Ice Out

[BlueRanger]

Anybody ready to start the annual guessing game yet?

[sureshot612]

we are ready i heard its going to be a log hot summer:cool:.bring on the rules

[Mark Benson]

Well based on the last four years we should be in the early cycle, I have a turkey for the first period starting April 16, so I am going with April 24th... I will modify my date with any other rules placed on this event!!! Good Luck to all!!!

Mark

P.S. If it was next year, I would be going for May 2nd...

[Hot Runr Guy]

I'd just like to arrive the 2nd Saturday in May and NOT face an iced-in bay in front of the cabins,,,,,,

HRG

21831

[kltreklest]

We are gearing up for Memorial Day. Up there last Memorial day and caught a nice Musky and got to watch the Blackhawks at Midway Bar. Like is good

[The Fox]

I see that "WeatherBug" says that it is 57 degrees in Mercer right now!!!! Is that right?

[The Fox]

I see that the "WeatherBug" website says it is 57 degrees in mercer right now!!! Is that right?

[Mark Benson]

It is 56 in Minocqua right now... Shoveled some roof and other stuff in a t-shirt!!! It is grand!!! Ice caves tomorrow in the mid thirties, same temp as last time I was up there. Wife wanted to go, so I am going back again to see what might be different!!!

Mark

[connor]

Hate to do it but
NOAA / Climate prediction..
below normal next 3 months.. I'll go with May 5th Noon
Of course we are not coming up to second weekend so that works for me. I hope I'm wrong for all coming up for the opener and all of the Businesses in the area.

[Nick Kanauz]

Since I'm tired of watching it snow....Ice Out is a good game to play right now....So...based on what we have here in Michigan....April 26th....in the afternoon! :confused:

[LundAngler]

I hate to even say it...but I think we will be ice fishing on opening day.

[Nick Kanauz]

I should have looked at the Excel site before I came up with my date. The TFF is just over 4'down right now, which puts a lot of the areas my brothers fish "empty". Once Shane closes the gates to allow for less water going downstream, the water backing into these areas would raise the ice sheet, creating open water. I high wind day combined with warm temps could certainly hasten breakup. The Chipp has been lowered over 8', which means there's sand in those back bays. With a rapid melt, that ice could really go out quickly in early April. I'd like to change to April 5th, so the 26th is back open. Let me know if that is okay Blue! Thanks!

[BlueRanger]

Sorry, I wasn't volunteering to be in charge, just hadn't seen much activity here for a while and thought it was about time to start talking about spring! 4 feet down isn't abnormal for this time of year, if anything it's high. I have no idea about ice thickness, but it sure was a cold winter up there. So I'm hoping for the best, but the NOAA long-term forecast is calling for continued below-normal temperatures, and I won't be surprised if it's still ice-covered for the first two weekends of the season. But I see BPS is having a big sale this weekend, and if you can't go fishing, buying some new fishing stuff and dreaming about using it is the next best thing!

[sureshot612]

Well I'm going with april 30th. And since you brought it up Blue i heard that you are going to run it and the prize is going to be you doing a photo shoot with the winner.i will agree it has been a long winter ,I'm back to work on light duty since july. i so need some open water and spring.

[BlueRanger]

Didn't you hear? I'm only doing artistic nudes now...:rolleyes:

[St Croix Kid]

Didn't you hear? I'm only doing artistic nudes now...:rolleyes:

in that case i am going with 6/30/14!

[JayandCade]

If I wasn't happily married I would say let's change this to women guesses only and Blue can post the pictures like usual. Since I am happily married I will guess May 3rd at 3pm. Posting my picture at this point in life will shut this forum down.

[Flambeau Riverman]

I hope its May 1st 3:00pm. With the late ice out last season our annual 1st week in June musky trip didn't go so well.
Couldn't find a weed anywhere, no action in the stumps and rocks and with the water temps in the low to mid 50's I think they were
still spawning. I have read there saying a cold spring and a really hot summer. With all the snow and Ice this winter water levels should be
higher than normal which could make it harder to find the fish of 10,000 casts too.

