2014 Ice Out Contest

[Ty Sennett]

Might as well go for it again. Makes the ice melt faster I think. So, here's the rules;

1. Pick one date and put your first and last name(your real name) followed by the date you think the ice will be off the lake.
2. Ice off will be considered when there is open water from Siskos resort over to Eagle Island on the west side of the Chippewa Flowage

Easy enough? I'll throw in a couple of the new crankbait prototypes to the winner. As of right now there is about thirty inches of ice out there. Good luck. For the record I'm guessing April 10th but my guess doesn't count.

[Jason L.]

4/20/14
Jason Lonardi

[Bill Gardner]

Bill Gardner....April 24

[deantre]

Dean Tremble 15 April 2014

[buckbinladen]

Might as well go for it again. Makes the ice melt faster I think. So, here's the rules;

1. Pick one date and put your first and last name(your real name) followed by the date you think the ice will be off the lake.
2. Ice off will be considered when there is open water from Siskos resort over to Eagle Island on the west side of the Chippewa Flowage

Easy enough? I'll throw in a couple of the new crankbait prototypes to the winner. As of right now there is about thirty inches of ice out there. Good luck. For the record I'm guessing April 10th but my guess doesn't count.


April 14, 2014...Reid Ekern aka Buck Nasty.

[earlyretirement]

april 26

chris neitzel

[Mark Benson]

April 25 Mark Benson

[riverrat47]

April 29
Rob Barabe

[udee2159]

4/10/14 is my guess

[rudedog]

April 17. Jon Rude

[andracke]

Since there is no internet in Florida, I'm voting in honor of my father.

Mark Andracke 4-18

[B rod]

April 22 Byron Peck

[andracke]

The more educated guess

Eric Andracke. April, 23rd

[Chops]

Greg Koger: April 19

[RobertTB]

August 6, 2014
RobertTB

[Mexican Marauder]

April 27 !! Gabriel Garcia

[curleytail]

Tucker Jacobson: April 21

[Picatee]

April 16 John Osterhaus

[Ty Sennett]

There was one guess that didn't count because I don't know the name. It was Udee2159"s post for the 10th of April

May favorite guess was Robert Boston's August 6th guess. Actually you guys are going to be surprised how early the ice goes out this year. My April 10th guess was very conservative. I really think it will go out earlier than that. We have a couple cold nights coming up that will slow things down but you have to remember there isn't any ice in the back bays so when the water level comes up in the next couple weeks there are going to be a lot of wide open back bays warming up quick. Dorazio, Crane lakes Bays, Moss Creek, Sibley Bay, all the back bays of Chief, Scott lakes bays, etc., could be wide open in two weeks. Only time will tell.

[Ty Sennett]

There was one guess that didn't count because I don't know the name. It was Udee2159"s post for the 10th of April

May favorite guess was Robert Boston's August 6th guess. Actually you guys are going to be surprised how early the ice goes out this year. My April 10th guess was very conservative. I really think it will go out earlier than that. We have a couple cold nights coming up that will slow things down but you have to remember there isn't any ice in the back bays so when the water level comes up in the next couple weeks there are going to be a lot of wide open back bays warming up quick. Dorazio, Crane lakes Bays, Moss Creek, Sibley Bay, all the back bays of Chief, Scott lakes bays, etc., could be wide open in two weeks. Only time will tell.

[northernlee]

Rodney Lee April 12

[DMBFID]

Hi Ty,
April 9th, 2014
Steve Fidler

[DMG1]

April 13st cause my first and second guesses were taken.

[scottwebster]

April 1
Scott Webster

[Nick Kanauz]

At over six feet down, some of those bays have to be dry as a bone. So Ty has a good point there. If the snow melt is rapid, the ice sheet will start moving around, and a big wind event could break it up quickly. So...April 5th is my date please.

[Ty Sennett]

DMG1, need a name for your date

[DMG1]

David Matthew Gleason. We're the June 10th couple from last year.

[DonY]

April 28th
Don Young

[udee2159]

4/10/14 Alex Udwari

Should count now?

