Ice conditions

[Catfish]

How's the ice conditions? Is it thick enough to drive on? Any good fishing action? Will be up Thursday evening to fish Friday, Saturday & Sunday.
Any input appreciated!

Catfish

[RodBend'r]

Overall things have firmed up nicely. Yes, some trucks out here and there off Springstead landing. Ice thickness varied though, in spots 13"-18". Some small slush pockets and heard the south end by Beaver Flats was still iffy and slushy. Walleye's have been going good as of late also. Heard from the creel survey guy that people have been catching nice crappies and perch on the cribs.

Good luck!

[pocho]

I was up Saturday night and drove out with my truck a few hundred yards because the ice in some areas was a little questionable on the flowage area where I fish. Still had some slush areas with 8 inches of ice. Most areas were 14 plus. The east wind made the bite a little slower than expected, did catch a couple eyes and perch though. Will try to get up every weekend and hope the bite improves which I'm sure it will.

Mark

[MuskieRandy]

Last weekend the ice was very thick; I didn't measure it, but seemed like over 20". Could not find slush anywhere. Just a couple inches of snow on top. Trucks and vehicles all over the place.

[luv2brw]

Has all that warm weather the last week or so started to break up the ice oh so early?

[SLEDHEAD]

any updates?

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

Ice went out today. Now pray for rain.

www.flambeauvista.com

[MuskieRandy]

So now we can say "it went out in March in 2010" (just barely made it!) Any old timers remember an earlier ice-out, or is this a record??

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

It is my understanding that this is a new record with the old record being April 7.

www.flambeauvista.com

[Mark Benson]

Wow!!!

Mark

[rgv]

so hows the flowage after toodays rain?
was planning on taking the shack out today but when it started to rain I decided to wait awhile longer. also was thinking of going out on the sled but after reading the ride from hell decided againsy that too. I feel stuck .guess the xmas present from the kids will get a workout Wii
rgv

[Birdoguy]

Quite wet today, after rain and 40 degree temps for two days. About half of the snow has melted with areas of the lake (not the flowage) showing water on top of ice. FF and Popkos are showing some blacktop again. Sounds like the cold front coming in tomorrow will change things some.

[Bobber Down]

I'm coming up next weekend. Just wondering what travel conditions are like from Fisherman's Landing since I only have a minivan for transportation. Thanks in advance for any responses.

[MuskieRandy]

Anybody know what the ice thickness or quality is? Tiny, are you there?

[Don Pemble]

I was out there this AM and there was about 24 inches or so, but it is melting fast and pulling away from shore. Had no problem going out but when I came off I was breaking thru the top layer, this will be my last day out there until I get in the boat.

[BlueRanger]

About 4" of slush on top of the ice today. Went up to Black River Harbor this morning, and there were about a dozen boats out and another 2 dozen or so guys fishing from the harbor breakwalls. Talked to a few who said they've been getting fish this week, but the shore fishing conditions are less than ideal with a a lot of snow on the lake sides of the breakwalls preventing people from getting down on the rocks near the water - I couldn't imagine how you'd land a fish if you hooked one, unless you walked it all the way in to the beach. Made a few casts and headed for the waterfalls. Will post photos tomorrow, including some new panoramas I shot in Minocqua and at the waterfalls.

River flow at Park Falls is way down and the Manitowish, Bear and Turtle are full to their banks, but the TFF still seems to be dropping. Hope for big rains!

[MuskieRandy]

Yesterday MODIS showed that Horseshoe was iced out. Anybody know how the rest of the flowage is?

[The Tiny Fisherman]

On the west end by Donners, saturday the ice was moving and going fast. With temps in the 30's didn't help too much. It's about a quarter gone.

[Tom502]

It's late on Sunday afternoon and about 1/2 of the old Baraboo Lake basin is ice free. Lot of change in the past couple of days - the big winds have really moved ice-out along.

[MuskieRandy]

Nice clear MODIS picture today. Looks like west and central TFF are still ice. Horseshoe and south part of "South Sea" are open.

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

We have open water about 40 yard out in Lake Bastine in front of our cabins. There is open water almost half way out from Joe Millers Resort.