[BlueRanger]

Looking at this week's forecast, I'm starting to worry about Memorial Day!

[JayandCade]

We were up last weekend to tap maple trees. I went down to the lake and the snow was 4' deep on the ice. My son, who is now about 6' tall could not get to some of the maples because of snow depth. The snow was melting pretty fast on Sunday, but it looks like more snow on Friday. I would bring the tip ups for the Walleye opener.

[byronbears84]

Its pretty easy for everyone to jump to conclusions about ice fishing on the opener. All it takes is a few warm days with some rain and it will do some serious damage to the ice. We all had our doubts last year and it was out with time to spare. Weather reports dont look too great, but it will be in the mid 50s all next week where im at (southern MN), so its not far away from the TFF!

[The Fox]

Its pretty easy for everyone to jump to conclusions about ice fishing on the opener. All it takes is a few warm days with some rain and it will do some serious damage to the ice. We all had our doubts last year and it was out with time to spare. Weather reports dont look too great, but it will be in the mid 50s all next week where im at (southern MN), so its not far away from the TFF!

I think last year that Flambeau Fluffy declared... " ice out Saturday, May 11, 1013, at 10;30 am (cst)," Not quite "time to spare", not for me anyway as I missed the opener due to ice....

[byronbears84]

I guess i dont remember it being that long, thought it was out by May. Im sorry! My point is that there is plenty of time for the ice to melt, and nobody has any idea so theres no point in asking when it will ice out!

[sureshot612]

byron:I think all the global warming will help. I took a look at the webcams in the area and you can't see far due to the BLAST of snow coming down. its going to take more then a few days to open it up .Man at least the forum is coming alive.

[byronbears84]

Thats alright cause we've got a month yet!

[waldowillie]

Right now it looks like your getting more white stuff and April should be a good month for snowmobiling. I will go with ice out on 5-5-14 and if you believe in global warming I have some GPS numbers for hotspots to try. :rolleyes:

[Trav]

http://media.heavy.com/media/2014/01/climate-change-memes-1.jpg

[Nick L]

Awesome!!!

[Bartender Jim]

I'm keeping my tip ups handy for the opener, at this rate ice out won't happen until May 14 3:30pm.

GO BIG RED!

[St Croix Kid]

The flowage was not fishable from a boat on opener 2013. I have only missed two in the last 7 years with my friend Mr Pemble. Both due to ice

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

Happy Spring everyone. Over the past 24 hours we have been treated to a new 10" dusting of heavy wet snow; however, temps are predicted to rebound to the 40s and 50s over the next week.

Ice went out on the Lake Bastine area on May 11th last year and byronbears84 won the contest as Flambeau Fluffy was the "ice out official". This was a new record for latest ice out. Even so, Guide Jeff Robl found open water off of Murrays Landing and caught some walleye.

On the other hand, ice went out on March 18th in 2012, which was the record for the earliest ice out.

It may be difficult to have a contest this year unless we can find a "ice out official" as The Tiny Fisherman is retired and I'm not sure if he and Flambeau Fluffy have internet at their home on the TFF. I'll do some checking.

Until then, think warm thoughts and keep your fingers crossed!

[Hot Runr Guy]

It may be difficult to have a contest this year unless we can find a "ice out official" as The Tiny Fisherman is retired and I'm not sure if he and Flambeau Fluffy have internet at their home on the TFF. I'll do some checking.



I nominate Scott! Do we have a 2nd? :)

HRG

[sureshot612]

Il 2nd that ,and Il say Blue for 3rd.:).

[St Croix Kid]

Looks like a stretch of 40's up there.

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

Given that the official "ice out" will be also based on time as well as date, we need someone who is on the TFF throughout the day. I will see if Flambeau Fluffy is willing to call me with it; otherwise, I'll see if Cry of the Loon or Lodge of Lakeview will do it. I'll be seeing them at Tuesday night's TFFA meeting. The present temp is 46 degrees..melt..melt...melt!

[St Croix Kid]

Looking at the ten day forecast for that area maybe there is a chance?

