Fishermen out overnight last evening sent in some of the best reports of fishing in a full moon phase that I have seen in quite a few years. The midnite to 4 in the morning was very good for for some , not as good for others but it was good. The best I heard was over thirty Walleye C/R in that period in one house and a couple rentals did almost as well. With the clear ice with no snow, the old traditions of full moon fishing at night worked. You had to be in the right spot at the right time and all the shallow water outdid the deep.
We flooded roads today to help eliminate the “shatter” cracks that have shown up on all the clear ice we are running on after pulling the smaller permanents on. We are running on ice that differs from the ice in the bays where they are are pretty much letting everything go for wheelhouse traffic. We have 15″-16″ of ice that is clear, hard and brittle, but the warmer temps will soften it and make it more flexible. By the looks of the weather forecast this might be the only weekend to make a run for it for the wheelhouse guys until the cold weather returns. The first weekend of Feb. forecasts do not look good for anyone trying to do anything out there. I’m hoping they are wrong. We’ll be going day by day.
Starting Thursday thru the weekend we will be letting small single axle wheelhouses, (16 foot range) pulled by small trucks . (light 1/2 tons under 5500 lbs). SxS’s or an chained up ATV with a dolly would be a better choice.
These days the rating of 1/2, 3/4 and 1 tons are sometimes misleading. When some say that 1/2 ton rated trucks that could weigh as much as 7500 lbs. curb weight with crew cabs etc.. tell you it’s ok pulling a wheelhouse, think twice. On 15″-16″ of ice, that is borderline in my opinion. If might be just fine for one or two rigs, but not repeated traffic traveling on it when i’s warm enough where it can’t refreeze very well. I recommend everyone should find out what their rigs weighs with the wheelhouse they pull,, (it might surprise you). It’s much easier to determine how much ice you can go on. Remember, the idea is to be safe, and knowing the weight of your vehicle and house loaded with gear helps!
Keep a Tight Line!
Eddy