Let’s start with weather! 12° and working down to 9° by sunrise. We’ve actually got some good ice to report now. I’ve been going out the Days River landing. I park my jeep on the ice now instead of on the road. The ice we have on the upper bay down to center reef is really good at 6-7 inches. I think by Friday will be moving into the 9-10” range. 20 years ago if it was 9 I’m fine! I’d often be the out-of-town idiot that gave others courage to head out in a truck. These days we are outfitting our guests using a Honda Pioneer 1000 on tracks. Only a few pounds per square inch and 21’ trailers that weigh only 1200 lbs. These drop down covered wagons slide across the ice on skis effortlessly. There’s really no reason to run a truck out there anytime soon. Undersized walleyes continue to pick at our bait. Limits of eater walleye have been produced lately in 16-20 feet of water. Plenty of perch are being caught in the upper bay. Some reports of perch in 40’ of water. Definitely foot travel for that venture. Northern Pike have been feeding in shallow water on big suckers. The west side of the bay by Kipling has been troublesome with the worst ice conditions seen this late in the season. Pretty sure this weeks cold snap is the game changer we’ve been waiting for. There is some water pushing through cracks in the ice at the Days river landing. I moved one of these shacks today to higher ice. The other one is in trouble. Conditions change fast. Probably going to need a chain saw if anyone knows who the owner of this unmarked shack is.
Increasing. your odds,
-Blade