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

Well boys and girls, here is the TFF report as of Apri 6, 2014:

The bad news: We received 12" of snow during Friday's storm and there was snowmobiling on the Lake Bastine up the Turtle River on Sat. (4-5-14).

The good news: Temps were in the upper 40s on Sat. (4-5-14) and lower 50s on Sun. (4-6-14).

The snow and ice are melting!

Our neighbor at Flambeau Vista, Jim Blum, has agreed to be the "ice-out official." I asked him on Sat. if he would accept these official and very important duties to which he agreed. He stopped by FV2 today to say he woke up this morning when "nature called" and we still had ice. He is only 3 cabins from us and taking these duties quite seriously! LOL He claims that he will sleep on his deck bench to get us the most accurate "ice out" time! LOL He is a great neighbor and friend.

The fox and crows are on the move near our cabins. Canada geese were flying North.

Most importantly, some open water is being reported on Trude Lake and there was a very dark area of ice emerging on Lake Bastine in front of our cabins.

Keep the warm thoughts coming or at least your hair dryers with an extension cord! Melt..melt..melt!

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

This years "Ice-Out Contest" rules are that all guesses must be in by 7:00 pm CDT on Friday, April 18th, 2014. The guess closest to ice-out with time and date without going over wins. The winner will receive a book of raffle tickets (3 chances) in the TFFA's Summer raffle for a pair of adirondeck fish chairs (3 pairs) or a 1/2 day guided fishing trip with either Guide Bobby Orr or Guide Jeff Robl, so a total of 5 prizes.

If any one would like to just buy a book of tickets, they are 3 for $5 and sold at most local TFFA businesses such as Donners Bay, Midway, Hideaway, Gateway, Dear Lodge, Camp 1 and Sunken Horse Saloon.

See www.turtleflambeauflowage.com for more details along with lodging, food and guide info for the TFF.

[connor]

Wait a minute
If Tinyfisherman is retired does that mean no "Name That Spot" Photos?

[luv2brw]

I think the ice will go out April 28th at 11 am.

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

The Tiny Fisherman used to post pictures for "Name that Spot" starting the day after the game fish season closed. Since that was over a month ago, I am assuming the "Name that Spot" tradition is over unless someone else decides to continue it. If we only had a photographer frequent this site....hint...hint.

[St Croix Kid]

4/30/14 6 pm

[BlueRanger]

I would, Scott, but I have three photo sharing sites and two Facebook groups to keep up with and it's already more than I can handle.

[sureshot612]

Well on page 1 I picked april 30th and I will add the time of 2pm.It looks like things are melting fast. Scott I talked to Marryann from Lakeview and she said she would keep her eyes out and help out, she also said we should get together with you when we come up .,best to all keep us posted

[Hot Runr Guy]

April 28th at 3pm.

HRG

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

Blue: We understand, but maybe you could treat us to a couple of brain teaser pictures before opener.

Sureshot: I talked with Mary Ann at the TFFA meeting last night. Her computer crashed, so she is going to call me with updates that I will post.

Temps were in the upper 50s today with a strong south wind. Some rain is predicted for the weekend. A friend told me that she heard a loon call on the Flambeau River, but did not see it. Swans, Canada Geese and many varieties of ducks are on the open stretches of the Flambeau River waiting for the lakes to open.

[George G]

Anybody ready to start the annual guessing game yet?

I will say the ice will be gone May tenth, we have open water early this week already in the southern part of the state and it went quick . Weird weather winter this year. I thought the ice would never go and it went really quick this year. Glad to see some open water.

[BlueRanger]

Looks like the snow depth is about half what it was a week ago...

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

We had rain last night and this morning. The sun is shining now and temps in the upper 50s are forecasted for today. Tomorrow's forecast calls for more rain and temps in the 50s too: however, a cool down is forecast for next week with a chance of snow.

I saw a loon on the Flambeau River yesterday, so there is hope.

