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Author Topic: Ice Conditions 2015  (Read 14568 times)

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Offline DDSBYDAY

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Report ice conditions here.  So far not anything to report in the White Bear Lake area.  I did see a couple of puddles in the driveway froze over night but that is it so far.   :bonk: :bonk:
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Offline corny13

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7 F this am in central ND with no wind....Im guessing a lot of smaller lakes (Sloughs) froze over last night..  prob wont be safe to walk on till December but its here!

Offline Boar

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great thing is its gonna stay cold
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Offline glenn57

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lake the cabin is on locked up Sunday morning!!!!!!!! there also was 4 inches of snow up there.
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Offline The General

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While out in South Dakota this past weekend I walked across sloughs and ditches and didn't fall through.
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Offline corny13

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Be carefull there General...hope you had icepicks in your pocket.. the only time Ive almost drown was doing that in Mn 34 years ago.  Temp had dropped to below zero, I went pheasant hunting walked around one side of a slough, other side had no cover so took the short way back... got about 15' from the edge of the cattails stepped on a spring down I went... no ice picks...no bottom as it was a spring..couldn't pull my self up either.  Fortunately I was able to break ice over to some pencil reeds and pull myself up. By the time I made to the truck my clothes were completely frozen.   Easily could have drowned.  I never go on ice without picks...even hunting. Front Pocket of Jacket!

Offline The General

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Normally I wouldn't do it but I saw the cattle cross and figured I'd be safe.  Plus I wasn't hunting alone. :happy1:
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Offline dew2

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 I did that ONCE corny!! Spookie EH?I was about 12 walking a muskrat trapline,Mississippi backwaters 1 mile from home near Redwing.Hit bottom holding a 22 rifle pushed up in 7 ft a water came up the hole.I got out I dont remember how,Ran home all the way when I got there all that wasnt frozen was my knees and elbows of my clothes -15 -20 below that day. A Uncle tore my clothes off,Had a oil and wood stove to thaw out!

 The ice on the bay I live has a good 3 inches,Last I saw the lake Sat it was fully open
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Offline Lee Borgersen

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         Think twice before going on ice

Today at 6:55 p.m.
 
Area emergency personnel are warning about the dangers of thin ice after a close call by an overeager ice skater near Pillager Thursday.


Pillager Fire Chief Randy Lee said first responders received a call mid-morning on Thanksgiving Day that a man on ice skates had fallen through the ice on Lake Placid, a reservoir of the Crow Wing River west of Pillager. Before crews responded, however, the man was able to pull himself from the icy waters and continue on his way, Lee said.

A few perhaps equally overeager ice anglers were spotted in a bay on the south side of Lake Placid Thursday, a tipster reported to the Brainerd Dispatch. Lee said the bay is one of the first water bodies to freeze over in the area and it's typical to see anglers there earlier in the year than other areas. Although the bay is just four feet deep and Lee estimated ice thickness at 3 to 4 inches, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reports ice formed over flowing water is often particularly dangerous.

"Any ice is not really walkable yet," Lee said. "I would say be very careful going on any ice and check it as you are going."

Cass County Sheriff Tom Burch said there is no ice that should ever be considered truly safe.

"This time of year, being on the ice is very dangerous," Burch said. "We don't consider any ice safe, especially this time of the year."

The seven-day forecast for the Brainerd lakes area does not bode well for ice formation. The National Weather Service reports high temperatures above freezing each day through Friday. Most area lakes remain open and ice forming overnight as temperatures dip will likely melt again over the course of the day.

Recommended guidelines from the DNR—for new, clear ice only—are to avoid walking on ice until it's 4 inches thick. Five inches is recommended for snowmobiles or all-terrain vehicles and 8 to 12 inches must be formed before cars or small pickup trucks should go on the ice. A medium-sized pickup truck should have 12 to 15 inches of ice beneath it.

Old ice, which often appears white, is half as strong as new, clear ice, the DNR reports, and recommended thicknesses should be doubled.


