that I was hoping to get for banking and possibly pulled a few permanents that would have wanted to try the last weekend. but we didn’t get it.  I’m not going to pull houses through the gravel from the lot to the lake and back. If we had received some snow it might have been an option.  But with no snow, it’s not worth the wear and tear on runners for one weekend.

We have plenty of parking for portables that do not want to drive and camping for Tandem wheelhouses for the weekend for those that want to.  Permanents that want to stay in their houses on shore and portable are welcome also.

Keep a Tight LIne!

Eddy