[The Fox]

My guess is April 25 at 9:30 PM

[Flambeau trail]

Flambeau trail has got to give this ice out date another try. Last year my guru gave me bad advice so I missed it. I fired that guru and got a new one. He said the ice will out at 3:20 P.M. On April 31 st. I called him back and said hea there only 30 days in April. He said not in his calendar. Anyway he said it would be out at 3:20 P.M. on May 1st. on our calendar. So I,m going with date. Sure looking forward to the opener. Walt.

[The Tiny Fisherman]

Given that the official "ice out" will be also based on time as well as date, we need someone who is on the TFF throughout the day. I will see if Flambeau Fluffy is willing to call me with it; otherwise, I'll see if Cry of the Loon or Lodge of Lakeview will do it. I'll be seeing them at Tuesday night's TFFA meeting. The present temp is 46 degrees..melt..melt...melt!

Hey Scott, we have and had internet, only too busy trying to do chores to check in. We'll more than happy to let you know when ice is out. Fluffy has to keep her Big Book of Records updated anyway.

Getting some rain, temps in the 30's and more snow no the way. Had 29 inches of ice and about a foot of hard pack on top of that. The auger head is in the hole.

Wish for some warm weather, looks like ice fishing again for opener,

[BlueRanger]

Lake Superior is breaking up rapidly, and the snowmelt line keeps moving further north. But the weather forecast for next week doesn't look very helpful. Makes it hard to schedule vacation time for Smalliepalooza 2014.

[St Croix Kid]

I am hoping the smallies go 6/14 to 6/21

[BlueRanger]

That would be the latest in my memory. Average over the last 15 years has been about May 20, earlier in the warmer areas like Murray's/Bonies Mound and back in the Horseshoe flats.

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

The Bad News: Today we saw an ATV with 2 adults traveling across Lake Bastine picking up the snowmobile trail markers. We also saw a snowmobile cross the area. Cold temps and snow are forecast for the week.

The Good News: The Sandhill Cranes have returned. There is standing water on the South East corner of Lake Bastine. We have had significant snow melt. The forecast for next weekend is for temps in the 50s.

For those guessing ice out: Please place your guesses during daylight hours. Our "Ice-Out Officials" may be dedicated, but they are not going to sit on the shore with a flashlight!!! LOL

[The Fox]

My guess is April 25 at 9:30 PM

Alright, 9:30PM would be after dark. How about the next morning, April 26 at 7:00 AM?

[mkoeh475]

5/5 at Noon

[Slow Burn]

5/1 at Noon

[BretRobert1]

Deleted post.

[Hot Runr Guy]

4/28/14. 3pm.

I took that date & time on post #45.

HRG

[waldowillie]

Or more precisely: 3:25 PM on 5-5-14.

[BretRobert1]

I took that date & time on post #45.

HRG


Sorry about that, HRG.

I'll revise mine to 4/30/14 @ 3 pm.

[BretRobert1]

To help make sure there aren't any other duplicates going forward, I'll scan through this post and label each poster's guess in one post.

[FireStarter]

5/2 at 3PM

[BretRobert1]

MarkBenson: 5/2/14 12pm
Slowburn: 5/1/14 12pm
mkoeh475: 5/5/14 12pm
Sureshot612: 4/30/14 2pm
Flambeauriverman: 5/1/14 3pm
Flambeau Trail: 5/1/14 3:20pm
Waldowillie: 5/5/14 3:25pm
Bartender Jim: 5/4/14 3:30pm
HRG: 4/28/14 3pm
luv2brw: 4/28/14 11am
st.croixkid: 4/30/14 6pm
Connor: 5/5/14 12pm
Nick Kanauz 4/5/14 12pm
The fox: 4/26/14 7am
Jay & Cade: 5/3/14 3pm
BretRobert1: 4/30/14 3pm
firestarter: 5/2/14 3pm

Im not sure if I'm picking up all the posts in the thread. Please add your screen name, date and time if I missed your post.

[Hot Runr Guy]

BretRobert1, well done!

Hey Nick (Kanauz), how's that April 5th guess working out for you?

Hahaha, HRG (not to worry folks, he's family)

[DonH]

I'm not making a guess as to when the ice will be gone. I'm already thinking about rescheduling our trip from mid May to July!