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Offline glenn57

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heard on small shallow lakes up and around grand rapids there was 3 1/2 inches. big lakes still open. stood pretty accurate when I drove home from the 3rd weekend of deer hunting.
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Offline corny13

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4-5" ice Central Nodak.. First fish of season buddy and I caught 6 Nort and 3 eyes..0 Perch

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Offline glenn57

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46 DEGREES HERE TODAY and my brother sends me a text..........fishing from his boat..............ARGGGGG!!!!!!
2015 deer slayer!!!!!!!!!!

Offline Boar

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My god, you mean theres more than one of you?? :rotflmao:
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Offline deadeye

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I was out at the land yesterday and was able to walk on the frozen swamp.  Now, mind you, if I fell through, I would only get a wet foot.  I saw where a deer had taken the easy route to cross a swamp but walking on the ice near the dam.  The deer made it about 30 yards before breaking through.  It looked like it made it back to the dam by breaking the ice.
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Offline Lee Borgersen

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46 DEGREES HERE TODAY and my brother sends me a text..........fishing from his boat..............ARGGGGG!!!!!!

Was dis yer brudder :doah:

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Offline glenn57

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46 DEGREES HERE TODAY and my brother sends me a text..........fishing from his boat..............ARGGGGG!!!!!!

Was dis yer brudder :doah:
nope we are a rough and tough group
 No sissy fishing with us!
2015 deer slayer!!!!!!!!!!

Offline glenn57

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My god, you mean theres more than one of you?? :rotflmao:
:happy1: :rotflmao:yep and I be the good one of the bunch.
2015 deer slayer!!!!!!!!!!

Offline Boar

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nooooo, im possitive your in the shallow end of the gene pool. call you cotton, what your head is stuffed with. :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:
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Offline glenn57

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drove past the horseshoe chain by Richmond. lotz of thick fog so I couldn't see out very far. but I did see a fair amount of open water. stopped by the acess of browns lake and that had open water!
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Offline glenn57

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drove past the chain again....there where 2 guys fishing from shore!!!!!!!! :bonk: :bonk: :bonk: :doah:
2015 deer slayer!!!!!!!!!!

Offline corny13

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A buddy of mine told me they had to get the airboats out on Red lake today for some rescue..... :bonk:

Offline Retired on Osakis

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Sitting at the table eating breakfast Saturday morning and I could see what looked like a white wheel house being pulled into the parking area at the Battle Point access. Took the spotting scope to take a look and there was two of them there. The other house was red. They sat there for 20 minutes or so and then left. May have been some wishful thinking going on. Looked out a little later and saw some guys in a boat fishing. Maybe they took their wheel houses home and got out the boat.

Offline corny13

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Offline Onin24Eagle

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Whoever wrote the story needs to brush up on their geography.  They attached a sattelite photo showing that "most of upper red lake was open water".  Actually, most of LOWER red lake was open, but you can see the big crack on upper red in the photo.

I'll be sticking with the small local lakes around here that have 5-7 inches for a few weeks.  Hopefully upper red will be good to go by January.
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Offline Lee Borgersen

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Most of the deep lakes in the Bemidji area froze over last weekend, but unseasonably warm temperatures continue. Ice conditions vary greatly between lakes, depending on how long each lake has been frozen.
 



 







Most large lakes freeze in sections, with shallow bays freezing sooner than the deep bays or other deeper sections of the lake.

Leech Lake is a perfect example of this, with the shallow bays like Boy Bay, Steamboat Bay, Sucker Bay and Portage Bay freezing much faster than the deep bays like Walker Bay, Kabekona Bay and Agency Bay.

Lakes like Bemidji can also freeze in sections, even though the lake is not separated into bays. The southeast portion of Lake Bemidji freezes first, and a few deep holes along the west shore are the last parts of the lake to freeze.


Lake Irving is connected to Lake Bemidji, but it is much shallower and acts much like a separate bay. Lake Irving freezes at least one week sooner than Lake Bemidji and is one of the first lakes ready for ice fishing each year, while Lake Bemidji is one of the last.

The quality of the ice is important when it comes to how much ice is needed for ice fishing. White cloudy ice that is choppy and bumpy is much weaker than ice that is smooth and clear. The ice conditions for much of the winter can be determined by how the ice forms early in the season.

