Near Squaw Lake,MN there is enough ice to fish CAREFULLY! A friend came over today, and we checked the ice. 5", so he went out. I was repairing a garage door opener☹️. After a successuful repair, I took the 4-wheeler along shore and then walked out in time to see him catch a nice walleye at 2#. I went home to get my gear ready for tomorrow. On the way out I had broken through close to shore in some thick weeds, so I avoided that spot on the way back. Only to end up going through in about 2 ft of water. Or one foot and a foot of loonshit. Stepped off the machine onto the ice, took two steps and went through. Buddy heard me go thru and called my wife to check on me. .i was on a mission to get out of the wet clothes!

We hooked a winch onto the at and it is now drying out. Tomorrows fishing will be cut short, as it will get an oil change and whatever else it need to get going again.

The moral of the story is be careful. Ice thickness varies from almost 6" out in the open to 1" by large clumps of weeds. In the area where the atv went in the ice was uneven, 1-2" thick.even while wandering around to get the atv out, I broke through several times.

Be safe!

Discretion is the better part of valor.

Live to fish another day.

The saga continues. The ice measures 6-8 inches, which should be safe for pedestrians. Yesterday they rescued 50 people off UpperRed Lake. Three were rescued by boat, the others walked off after search and rescued made a bridge. Apparently the wind on the open water cracked the ice and caused it to drift away from the rest of the pack.

The resort that allowed these fisherman onto the lake has closed their access at least until Monday. And no wheel houses on the ice until Christmas. County sherif says don't go on the ice. We are forecast to have below freezing weather for the rest of the week. Will report ice thickness this weekend

Yeah but now we have a fresh blanket of fluffy white insulation over the sketchy ice.

Horrible year for ice fishermen.

Isn't he that white rapper?

You know, cruising down A1A in his five-oh, with his 9?

You are thinking of "Busta lefse."

Notorious Norwegian rhyme master.

White, but not fluffy. Heavy wet snow. Most of the really thin ice was slushy this am; the solid ice had white snow on it. Maybe not so bad after all. The next two days are supposed to be really cold, so hopefully we will get solid enough ice to fish this weekend.

Finally got back on the ice today. Found 2" where I put the atv thru. Maximum I found anywhere was 5". Even walked to where the ice never melted. . Still 5", and much less near shore.

The moral is check the ice as you go. I saw a 4-wheeler out yesterday. I will keep mine much closer to shore where I can easily retrieve it if something bad happens. .

We went out over New Years and had about 12-14" of ice everywhere I checked. There was a large ice heave that ran a couple kilometers across the lake as well. I didn't check that area, but guys were driving trucks and pulling ice shacks out. An inch or two of snow on black ice. I stuck to the 4 wheeler. Came close to going through with the truck once and got nervous ever since.

Fishing was slow. Lots on the camera but not much of size. Kept the kids entertained though.

SS

My oldest boy has been fishing lake of the woods with his girlfriend. Taking atv and portable house.

these are his photos I stole off facebook.







Meanwhile my wife and I took our youngest boy out to a smaller lake to try some dark house spearing. Neither Joey or Pam had ever thrown the spear before. We only had one opportunity and Joey had the spear at the moment.







The ice is really late this year but we are managing to get out on it a little now.

Dave:

Looks like you have lots of white meat! And got the family out too. I got out yesterday and got four nice perch and a small pike. Need to post a few pics, but had to watch the vikes in prime time! Hope to get some video today; yesterday the wife stole my vest which had the recorder remote on it, which I remembered only after getting setup. My buddy was spearing and got 5 - we can take 9 under 22" here. Ice was only 7" thick, and I still have a 2" spot right in front of my place. Broke through right next to shore two days ago, and it still hasn't frozen over yet.

They dumped a half ton truck in Red Lake yesterday, and there are rumors of a couple more. Also broke a truck through the ice on Round lake, but it hit bottom in about 2 ft. Check carefully everywhere you go. Im a 4 wheel in man until we get some more ice, then I'm going with the snowmobile, and leaving the truck on shore!

Good luck all!

Sam

You are in Alberta? Send some of that cold down here. Still waiting for a call that we can get onto Lake Winnipeg. People are getting out, but the ice there is really variable too.

Fred

I went through red lake (town) yesterday, I passed along the south side and on up the west side of lower red. There were a couple trucks out on the west side of red. I imagine trucks sometimes fall through unreported around there.

Artificial reefs? Lol.

I wanted to post some pics from Sunday, but I doubt you need to see my thumb or index finger. . It sucks to be dumber than a smart phone.

Yesterday was slow, got two perch and a small northern. No underwater video, as each fish flew in and chowed. Much more fun when the say grace!

Supposed to get cold this weekend. Hopefully that will make enuf ice to get out where I hope the fish are, because they don't seem to be where we are fishing!

Fred

I'd love to join you folks fishin' hard water.
Later this winter perhaps?

Dave, what do you do with the hammer handles?

Well sir, when an eleven year old boy spears a hammer handle...

You clean the slimy little cuss and cook it for the boy, all the while bragging about how nice a fish it is and "oh boy this is going to be good huh?".

of course its good! Until he wants the spear and you are outside! i mentioned smoking/canning the little ones. Another option is to run them thru a food processor and make patties out of them. Let the little guy run the processor and add the seasoning. And when he gets tall enough to see over the stove he can cook them for you!

Little northerns like that are great for pickling too

That is where that CCW comes in handy...

I don't get it?














Lol, yes I damn sure do.

Hey Fred,

Sorry, I replied but it didn't upload I guess. I was fishing northern Sask, but here in Alberta the ice is thinner. We are having a cold snap now, so I suspect we are probably building ice now. There has been limited snow cover so the ice we have is nice and black. Southern parts of the province are still sitting at 8-10" from what I hear.

SS

cool pics!

been quite a few years since i ice fished in the mid west. used to carry two screw drivers attached with a ft foot piece of string over my back in case i fell threw during early ice or would scoot the grumman canoe out on the ice with one foot in the canoe and one on the ice.nlol

young and dumb. used to see quite a few trucks go through the ice every year.

Sam

Looks like those folks in northern Canada are finally sharing some of their cold air. We are about to get below 0(our degrees) for the first time. . That should make us some safe ice. Hope it works in your country too! Unless you are using a hand auger😬