[makins117]

April 11th
Matt Akins

[boog]

April 8

Scott Bachhuber

[boog]

April 8

Scott Bachhuber

[ChipVet]

Might as well go for it again. Makes the ice melt faster I think. So, here's the rules;

1. Pick one date and put your first and last name(your real name) followed by the date you think the ice will be off the lake.
2. Ice off will be considered when there is open water from Siskos resort over to Eagle Island on the west side of the Chippewa Flowage

Easy enough? I'll throw in a couple of the new crankbait prototypes to the winner. As of right now there is about thirty inches of ice out there. Good luck. For the record I'm guessing April 10th but my guess doesn't count.

4-11 bruce pinske

[Doug Hardy]

April 6

Doug Hardy

[Ty Sennett]

Corey Meyer is going to throw in a couple Flowage Boa Bucktails for the winner also. Thanks C-monster

[lil man tait]

March 31-if not taken already.
Tait Sennett

[Ty Sennett]

So we still have April 2,3,4, and 7 available. March 18 through the 30th are still open all though I don't see it happening tomorrow so I wouldn't pick the 18th. Other than that, April 30th and beyond would be what's left.

Chip Vet, your date was already taken. shoot me another guess

[Ty Sennett]

So we still have April 2,3,4, and 7 available. March 18 through the 30th are still open all though I don't see it happening tomorrow so I wouldn't pick the 18th. Other than that, April 30th and beyond would be what's left.

Chip Vet, your date was already taken. shoot me another guess

[Trav]

Lets go with April 7 then.

Travis Schmit

[ChipVet]

So we still have April 2,3,4, and 7 available. March 18 through the 30th are still open all though I don't see it happening tomorrow so I wouldn't pick the 18th. Other than that, April 30th and beyond would be what's left.

Chip Vet, your date was already taken. shoot me another guess

5-1 If thats the date I should win a new car

[jdzecr]

Ty-
I'll take April 4th
Thanks
Joe Dzienkowski

[twells]

]

I will take April 30th
Trever Wells

[Gordon]

I'll take May 2 if not taken.
Thanks,
Gordon Jay

[Ty Sennett]

we're twenty degrees below average temps here for the last couple days and the next few. -10 this morning when I woke up. That's a little chilly. That will prolong the ice out quite a bit. We need a few warm nights. My April 10th prediction is looking bleak.

[Ty Sennett]

I'll try to get some pictures up in the next few days. I plan on going out Sunday to do some Snowmobiling and take some pictures. There's already quite a bit of open water. I wont be snowmobiling through Dorazio Bay unless water skipping. My sled is a little heavy for that. The rivers will really get going on Sunday if the weather holds true.

Also, Tom Christianson threw in a few of his northern pike baits for the winner of the ice out contest. Thanks Tom.

[earlyretirement]

lakes are going out here in south central wisconsin, must be getting close up there. I assume no one is ice fishing yet up there, are they? My only hope is the cold weather next week.

[curleytail]

lakes are going out here in south central wisconsin, must be getting close up there. I assume no one is ice fishing yet up there, are they? My only hope is the cold weather next week.

I'm not sure about the Flowage, but we're a ways from ice out up here. I still have well over a foot of snow in most of my yard. It looks like the lakes are just getting down to the last of the snow on top of them. Any sun and rain we get now should start working on the ice, but I'm guessing we won't have lakes break up for a couple weeks yet. It could be pretty close on some water bodies of having ice for opener, depending on what the weather does in the next few weeks.

[Ty Sennett]

The lake systems are still froze up pretty good but the flowages are going out pretty fast due to the runoff creating some pretty good flow in the rivers and creeks coming in. The last three days really changed things here on the Chip. The West Fork of the Chippewa River opened up two days ago. It was froze up before that. Now it's open all the way to Moores Bay. Once that happens Moores Bay goes out pretty fast. A lot of the back bays are sitting dry right now. One problem I didn't foresee, and I'm guessing the biologists and resort owners didn't think about it either, the actual soil for quite a distance from the actual lake basin drained due to dropping the lake level before the soil was able to build a frost level. Now the soil is bone dry and soaking up a lot of the water coming in. Basically, it's like you have to fill the 15,000 acres of the lake and also fill the extra fifty yards back from the lake where the soil drained. There were quite a few people(our house included) that saw an addition needed to be added to the well shaft because the water table went down to a point where the well went dry. It might be low water to start the year. That might mean a lot of weeds. Hard to tell right now though. Like I said, the rivers are running strong. A little rain goes a long ways. I've been looking around a quite a bit and the crazy thing is there are some patches of fresh milfoil growing already. They are budding out really strong in a couple spots.

