Metro Ice Conditions 3.0

Found 2.5-3.5″ on Saturday and the crappie and gills were hot and heavy. A very small lake in the metro, so I was surprised to find multiple 11-13″ Crappies and a few 8″ gills.

Did some checking on a few lakes in the Shoreview area yesterday. Josephine looks to have about 3.5″ of good ice out to about 200 yards or so, Johanna is frozen over, but only about 2″ of ice even right by the access… Going to take a bit for that one to be ready. Turtle Lake north of shoreview has about 4 inches by the access out to about 200 yards or so, but it looks like most of that just blew in with last weeks winds, guessing it’s a little sketchier out further… Anyone done any checking on other lakes in the area?

3″ on the north side of Island lake. A couple people were walking across the whole thing with their dog and not checking anything where I usually find it gets thin due a spring or inflow from the pond (or something).

Was out on another north metro lake last night, had about 3-3.5 inches of good solid ice in the bay i was on, didn’t feel like trekking out much further than that.

Another round of snow today. Thankfully this snowfall seems lightweight compared to the last one. I think we will continue to have enough to walk on for most lakes but could be a while before we get drivable ice if this pattern keeps up

I was out on Wabasso and Owasso in Shoreview on Saturday. Both only had 2-3 inches a 100 yds out from both access points. Should be a lot safer this weekend.

Brandon S wrote:

I was out on Wabasso and Owasso in Shoreview on Saturday. Both only had 2-3 inches a 100 yds out from both access points. Should be a lot safer this weekend.

How is wabasso? It’s always intrigued me.

I was out on Owasso last night. Ice is crap. It’s full of wet cracks. Be extremely careful. Found 4 inches and a few steps to the sides it was 2 inches.

Some areas close to shore the chisel went through in one shot. The people that were skating on it Sunday with their kids were nuts.

Luttes – Wabasso is very clear. Most panfish I have seen come out of there are the standard metro stunted size sadly.

In Towne Marina posted an update yesterday that they found 4-6″ on Waconia, HOWEVER there are multiple OPEN SPOTS from geese/ducks so proceed with caution.

jvm76 wrote:

I was out on Owasso last night. Ice is crap. It’s full of wet cracks. Be extremely careful. Found 4 inches and a few steps to the sides it was 2 inches.

Some areas close to shore the chisel went through in one shot. The people that were skating on it Sunday with their kids were nuts.

Luttes – Wabasso is very clear. Most panfish I have seen come out of there are the standard metro stunted size sadly.

And Wabasso is getting worse each year, not sure why. It was a zoo about 5 years ago, tiny lake may have gotten wiped out is my thinking.

wormdunker wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>jvm76 wrote:</div>
I was out on Owasso last night. Ice is crap. It’s full of wet cracks. Be extremely careful. Found 4 inches and a few steps to the sides it was 2 inches.

Some areas close to shore the chisel went through in one shot. The people that were skating on it Sunday with their kids were nuts.

Luttes – Wabasso is very clear. Most panfish I have seen come out of there are the standard metro stunted size sadly.

And Wabasso is getting worse each year, not sure why. It was a zoo about 5 years ago, tiny lake may have gotten wiped out is my thinking.

Can’t remember if it was Owasso or Wabasso but one of them was a great fishing lake and about 4 years ago had a huge winterkill that pretty much wiped out all the game fish. Used to be a great walleye and crappie lake before that. There are news articles about it.

Besides the guy who tested the ice with his truck, anyone know how much ice White Bear Lake has?

Can’t remember if it was Owasso or Wabasso but one of them was a great fishing lake and about 4 years ago had a huge winterkill that pretty much wiped out all the game fish. Used to be a great walleye and <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>crappie lake before that. There are news articles about it.
[/quote]

It was Owasso but they are connected

Out on Island now in Shoreview. A good 4″ everywhere out from the boat launch.

Found a solid 5-6 inches of ice in some areas on tonka. Closer to 4 inches in another spot. Had fun bringing this in on my noodle rod with 2lb test

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Was the 5″-6″ on Emerald?

crappie55369 wrote:

Found a solid 5-6 inches of ice in some areas on tonka. Closer to 4 inches in another spot. Had fun bringing this in on my noodle rod with 2lb test

That’s a nice pike there crappie. Were you disappointed that it was not a huge crappie? I’m always a little disappointed when I get a nice pike that it wasn’t huge walleye because I have walleye in my forum name.
2lb line? …let me guess, was the line wrapped tight to the corner of the back of it’s mouth?
Oh, and BTW…put a “G” helmet on you and what do we see?

Edit:…meant no disrespect crappie, just “coloring” the world we fish in. I always laugh at myself before laughing at other’s…

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crappie55369 wrote:

Found a solid 5-6 inches of ice in some areas on tonka. Closer to 4 inches in another spot. Had fun bringing this in on my noodle rod with 2lb test

Looks like fun, way to go!

Something tells me you won’t like Andy’s photo comparison. Is that a “go pack go” chant I hear coming off Tonka tonight? (Didn’t think so…)

luttes wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Brandon S wrote:</div>
I was out on Wabasso and Owasso in Shoreview on Saturday. Both only had 2-3 inches a 100 yds out from both access points. Should be a lot safer this weekend.

How is wabasso? It’s always intrigued me.

Like jvm stated, smaller panfish lake with decent numbers.

Walleyestudent Andy Cox wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>crappie55369 wrote:</div>
Found a solid 5-6 inches of ice in some areas on tonka. Closer to 4 inches in another spot. Had fun bringing this in on my noodle rod with 2lb test

That’s a nice pike there crappie. Were you disappointed that it was not a huge crappie? I’m always a little disappointed when I get a nice <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>pike that it wasn’t huge <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye because I have <em class=”ido-tag-em”>walleye in my forum name.
2lb line? …let me guess, was the line wrapped tight to the corner of the back of it’s mouth?
Oh, and BTW…put a “G” helmet on you and what do we see?

Edit:…meant no disrespect crappie, just “coloring” the world we fish in. I always laugh at myself before laughing at other’s…

Ha. Nice one Andy

3-4″ on island lake and the stunted gills are on fire! Great place to bring kids right now.

Bump!

I got about 1″ just south of the river smaller south metro lake.. Was wide open 24 hours ago..

purehd wrote:

Bump!

I got about 1″ just south of the river smaller south metro lake.. Was wide open 24 hours ago..

Where’s Cookie????

dandorn wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>purehd wrote:</div>
Bump!

I got about 1″ just south of the river smaller south metro lake.. Was wide open 24 hours ago..

Where’s Cookie????

dandorn wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>purehd wrote:</div>
Bump!

I got about 1″ just south of the river smaller south metro lake.. Was wide open 24 hours ago..

Where’s Cookie????

???

Smaller lakes in the White Bear area are locking up. North end (shallow end) of Bald Eagle lake was locked up. White Bear has ice out about 50 yards in some bays. Be careful out there this weekend as it will get up over 40 on Thursday.

purehd wrote:

Where’s Cookie????

???

“Where’s cookie” is a famous and popular thread on this forum penned by a character that runs an ice fishing operation on Upper Red. His reports are amusing and genuine and for some of us plain enjoyable to read.

The cookie thread started in 2013 and continued until last March where he left off. I’d expect he’ll pick back up here soon.

Here’s a link the cookie thread. Feel free to go back to the beginning, or just read page 10. You should get an appreciation for the fellow named cookie.

http://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/ftlnorthernmn_1301748/page/10/

Edit: I see now cookie resumed his reporting on Nov. 12, missed it the first time.