With the lakes freezing at different times, some lakes like Upper Red Lake froze choppy along the shoreline; while other lakes froze so smooth they look like glass.


The ice has to stay ahead of the snowfall as it forms. If too much snow falls on the ice before the ice is strong enough to hold the weight, there could be slush problems most of the winter.

Most lakes closer to Bemidji only got a couple inches of snow this past week, but there are other lakes in the greater Bemidji area that got four or more inches of new snow. It is unclear at this point if some lakes got more snow than their ice can hold.

Anglers have started ice fishing on a few of the shallow lakes, including Upper Red Lake, which has been opened up for foot traffic out of some of the resorts.

The walleye limit changed on Upper Red Lake on Dec. 1. The new limit is three walleyes, with two walleyes under 17 inches and one walleye over 17 inches allowed in a limit of fish.

There are very few lakes in the Bemidji area that have more than five inches of ice. Most lakes have three inches of ice or less, which is not enough to support anglers.


Anglers should not be so anxious to get on the lakes before the ice is thick enough. There will be plenty of time for ice fishing this winter, even if the combined effects of global warming and El Nino make this a mild winter.

The lakes are slowly making ice, despite the unseasonably warm temperatures. There is a net gain in ice thickness as long as the temperatures are below freezing for longer than they are above freezing during a 24-hour period.

Unfortunately for those who want ice more quickly, the extended forecast is predicting temperatures in the upper 30s and low 40s next week, with no colder temperatures on the immediate horizon.

Some anglers will still go out on the lakes even if there is little margin for error when it comes to ice thickness. Anglers can add a degree of safety by wearing a life jacket with a set of ice picks around their neck, so the picks are right where they need to be in an emergency.

A set of Ice picks only cost about $5, but they are such an important safety item for ice fishing that some winter clothing manufacturers put a set of ice picks right into the collar of their jackets.

Everyone who ice fishes should have a set of ice picks and wear them whenever they are on the ice.
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Offline glenn57

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drove past the horseshoe chain, she's all froze up again. even most of the river!
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Offline Retired on Osakis

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Osakis locked up last night. One person out ice fishing this afternoon.

Offline glenn57

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well with reports of ice getting better I broke down this morning and purchased my shelter and spearing license!!!!!!!!!!!!! is it dec 30th yet?????
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Offline Retired on Osakis

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There are three spear houses that went up just north of me on Monday and another guy brought one out today in the same area.

Offline Lee Borgersen

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Ice is forming on Lake Minnetonka but there are still spots with open water.(Photo: Heidi Wigdahl, KARE)


GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. - Several Minnesota lakes are close to setting records for latest ice in dates.

"I do expect some records to be broken. We're approaching the date now and we're anticipating pretty warm weather continuing for the next week or so," said Bill Borghoff, senior meteorologist for National Weather Service in the Twin Cities.

"El Niño is a big factor. El Niño causes the polar jet stream to remain further north and the subtropical jet to remain further south. So we're kind of caught in between the really warm air down in the south and the really cold air to the north," Borghoff explained.

Each lake has its own criteria for an ice in and ice out. According to Borghoff, some need 75 percent covered in ice while others need 100 percent.

"We have a lot of winter left unfortunately so all the lakes will freeze over," Borghoff said.

Lake Harriet's latest ice in date was Dec. 31, 2001. Sunday, only the fringes of the lake had a thin layer of ice. The median ice in date for Lake Harriet is Dec. 10.

"Well usually there's ice fishing houses out and we can actually walk on the lake which is really cool because then I can take the dog, you can take them on the lake," said Bridget Sivanich, who lives near the lake.

Dennis Grande has lived near Lake Harriet for more than 60 years.

"Ever since I was a kid there was a speed skating, oval here on the lake with a warming house here and there'd be 150 kids skating around here at this time," he recalled.

Borghoff is reminding people that once the lakes do freeze over, people should wait to walk on the lakes or ice fish until there is at least four inches of ice. Snowmobiles or ATVs need at least five inches of ice, whereas a car or small pickup needs eight inches to a foot, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
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