[Kyle K.]

I'll take May 1st. Kyle Keith

[Rangr90]

5-1-14 Denny Kozicki

[andracke]

How is that ice looking?? Come on lucky number 23!

[Nick Kanauz]

Modis Satellite imagery is showing the Flowage as light grey now. Also...the water level is up over 4'! Hope it goes out for you by the walleye opener! All our lakes have been open here in Mid-Michigan for quite a while now...went to bed with ice, and woke up to soft water!

[Ernie1]

The ice is starting to pull away from shore and with the rain we get tonight it should go fast.

[Jax]

Modis Satellite imagery is showing the Flowage as light grey now. Also...the water level is up over 4'! Hope it goes out for you by the walleye opener! All our lakes have been open here in Mid-Michigan for quite a while now...went to bed with ice, and woke up to soft water!

Where do you go on the Modis website to view the Chippewa Flowage images? The Modis site is confusing. Thanks

[Bill Gardner]

Or you could just take a look at the Deerfoot web cam.

[Jax]

Modis Satellite imagery is showing the Flowage as light grey now. Also...the water level is up over 4'! Hope it goes out for you by the walleye opener! All our lakes have been open here in Mid-Michigan for quite a while now...went to bed with ice, and woke up to soft water!

Where do you go on the Modis website to view the Chippewa Flowage images? The Modis site is confusing. Thanks

[dfkiii333]

Select Lake Superior, choose the clearest recent photo, find the Apostle Islands, and scroll down. Pretty easy to identify the Hayward lakes by shape, and the flowage is the largest in the area.


Where do you go on the Modis website to view the Chippewa Flowage images? The Modis site is confusing. Thanks

[Nick Kanauz]

Thanks Dan...I've been off for a couple of days...here's the site if anyone wants it:
http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/webdata/cwops/html/modis/modis.php?region=s&page=1

Also checked the Xcel Energy site a few ago...2.75 feet to go to full pool.

[curleytail]

So it didn't go out on the 21st huh? ;)

I'm guessing with the rain the Flowage will still be out by opener. The bigger natural lakes are still in question though. The ice on them does not look all that bad yet.

Could be locked up two years in a row!

[Ty Sennett]

It looks like whoever has he next two days will win the ice out contest. It might be out by the end of today or by tomorrow. There are big sections of open water on the Chip right now. You can see open water for a long distance to the west from The Landing's bridge and all the way past Flemings bar to the east and beyond. Looks like there is some ice out by Pete's but it was hard to see when I went by this morning. The ice out in front of Siskos resort is really ugly so it might break up today in the wind and rain. Real close.

[DonY]

Photo finish! I hope the judges are checking at 11:45 tonight!

[Ty Sennett]

It looks like Rob Barabe is going to be the ice out winner. he picked today as the date. There is more open water than ice between Siskos and Eagle Island this morning but rules are rules.....sorry Don. If there's any wind today at all it will open up completely. A lot opened up last night.

[riverrat47]

Thanks Ty! I would like to thank Old Man Winter for being stubborn enough this year to help me win these awesome prizes. Ty what information do you need from me?

[Nick Kanauz]

Wow...have you seen the outflow by Xcel at the dam...about 8" below full pool and releasing over 3700 cfs!!! WOW! Glad that soft water is coming to fruition for you up there!

[Bill Gardner]

I'll bet it gets over full pool by the time I get a chance to see it in person on Friday. And the outflows will get above 5,000 cfs. And our docks will be partly under water. And I won't bother to put the boat in the water this trip.

[twells]

I was hoping for it to hold out just one more day.