[BlueRanger]

The 4/18 16:33 satellite pass got a good shot.

http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/modis/modis.cgi/modis?region=s&page=1

[Chico]

someone said there's still ice does someone have an eyeball on it? down by lake bastine?

[The Tiny Fisherman]

The Bastine Lake area still is more than half covered in ice. With temps below freezing doesn't help.

[rockinchair]

One would expect Bastine to be one of the last to open up. It's deep and will obviously warm slower than the shallower areas of the Flowage. It would be interesting to know the water temps of Bastine and the out flow from the dam.

[Chico]

Should we start a new post for Ice out 2011?

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

Chico, as I look out my window at Lake Bastine, it looks like ice will be out by tomorrow or Sunday. The South end is open and what is left to the North is quite thin and black.

Rockinchair, take a look at the water level thread and it will tell you the discharge (currently at 306 cfs and water level at 1570.44, so about 1.5 feet below full pool).

[SLEDHEAD]

any pics......?

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

Sorry Sledhead, I'm not that techno savvy to post pics; however, I'm pleased to announce that we have Ice Out on Lake Bastine thanks to the wind and rain this past hour. Since it is supposed to rain all night, I'm sure the entire TFF will be ice free by tomorrow. Now what will we talk about? Maybe fishing?

[MuskieRandy]

Yep, Bastine is out, but the area east of Bastine and just west of Big Island is still ice, with about 3 inches of non-honeycomb ice. Obviously though, it should be all out by the opener.

[The Tiny Fisherman]

Went to the dam Sunday afternoon and it was clear of ice south and north. Bastine still did have some ice on it, as did the area going north (going north towards the pink rock).

We got about six inches of snow on Saturday.

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

A large sheet of ice blew into the southern end of Lake Bastine on Saturday with the snowstorm just to prove me wrong on the "ice-out" report. Oh well, anybody got a good recipe for crow?!

[The Tiny Fisherman]

Here ya go,

Ingredients
16 pieces of crow breast meat (no bones) (8 crows)
16 pieces of green pepper
16 cherry tomatoes
8 button mushrooms
8 ears of sweet corn
1 1/2 cups of Teriyaki sauce
1/2 cup melted butter
8 kabob skewers

[Chico]

Has anyone seen the new lake maps yet, I can't remember the name of the company that was mapping the flowage a year ago. Are they available yet?

With the ice moving out slow like this, maybe opening weekend will be good. So I can spend $250 in gas to get, what, 2 walleye a day! Make that $300, I forgot boat gas...

[St Croix Kid]

lakemaster has a chip so I imagine they have the map.. used it last fall. amazing.

[Chico]

I found it for $90, for Garmin. Looks like it has a lot of detail with 1 foot contour, wonder what the water level was when they took the readings?

You can see an example of it on the Garmin On the water web site.

Has anyone been up to Lake of Falls spotting yet? I assume all the ice is off now?

[BlueRanger]

Lakemaster surveyed in late June, 2008. Based on photographs I took at the time, the water level appeared to be a foot or less below full pool. The Humminbird version actually has a lake level offset so you can calibrate the contour lines to match the water level.

They still haven't printed a paper version. I'm sure the profit margins are much higher on the chips, so they probably won't unless they get enough requests for it.

[MuskieRandy]

As of 12-3-11 ice was 2.75" thick near shore, where the ice was not covered with snow. Out from shore, the snow covered areas were much thinner, maybe a little over 1 inch. With last night's snow, everything is covered up, I would not go out, there's some dangereous ice hidden under the snow. This week looks pretty cold, should be improving.

[MuskieRandy]

Anybody know what the ice looks like? I'm looking at the weather forecast for next week, and I can't see the ice sticking around for very long! I wonder if ice out this year is going to break a record.

[Tom502]

Randy,

I am not sure about breaking a record for early ice-out, but there is open water around my south facing shoreline and the ice is very dark. This morning I woke up to the honking of geese that, by mistake, landed on the ice about 200 feet from shore.

If predicted weather holds up (temps in the mid-70's, rain tonight and 15-20 mph wind from the south) I think we will see open water by the end of this week.

Tight Lines,

Tom502

[JayandCade]

I believe there was a thread here last year that stated last years ice out on the last day of March was the earliest.

[MuskieRandy]

As of 12/8 there was almost 3" of ice around and out from shore, but still open water in certain areas away from shore. I would not advise much travel quite yet!

