Put a fork in it....

[esox_xtm]

Had good ice on Plum near Sayner last W/E though we did find a couple spots with 12" that was little more than mush. I was afraid to even stand on it. Supposed to go on Green Bay for whiteys Saturday but I'm doubting that will happen and we had a last chance ice deal with some guys at work scheduled for March 5th. Definitely not gonna happen...

Despite my best intentions and options to fish year round ice just won't support that (pun intended  )

Time to blow the fog out of the outboard and get ready for the soft stuff.

[bigstorm]

Hitting Fox Lake on Saturday, heard there is still plenty of good ice as of this afternoon (15"+) so it will be good enough for Saturday. Not sure about where to go Sunday, but guessing this will be the last weekend of having multiple options on where to go

[Madgill]

Ha, put a fork in it, it's done! A short season, was good early for me, but tough to let go! I took Friday off, will poke around the Madison lakes a bit to see if there is any somewhat safe ice, going light, no shanty, just a bucket, Vexilar, augar & pole (old style). Will wear the flotation vest with picks handy and stick close to shore. Will hit it early, Lake Farm, Cherokee, maybe Monona Bay. Late ice can be hot, will see what happens in the morning! Just gotta get it outta my system and put the season to rest.

[boder]

Had good ice on Plum near Sayner last W/E though we did find a couple spots with 12" that was little more than mush. I was afraid to even stand on it. Supposed to go on Green Bay for whiteys Saturday but I'm doubting that will happen and we had a last chance ice deal with some guys at work scheduled for March 5th. Definitely not gonna happen...

Despite my best intentions and options to fish year round ice just won't support that (pun intended  )

Time to blow the fog out of the outboard and get ready for the soft stuff.

I am going to Green Bay this Saturday as well. Everything I read, ice should b fine. Not driving truck out and probably leaving the atv at home too.

[Ice Surveyor]

Hitting Fox Lake on Saturday, heard there is still plenty of good ice as of this afternoon (15"+) so it will be good enough for Saturday. Not sure about where to go Sunday, but guessing this will be the last weekend of having multiple options on where to go

I fished Fox last night.  Still driving trucks on the ice most everywhere.  I'm sure we'll start to see less ice after today.  Good luck.

[esox_xtm]

Junior spoke with the guide last night (we're renting a shack) and he says we're good to go. Looks like I'll have some whiteys to stack in along side of the pike I brought home last week. 

[52isntbigenough]

I'm heading up to my place on Palmer/Tenderfoot on Tuesday night. 40's won't kill too much ice and by next weekend it's supposed to be in the 30's, so we should be good. I expect traveling on the ATV will be fine. I gotta pop some holes with the new K-Drill set up.

[eriksat1]

Still driving our trucks on 20" of ice here today near Hayward. I could tell the ice was getting softer while drilling. But going to be getting cold again by next Thursday lows in the lower teens again. We are not going to lose much ice. Yea it gets warm for about 7 hours but cold again for 17 hours a day.

[matt12]

only problem i see is the top half of the ice is old frozen snow/slush. with little to no strength after these temps. still a good 10-12'' of solid stuff underneath.
 we will be fine, just hoping it melts down to the point where people cant take trucks on anymore. relieves some of the pressure off the lakes then 

[bigstorm]

Had good ice on Fox Lake and Lake WI (in the bays, river channel had open holes as of yesterday). I dont think the shorelines will be good enough to walk on by this weekend.

[eriksat1]

We had very little snow this year over here. We never really had much slush at all on the ice, but I will admit the top 10" is starting to look white, bottom 10" still pretty clear ice. Raining today and 47* two more days ahead near 50* I probably won't be driving the truck out anymore until it gets cold and firms up the top half of the ice again. Cold on the way again starting Thursday night.

[gutshot_again]

Junior spoke with the guide last night (we're renting a shack) and he says we're good to go. Looks like I'll have some whiteys to stack in along side of the pike I brought home last week. 

So how did it go?  We were there this past weekend also, just north of Red River.  Got out on Saturday and did OK.  Crossed a 2 foot crack to go though.  Crack was 2 inches when we came off.  Also rented a shack.

Sunday the crack was 5 foot and getting wider.  All guides cancelled the day and were pulling shacks off the ice.  Said it was the end of the season with the wind and rain coming.

[esox_xtm]

We worked pretty hard for our 12 fish but half were 19-20". The presentation was a very different one for us so it took a while to get it down and even then we only were able to land 1 of six; light bites, getting off on the way up or at the hole were issues. I fared better than junior with better hooksets and a little longer rod  to manage the fight  . We were in 65 feet jiggling a jigging Rap in the mud. Raising more than 6" off the bottom was wasted effort and no fish came on the slider. All the biggest fish were packed with gobies.

Guide was optimistic that thing would stiffen up and maybe be able to fish into March 

[eriksat1]

Raining again today the ice is going to hell fast! I can't believe this weather it's like its April. I think the trees are going to start budding.

