In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 1/25/26

 Even Thicker! Avery went out today to see how much ice we have made since our last update on 1/22. He drilled about 20 holes between In Towne Marina and the Center reef area.  In that stretch he was finding 19.5 to 20 inches of thickness in the clear black ice where there was no snow. Where he checked in drifts of snow around fish house groups he measured 18 to 18.5 inches of ice. The area south of Coney island that we have been checking on has grown to 16 plus inches since our last check on 1/22 so that ice is catching up nicely. 

Getting around on the lake is easy right now as most areas are blown clean of snow when moving between spots. It's pretty easy to avoid the deeper drifts in groups of fish houses and areas where fish houses vacated leaving their old banks and drifts. 

We are allowing up to 28' tandem Wheel House now with up to 1 ton Pickups or smaller vehicles. Remember to always check ahead of yourself when heading off in your own direction. 

See you on the ice!

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 1/22/26

As of today, Thursday 1/22/26 we are allowing Tandem wheel houses up to 26' behind 1 ton trucks and smaller vehicles on through our access. Today Ben and Jimmy Drilled about 40 holes again for another ice check. The Ice has grown about an inch since our last check on 1/20. We found 17 to 18 inches of clear, black ice where we checked today between In Towne Marina and the Center Reef area. Where there is frozen slush on top of the clear ice, there is usually 1 to 2 inches more thickness.

On the south side of Coney Island where we previously found the thinnest ice (aside from marked spring areas) thickness has now increased to 15 plus inches.

It is extremely windy on the lake today. Blowing snow is limiting visibility. We have not established a lake road because of the extreme wind and lack of much snow in most areas. There is major drifting around many existing groups of fish houses but minimal to no snow in open areas. Getting around is fine as long as you avoid drifts especially where permanent houses were previously and then left, so keep a watch out for those old drifts.

See you on the ice!

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 1/20/26

 In the last couple of cold days we have seen some good ice growth! Today (1/20/26) Ben drilled about 40 holes between the marina and Center reef area. When drilling in black clear ice spots he was finding 16 to 17 inches commonly. Where slush ice is layered on top it was thicker. The area on the south side of Coney Island that was 13.5 inches on 1/18 measured just over 14 inches today.  That area by the island is the thinnest ice Ben is aware of on Lake Waconia other than around the springs. 

We are allowing vehicles up to 1/2 ton trucks with reasonable sized tandem houses OR 1 ton or smaller trucks and vehicles with single axle houses on through our access at this time now. 

On Thursday 1/22 we will let you know if we will be allowing big trucks with big houses. 

See you on the ice!

 

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 1/18/26

 Ben went out to see how much ice we have grown in the last 2 days. He checked on spots along where the road normally is on the way to Center Reef. He found we have grown about 1/2 to 3/4 inch since the last report on 1/16. Ben drilled where there was no or minimal slush ice and found 14.5 to 16.5 inches. Where Slush ice is layered on top you can find more thickness. The spot south of Coney Island that had 13 Inches on 1/16 grew to 13.5 as of today (he was expecting more). 

Half Ton Pick-ups with Single Axle Houses are still what we are allowing. If you have a capable ATV or Side by side and dolly to pull it, we will allow reasonable sized tandem houses to go on through here. FYI there is a bit of a hill as you approach the ice at our landing. Please do NOT drive on the ice with a truck and Tandem House yet, even to just unhook. We are allowing up to 1 ton trucks including unloaded Diesel's with NO houses behind them on through our access as well.

We want another 1.5 inches of ice  (on the low end of thickness) before we are comfortable allowing the bigger houses behind trucks! We will allow Tandems behind pickups through our access when the 14.5 to 16.5 inches turns into 16 to 18 plus inches. 

See you on the ice! 

