Is anybody still ice fishing?

[HD]

I'm going out tommorrow to check ice..... 

Is anybody still out fishing?

[nub1walleyeman]

I was just out yesterday on a small lake north west of park rapids the ice was good but won't last to long with the weather  the fishing was great crappies where on the chomp just use common sense if you go and enjoy the weather

[Retired on Osakis]

Officially declaring my season ended. Maybe next winter it will actually get 

[HD]

Yup, it's official....I'm done.

Ice is in poor shape, should be open water by next weekend. 

[dakids]

Went out this morning.  Had 10-12 inches of bad ice.  Fished sat. all day.  Started the day with 18 inches and by night fall we had 12 -14.  We tried taking the quad out but it was out 10 feet and broke through.  the edges were very bad and I was pretty confident the quad wasn't going to get to the good ice.  We put out a dock section and we were on the ice.  We had great fishing.  we caught our limits of sunnies.  All we kept were 8 plus inchers.  I hit a couple of holes that gave up some jumbos.  6 were 12 inchers.  We stopped counting the pike and bass at 15 each by noon.  we also lost a few of the sunnies to pike before we got them out of the hole.  I had a 38 inch pike up to the hole 3 times before it broke  my line.  My buddy caught it 15 min. later with my jig still in its lip.  Thought about snapping a mno ifc because i tired it out first but figured it would be disalowed by the hanging judges.

[9MM]

Ice went out on West Norway Lake today!

[Desperado]

Was on West Rush (Chisago county)thursday 3/15; sixteen inches of good ice under a couple inches of foamy ice

Was on Leech friday 3/16; twenty-two inches of good ice under several inches of slush

Rush yielded one nice sunny, one nice perch and several just-keeper perch

Leech yielded one true jumbo perch and half a dozen nice perch

























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[glenn57]

i was out up by talmoon/bowstring area sat. had 20 inches of ice. the auger made it into chunks, but yep done with ice fishin. tonite go get the boat!

[Desperado]

March 22 - 26 making a swing through the Vermillion area and the Bowstring area

The only ice gear that's been put away for the season is the parka and bibs

the premier part of the hardwater season is illustrated by ... hole hopping while dressed in a flannel shirt and jogging pants

[deadeye]

I biked around Big Lake today.  Not a sign of ice.  Water looks like June.  Waves were refreshing. 

[HD]

The lake that I was on yesterday (Sunday) is now open.
Drove by East Rush, and that's open.
Stopped by the store, and they told me some guys went through on West yesterday.

So, I guess I either head North, or get the boat ready....  :fishing2:

[glenn57]

i'd be gettin the boat ready  or head WAYYYYYYYYYYY  NORTH. like northern canada! ice wasnt looking all to good up north deer river area yesterday when i drove home from up there!

[Desperado]

Jigglestick and Bro were both on the ice today; not together though, two different lakes.
They're both scouting/monitoring spots for this weekend.
I'd bet there's a better than 50/50 shot of us gettin' out somewhere within northern MN

[corny13]

Just got back from the weekend at Lake Winnipeg... its over... ...Iceheaves fell on Sunday, edges were beginning to go...Im sure the west side is gone today, suppose to rain tonight...drove across North Dakota today...lakes people were icefishing on Thursday are now totally open.  Putting the Snobear up for the Spring....    Here is a pic from Saturday having a fish fry on the ice....

[glenn57]

good luck..........and be safe.

[Desperado]

Been watching the Williams Narrows Webcam
I could have driven across it all day today

still hanging on a  and a 

[jigglestick]

if, big IF the ice holds on by tamarac bay, we have to go there. the perch are absolutely suicidal right now.

[Desperado]

jumbos are great
footballs are even better

but some slabbers would be the ultimate

'course a few bulls would be exciting too

jeez, being on the ice this time of year and trying to decide what to chase is like findin' yerself in the boobie bar with only a couple of dollar bills

[Desperado]

Packing clothes and gear tonight
leaving tomorrow to search for scary ice in northcentral Minnesota
I'm so pumped, I'll probably have trouble going to sleep tonight

[Desperado]

send off message I received from a good friend this morning
Send me down the highway
show me a thin ice sign
and I'll take it to the limit
one more time

[Desperado]

3/23/12 Friday morning
went to a 300 acre lake
had to float about 80 yards of open water to get to crappy ice
had to bust about 50 feet of crappy ice to get up onto scary ice
drove around on about 10 acres of ice that was all surrounded by slush
couldn't make it to the crappie hole which was surrounded by slush and broken chunks

went back to shore, ate lunch, and headed elsewhere

[Desperado]

3/23/12 Friday afternoon
went to a 600 acre lake
only had to float across 25 feet of open water and hopped right up onto the ice
drove halfway across the lake and we were on the crappie hole
couldn't get out and walk on the ice, so jigged over the side of the hull
as we sat there the ice would sag and within a half hour we'd be sitting in a "bowl" about 20 feet diameter with 8 inches of water in it; but we could sit there and the ice wouldn't break
however, as soon we'd try to drive out of the bowl the ice would bust while we tried to climb up the edges of the bowl to the flat surface of ice at the brim of the bowl

crappies bit from half hour before sunset to an hour after sunset
bucket full of 12 to 14 inchers

[Desperado]

3/24/12 Saturday
Looked a three accesses to Winni
floated across 20 yards of open water
busted through 10 yards of crap
drove across half a mile of scary ice
got to 10 inches of good ice, drove a mile on that
met a resort owner who was out there with an airboat
sight fished perch with him in 8 feet of water
we could tell by watching the bottom of the lake that the ice was moving

got a limit of footballs

[Desperado]

3/25/12 Sunday
Looked at a couple accessed on Bowstring
Lots of open water ... Lots of slush

Went back to Winni
trolled around in the 100 yards of open water between the shore and the ice
tried to climb up on the ice ... broke through about 20 feet of crappy ice
got up on marginal ice ... drove about 15 feet on the ice, and broke through again
got back up again ... broke in again ... took photos in that spot; right next to piled up ice from Saturday night's wind (piled up about 20 feet high)
went to the Gosh-Dam place to have dinner with friends from the area

What a weekend
Shreddin' Ice and Rippin' Lips

[Desperado]

It's gettin' late
will post some pics tomorrow

A big thanks to Jigglestick for being our host on shore and our guide on the lakes