I do have a question. If the ice goes out after opening day, how does the DNR handle spearing? If i'm fishing a shallow water rock bar after dark and the indians want to spear that area, what are my rights? This could easily happen as when we're up there, we are almost always the last boats on the water.

I've already fished through the night and come in after first light.

[St Croix Kid]

16" of snow for Butternut tomorrow... can i change my guess? ;)

[Eye's-In-Mind]

May 7 at 4:00 PM

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

Thanks for the summary BretRobert1. Ice out predictions/guesses will close at 7:00 pm Friday, April 18, 2014 and then we wait. 8"-14" of snow is predicted by the time that Wednesday's storm is over I'll try to give a final total.

Some forecasts are calling for temps in the 60s nest week, so it should be interesting!

[mkoeh475]

Looks like my guess was a duplicate as well. I'll change to 5/5 at 8AM

[Loweboy]

May 8th.at 8:00am

[mooselegs]

May 8th.at 8:00am
ice out.....May 6th 1:06PM 2014

[mooselegs]

ice out ....May 6th 1:06PM CST 2014

[sureshot612]

OK all 1 more day to guess, Bret great work , Im going to stick with my date because I see its going to be sunny and 60.Well I didn't say when.The webcams show a whole lot of snow.good luck to all.

[Nick Kanauz]

BretRobert1, well done!

Hey Nick (Kanauz), how's that April 5th guess working out for you?

Hahaha, HRG (not to worry folks, he's family)

Yeah...That's me brudder for ya...got sentimental and changed the date from my original one HRG! Anyhow, the TFF is only just over 3' down now... and rising fast! Here's hoping you don't find your "favorite" stump this year! :p

[BretRobert1]

How much snow did you get in Mercer yesterday?

[St Croix Kid]

A friend tomd me they had 13" as of this morning

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

Snow reports around the TFF range from 12"-14". A big warm-up is predicted starting Saturday so the water level should come up quick. Hopefully this will cause the ice to break-up like a scene from "The Hunt for Red October"! LOL

Happy Easter everyone.

[MuskieRandy]

Drilled a hole yesterday, out a ways from shore. 22" of solid ice. There are shoreline areas that have exposed slush, but there's 22" of solid ice under the slush.

[MuskieRandy]

I'll double post here, as nobody seems to like the Ice Conditions "sticky" thread. As of April 20 2014, 19" of ice out from shore. 17" near shore. Wow! 3 inches gone in 2 days! Careful out there!

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

The ice is getting blacker with areas of open water along the edges of some shorelines. The bay at Donners Bay is mostly slush with some open water at the launch. There are some open pockets where the otters are poking out there heads waiting to raid angler's minnow buckets. LOL Rain is forecast each day this week with lows above freezing, but highs only making it to the mid to upper 40s.

The Flowage is nearly at full pool and the discharge from the dam is close to 3000 cfs.

[The Tiny Fisherman]

We got about two inches of snow and it's still coming down. At this rate ice out won't happen until mid May.

Speaking of Otters, these two sure are in love,

[MuskieRandy]

Maybe we should start worrying about flooding too! The flowage is coming up like crazy. It appears they opened the gates from 300 cfs to about 3000 cfs, but it's still coming up. yikes

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

That looks like open water to me Tiny! LOL A lot of open water by Murrays Landing. The boat launch is open and navigable per Guide Jeff Robl. This strong North wind should keep pushing out the ice in the Big Water toward Beaver Flats. Also open water by Lake of the Falls. It appears there will be some fishable water by Saturday, but not an official "ice-out".

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

Here is what we have as of today per reports by Guides Jeff Robl and Bobby Orr.

Murrays Landing: Open water due to the discharge of the Manitowish River. Jeff's son reported "open water as far as he could see" from the landing.

Lake of the Falls/Sturgeon Bay Landings: "Open today from the falls to the first island. Still a clog between the 2 islands, but an open path to The Hideaway if the wind doesn't shut it again. Sturgeon Bay is a no go. With a bit of wind it may open from The Hideaway to Sturgeon Bay."