[guthook1]

Pulled the fish houses yesterday off Nebagamon.  Still sufficient ice for fishing,  just not for driving on. Ice is getting dull and dark.   Gonna be walkouts or ATV's from now on.

[eriksat1]

I'm heading out in a little while very cautiously with a spud bar. I think it should be safe enough for a snowmobile but not until I make sure first. We had almost 20" last Sunday I really don't know what we might have now. I will report back tonight.

[eriksat1]

Was out yesterday afternoon, ice conditions were good, 15" of hard ice, no water or slush on top or snow for that matter. Ice cleats a must. The top few inches looks a little honeycombed but bottom 8" looks like good solid ice. I bet you could still drive a truck on it except for along shore is wet and a truck would probably break through trying to get on the lake. We lost about almost 5" of ice, not too bad for all the rain and warm weather we had. Good news it is going down to 10* tonight, and all the snow has missed us here, nothing as far as snow as of now. Fishing was slow but I did manage 6 nice big perch one has to be 12" and one nice crappie. Looks to me like we have a lot of ice season left here. There were 4 wheeler atv's running all over the ice. I never even heard the ice so much as crack.

[sckoolman]

Just finished an afternoon of fishing in the Hayward area and found the ice to be exactly the same as eriksat1 (15 inches, pretty good ice).  No problem for side by side UTV and it would probably be ok for vehicles.  Lots of cracking (high pucker effect).  Also caught six really nice perch and a walleye.  Had to work for all of them.

[eriksat1]

Caught 8 nice crappie this afternoon, and actually parked my truck on the ice just off the landing. The ice is still good here, I'm sure it would have been no problem driving out. Yes the ice was cracking loud, making ice again.

[52isntbigenough]

I drove up to Vilas on Tues afternoon to 63 degrees, drove home today at 17. Fished Wed to mid 40s, rain moved in the afternoon and it poured all day and that turned into 5" of snow I did catch a muskie twice. Clear skies thurs saw highs in the mid 30s and and the fishing really kicked in. I limited on eyrs, catching 7 total with 1 at about 25. Storm rolled in friday dumping 8-10" of snow shutting me down. Woke up today to 25mph winds and more snow so I put all the gear away, cleaned up and drove home.

Ice conditions were perfect. 1" of soft ice ontop of14-18" of hard clear ice. Shorelines were just starting to open, but sealed up by thursday night. Very little slush made moving and set up a breeze. The folks at K-Drill have to start thinking of a 9". Had a hard time getting the musky up to dehook and really had to squeeze the 25" eye through.

[esox_xtm]

A friend and his bunch are headed up to Lando on Thursday for a long weekend. I get to work.... We'll see how that report develops.

Closer to home I can launch my boat just about anywhere right now.

[eriksat1]

The ice will be fine, I'm still parking my truck on the ice near the boat landing. A good 15" yet and going down to zero tomorrow night.

[52isntbigenough]

A friend and his bunch are headed up to Lando on Thursday for a long weekend. I get to work.... We'll see how that report develops.

Closer to home I can launch my boat just about anywhere right now.

I'm a huge Boundary Waters fisherman. I spend my entire winter on the Cisco Chain, although I buy a MI license every year, the Boundary Waters close on March 1, even though WI closes the first Sunday of March and MI closes the 15th. I've emailed both the WI and MI DNR's with no response as to why. I'd be up for sure this weekend if they didn't close.

[esox_xtm]

Sigh.... two years and I can move to Three Lakes putting me within striking distance of decent ice into March again. Let's hope the GW thing doesn't progress too quickly so I can't benefit from the move.

My friends do Black Oak, Palmer and Tenderfoot that are not boundary waters. I know when I move my boat will be on a trailer, not in the water. Or.... I have two rigs, one in the water and the other ready to travel. 

Thanks for the updates 52 and erik! Gotta love the Shanty!

/m

[RapShack]

Still guys fishing on Lake Onalaska as of this morning. 

[eriksat1]

Plenty of good ice left here. Had minus -4 (f) this morning. I havent been out and drilled a hole yet since the high wind but I am guessing still well over 12" of ice or more. I didn't see any shoreline opened up yet on the lakes I drive by. I will be out this weekend.

[esox_xtm]

Thanks for the update guys. Don't know if I'll make it that far.

One more week here and I'll blow the fogging oil out and start looking at the rivers for walleyes and the few lakes we have in the area that are open year round for, well, probably pike but I'm not beyond some early season crappies either (Ican do that anywhere).

[52isntbigenough]

If I don't work at all this weekend at Gander, I'm heading up for some perch.

[esox_xtm]

If I don't work at all this weekend at Gander, I'm heading up for some perch.

Ahhhh, lucky dog! 

[52isntbigenough]

Not so lucky, we're one of the two WI stores closing and we have a ton of work to do. I'm heading up April 1st weekend.