Good News! We now
have a plowed road that goes from our marina to Pillsbury Reef and parts of
Center Reef. We drilled over 100 holes
today, checking areas that had lesser ice, and the recent cold helped improve
it enough that the thinnest ice we found today was 9.5 inches in a few areas “under
the wires” and near Center Reef. Most of
the holes drilled were between 12 to 16 inches, with a few as much as 18
inches. Also, the snow has diminished
greatly, as last weekend’s warm-up, followed by the heavy wind and cold, helped
pack the snow down, so it’s easier to travel on the lake with 4-wheel drive. Keep in mind however, there are still several
areas scattered around with large enough drifts to potentially get stuck if you
are driving a 2-wheel drive car. It’s
important for us to remind everyone if you go off the plowed roads or beaten
paths to areas that have been generally untouched, we still suggest checking
ahead of yourself before driving with anything heavy. As we always say, the ice is never safe.
As for the fishing, we continue to hear good crappie reports
from the Pillsbury Reef and Wagener’s Bay locations. The deeper water bite has been strong in the
late afternoon and early evening.
Fishing between 20 to 24 feet of water in Wagener’s hole has been good,
with most crappie action coming suspended 6 to 10 feet off the bottom. Sunfish and Perch are generally closer to the
bottom and bite better daytime, although we’ve been hearing some late evening
sunfish bites over there which is unusual.
If you fish closer to Pillsbury Reef, find between 12 to 15 feet of
water and expect daytime sunnies and perch with a chance at evening crappies. Also, you’ll have a better chance at northern
pike by the weeds on Pillsbury. Waconia
Bay has continued to pump out sunfish action as well as some decent keeper
perch, which continues to excite us to see.
A few northerns have been roaming around as well.
Don’t forget we have Rental Fish Houses on the ice ready for
Rent! Weekday rates start at $69 for a
4-hole house, $79 for a 5-holer, and $95 for a 6-holer for 6 hours. Saturday & Sunday rates start at $89 for
a 4-holer, $105 for a 5-holer and $125 for a 6-Hole House for 6 hours. Call (952) 442-2096 to reserve!
We want to thank those of you who have been following our
ice reports, as we have been long-awaiting to get ice thick enough to plow
roads on Lake Waconia. It’s been a
difficult winter, with extreme variances in ice, but we appreciate your
continued support! Our store hours continue
to be Monday-Friday from 8 am to 6 pm and Saturday & Sunday from 7 am to 6 pm. Don’t forget, our Ice and Dice game is still
going on, so weigh in your catches to see if you qualify to shake the dice for
a Free Prize. We hope to see you
soon! Good Luck!