Fishermans Landing: Iced in, but open water beyond the landing.

Springstead and Sportsmans Landing: Both iced in tight today.

Temps in the upper 50s and low 60s are predicted starting Sunday, May 4th through Wednesday, so things will be better next week.

Ice fishing is not recommended this weekend as ice conditions are deteriorating quickly. It is not worth a fish!

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

The shoreline on Lake Bastine is open for about 50 yards. The ice in the center is black with open water pockets.

The old Idle Shores Resort on the south end of the Turtle River has black ice with open pockets, but there is open water to the north towards Pink Rock.

Sportsmans Landing is open for about 150 yards. One boat launched there on Sunday and was fishing the open water.

The walleyes on the north end by Murrays Landing were hitting in 10 - 15 fow on jig and large fathead minnows.

Full ice out shoud be sometime this week.

[Don Pemble]

Just a little note from Don's Guide Service, launched my boat today from Fisherman's landing with no problem as there was no ice to speak of, but coming back after a few hours of fishing it was completely iced in again, all this black ice had drifted in and I had to use my boat as an ice breaker, made an excellent video. All this ice that drifted in should all be gone by morning. Fishing was very good and worth the trouble of breaking through a couple hundred yards of ice.

[waldowillie]

21931The "official" ice-out time should be soon.

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

Cry of the Loon Resort emailed me this message at about 2:00 pm: "For the most part ice is gone on Lake Bastine. The few remaining floes are weak and should be gone within the next few hours."

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

I am awaiting the official 2014 "ice-out" declaration.

The contenders are:
mooselegs: 5/6/14 @ 1:06 pm
Eye-in-mind: 5/7/14 @ 4:00 pm
Loweboy: 5/8/14 @ 8:00 am

Tom 502 reprted on another site that the Springstead landing is nearly open today, 5/6/14.

[sureshot612]

Well thanks Don and Scott for the reports. Don where can we see that video , And Scott thanks for the report on the ice conditions we will be up around the 14th do you guys think the fishing will be a little behind due to the long winter. counting the days

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

Sureshot: The video is on the Wisconsin DNR website. They have a interactive help section where you can ask where on the site to view it. I'll leave the fishing predictions to Don Pemble. He has a few more hours on the water then me!

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

Ice-out has been declared by our official, Jim Blum, to be at 10:00 am on May 7, 2014. The winner is mooselegs and he should send me a pm with his mailing address.

Thanks to everyone that placed a guess or followed along, and to Jim for being our ice-out official.

Best of luck to everyone this open water season.

[sureshot612]

Scott is that the video that Don made about breaking the ice .

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

Scott is that the video that Don made about breaking the ice .

No it's not. I misunderstood which video you were talking about in your post.

[sureshot612]

on 5-5 Don posted that he made a video about breakin ice, I just didn't know if he posted it.I enjoy videos pics. and webcams.I can always pick things up, it helps with keekin in the know,its great that some post more then fishin it bugs some but helps others.I think that we all enjoy the TFF so lets all share.from campers to cabins we all need to come home safe, and if we get the word out we can get more folks to enjoy the TFF, like back in the day.

[Don Pemble]

The video I made was short lived, accidently deleted it after showing it to a group of friends.

[The Tiny Fisherman]

/Flambeau Fluffy agrees with Jim, the did go out at 10:00 am, 05/07/2014. Would have update right away yesterday, but my computer was all screwed up.

Catch the big one,

[sureshot612]

Well we are looking to get some great food ,fishin,and friends so lets all enjoy the TFF and get past this hard winter . Looking to meet some new friends.Its a spring needed by all

[mooselegs]

just saw your message scott.....wife and I were out of town for the past 2 weeks...

Scott....I did send you a PM.

Planning to fish the TFF May 26th thru June 2nd.....can't wait. The TFF is a special place and have been fishing is for the past 15 years.... Life doesn't get any better than being on the TFF.....

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

mooselegs: Please see my reply to your message and congratulations!

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

mooselegs: Please email me at reinhard624@hotmail.com