Minnesota Ice Fishing Season Starts Friday!
Updated 12/5/2013
It’s GO TIME!
The first day of our 2013-2014 Minnesota ice fishing season starts tomorrow! We have 11-12 inches of ice were we travel and fish from the south shore (Sportsman’s Lodge Rainy River location) at this time and making more as I type, the thermometer currently reads 5 below and the week ahead looks like we will get a lot of the same! Our Oak Island property reports 4-8 inches of ice. They plan to open up in 7-10 days or so.
Snow
We did get some snow yesterday, about 8-10 inches on the south shore and 5 inches up at Oak Island and the Northwest Angle. Will this affect the ice? In a sense yes, it will slow the building down a bit, but we do not anticipate it slowing it down very much. It sounds like we did not get nearly the snow as most of the state. We measured that we made an inch of ice within the past 36 hours. Most of the snow has been blowing around the past few days. There are areas with 3 foot drifts and areas with bare ice. Like always we have a few slush spots and areas of caution, but we do every year. That is normal. Rest assured we check ice at least a few times daily and safety is always our first priority. If you do plan to venture out on your own, we suggest making sure you know where you are going and staying on marked trails.
For reservations and more information call 800-862-8602 or log on to www.sportsmanslodges.com. We still have openings for this weekend.
Forecast Looks Cold!
Highs in the twenties today and tomorrow we are going to start dipping below zero for the week ahead. Perfect for ice making! We are getting some snow now and it sounds like a possibility of another 3-5 inches tomorrow.
**Please keep in mind we only report in the areas we travel and fish. The entire lake does not freeze equally. If you venture out on your own, know where you are going and stay on the marked trail. Safety first!**
Ice Roads
The ice road near Wheeler’s Point/Four Mile Bay access has 8 inches of ice and is allowing ATV’s and snowmobiles at this time and through the weekend.