During the day yesterday, most reports were small Perch and Walleye.  Those fishing shallow caught slots in the early am. And late afternoon at dusk.  A few over-slot pics were sent in after dark in deeper rocks, but overall, it was fairly quiet, in my opinion. The highlights were Northern Pike in the shallows for those targeting them.  I heard of four C/R between 33″-40″.

The ice roads held up well with the traffic as everyone kept their speeds way down.  In checking ice depths this morning, we increased thickness by approximately 1/2″ since Thursday afternoon when we last checked, so we are gaining some.  Ice depths in close range from 16″-18″ and farther out 13″-15″.  By next weekend, if the cold continues, the ice in the areas we go to should be “over the hump,” as we used to say with ice conditions.

I’m hoping we get some snow cover out there soon!

Eddy

After running the roads this morning, everything looks good, with no cracks overnight. We will be letting trucks up to a curb weight of 7000 lb. pull single-axle and tandem-axle wheelhouses up to 21ft in length out to most of the areas we go to. The gravel bars will be a no-go this weekend until we check the ice depths out there as it is considerably thinner out there than inside our rough ice boundary. Absolutely no wheelhouses will be allowed to go out on the ice after dark!  Period!!!   All other vehicles, rentals, permanents, and portables fishermen will also have a curb weight limit of 7000 lb.

  Click on image to enlarge

The bite has been pretty steady for most, with the majority of the catch being small Perch and Walleye. Overnight has been the better time for “keeper” Walleye in the last few days, and I think that will be the case most of the time through this colder period of weather. As the season continues and the baitfish sizes change, I think the larger well-fed walleye out there will start to bite better than they have recently.

With no snow on the ice, the cold, sunlight, and all the temperature changes that come with it will be a challenge until we see some snow cover. Fishermen need to be cautious in their travels out there, even though the ice depths are increasing. If and when we receive some snow, things will get back to normal.

Eddy

The bite was steady for most, but small Perch and Walleye dominated the catch yesterday.  Overnight, I hadn’t heard much for reports at this time, but a couple of fishermen I talked to this morning said it was slow.

Ice conditions are slowly improving with the colder weather.  Ice depths range from  16″ to 18″ in the first 3/4 mile on our roads and reefs in that range.  15″ -17″ farther out on our deeper reefs. And 12″-13″ out in the gravel.  In close areas we will be letting single-axle wheelhouses pulled by trucks under a 6000lb curb weight.  Permanents, rentals and portables can drive a vehicle under 6000lb curb weight also.  The gravel bars will be strictly ATV and SxS only until we get more ice out there.  See our updated attached map:

  Click on map to enlarge.

With the colder weather thru the next week ice thicknesses will grow and weight limits will change.  Hoping we see some snow in the forecast.  It would be nice to see for banking, roads, and covering the ice.

Eddy