[sjguzin]

Never ice fished the Turtle, and I see MuskieRandy's post as of 12/8. Is it much better up there now? At what point can a guy bring a 4-wheeler up there? Was thinking about possibly breaking my virginity on the Turtle Ice this weekend, 12/21.

[Don Pemble]

I was out on Friday with some friends and caught some nice eyes along with a big smallie, had around 5 inches of good solid ice then. I was back out last evening with my 4 wheeler and found around 6 inches plus of ice, saw two other anglers out there with wheelers also. I can't say for sure if the ice thickness is the same all over, so if you venture out with a wheeler, be careful.

[RodBend'r]

Made it out yesterday afternoon for a few hours and found the ice to be in great shape. Averaged close to 20" of good ice. Truck travel is still o.k., but there's about 8-10 inches on fresh snow on the ice thats making "some" small slush spots. I would assume it will only get worse in some places in the future. Fishing wasn't too bad either..... iced 8 walleyes with most being over 15" and a pike. Small sucker minnows out fished small shiners 3 to 1. 2-4 f.o.w sandy gravel bottom. A little slower in the grass.

Good Luck!

Bill Mundt

[MuskieRandy]

As of 4-6-13 Ice was 24"

[MuskieRandy]

As of 4-18-2014 there was 22" of solid ice.

[MuskieRandy]

As of April 20 2014, 19" of ice out from shore. 17" near shore. Wow! 3 inches gone in 2 days

[MuskieRandy]

As of 11-29-14, 6.5"

[Slow Burn]

I've heard there's quite a bit of snow, and some slush on the ice. Any updates as to what the actual ice depth is? Trucks out on the ice?

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

There was at least 12" of ice and truck travel as of last weekend (1/10/15).

[MuskieRandy]

As of 2-28-2015 it's 21.5" thick. Not alot of slush. Snow on top is firm. I snowshoe, so I don't know about snowmobile, ATV, and truck conditions, but I see alot of them out there.

[MuskieRandy]

Ice is going out. Lots of open water around shore. Some bays are ice-free. Remaining ice is black, 3" thick, honeycombed, and rotten. Ice will be out in a couple days. No loons yet. Saw a pair of hooded mergansers, geese, and an otter.

[luv2brw]

Great news! Thanks for the update Muskie Randy!

[MuskieRandy]

Friday, 11/27/15 - Entire area from Bastine/Turtle to West side of Big Island was open water. Friday night got down to 7 degrees and Sat. AM 11/28/15 the entire area was iced over. I have never seen so quick a COMPLETE ice up. Usually you get certain areas that go first, and a mix of open water and ice, but this was almost complete in one evening! Sat. ice was a little over 1" thick along shore and as far out as I dared to go over shallow areas, which was about 6 feet from shore. Sunday 11/29 ice was 2". Today, 11/30, ice is 2 3/8". Looks like some not so cold weather coming, and snow, so ice formation will slow.

[PolarisGuy]

Any new updates muskie? Im very concerned that snowmobiling over the holidays won't be a possibility based on the forecast. Is the ice still there with the high temps?

[esox1]

Just drove home from LAKE GOGEBIC TODAY---I would say that it would take a MIRACLE for any type of real snowmobiling to happen before CHRISTMAS-----I know there might be some snow on the way---But it needs COLD and SNOW in a big way----MAYBE with some Help JAN 1 could happen......But safe Ice ??? Man it looks like that EL NINO might screw up my snowmobiling for this season...

[MuskieRandy]

Yesterday 12/27/15 there were still scattered areas of open water by Donner's Bay to Turtle/Bastine. Last night the open areas froze over. Ice is 3-4" and solid in other areas. Be very cautious, because, again, there was open water yesterday, and this means that certain areas are going to be unsafe. No snowmobiles out on the ice yet, and with good reason. Not much snow on the ice, just a light coating. You can hear the ice groaning occasionally, so it must be growing.

[MuskieRandy]

As of 4/28/18 there is 20" of ice. Top layer of 2" refrozen slush, then maybe 1" of water, then 17" of hard, solid ice. I used my hand auger to drill the hole, and it was work to get through it; the ice is solid and not honeycombed at all.