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 1/16/26

Ice is growing and the wind is blowing! Today (Friday 1/16) Ben drilled many holes in the same areas he did on 1/14.  Common ice thickness where he drilled today was 14 to 16 inches with 15 inches being the most common. Ben concentrated on checking where it was black ice. if you drill in the slush ice you will see more overall thickness in spots where the slush ice adds to the black ice thickness. On the south side of Coney Island, Ben found 13 inches of ice where it had been 12 inches on 1/14. This area by the island has the thinnest ice we are aware of at 13 inches other than where the springs are.

It is incredibly windy right now (3 PM) Visibility is low and the wind is supposed to keep blowing hard through Sunday and pretty hard into Monday. Drifts are already forming around existing houses so those people will have some banking snow to work with. 

There are no established roads on Lake Waconia because there wasn't enough ice to plow when we had snow and because of the warm up there wasn't any snow left when we had enough ice for the plow truck.  Now with the fresh snow flying in this wind we will not be doing any major plowing to establish a road until the extreme wind lays down likely after the weekend.

Half Ton Pick-ups with Single Axle Houses are still what we are allowing.  If you have a capable ATV or Side by side and dolly to pull it, we will allow reasonable sized tandem houses to go on through here. FYI there is a bit of a hill as you approach the ice at our landing. Please do NOT drive on the ice with a truck and Tandem House yet, even to just unhook. We are allowing up to 1 ton trucks including unloaded Diesel's with NO houses behind them on through our access as well. 

Tomorrow, Saturday, 1/17 there is a fishing tournament put on by the Future Flames Committee and benefitting the First Lutheran School of Glencoe. Check out this link for more information...

Fishing Contest Link

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 1/14/26

Things have firmed up! After the last few warm days, things are looking good on Lake Waconia! The rougher and rutted up areas have smoothed out quite a bit after the warm up. Yesterday there was as much as 1.5 inches of water in low areas before it refroze last night.

While the main lake has firmed up nicely, a few anglers with wheel houses reported they had water draining down and swirling in their holes last night as the warm weather changed to cold and wind. It wouldn't be a bad idea to check on your house.

As far as ice thickness we are pretty much right back to where we were when we did our last major ice check update on 1/9/26. We had lost a little ice during the warm up and recovered it and maybe a little more last night once it got cold. Today, 1/14/26 we focused on checking in Waconia Bay and on the way to Center Reef where our road will eventually be. We found the most common thickness to be between 13 to 14 inches. Some areas with added frozen slush ice is still a little more. We also checked on the south side of Coney Island as that area was some of the lesser ice from the last report. In front of the island remained the thinnest area with 12 to 12.5 inches of ice.

Half Tons and Single Axle's! Starting Thursday, 1/15/26 we will be allowing HALF TON trucks with SINGLE AXLE houses on the ice through our landing. If you have a capable ATV or Side by side and dolly to pull it, we will allow reasonable sized tandem houses to go on through here. FYI there is a bit of a hill as you approach the ice at our landing. Please do NOT drive on the ice with a truck at our access with a tandem house yet, even to just unhook. We will also be allowing up to 1 ton trucks with NO houses behind them on through our access starting Thursday 1/15/26.

The cold weather looks to be here for a good while. We should make a lot more ice fast in the near future as long as the snow mostly stays away. We all need banking snow, but need to grow more ice first!

To use our private access, Winter Season Passes are $40. If you’d prefer to pay daily, rates are $2 to walk on, or $5 per day for Cars, Trucks, ATV’s, side-by-sides and snowmobiles. As always, use our access at your own risk

Our Rental Fish Houses are out and we still have availability! Call 952-442-2096 to reserve!

Click the link for info! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UxHHzr7rX6HPs-n7OV1YW_Eilp940Wi5/view

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - UPDATE to our earlier report on 1/9/26

**Update to our earlier report today, 1/9/26…We ARE allowing cars and up to ½ ton pick-up trucks to use our access. This does NOT include hauling a house with your vehicle. We still want all houses to be brought out by ATVs or Side-by-Sides. We always stress doing your own checking before heading anywhere on the lake with a vehicle for the first time. Below is the ice thickness report.

So far Ben has focused his ice check along the weedline of Waconia Bay, to the walleye hump/hole and on the way towards Center Reef where a future road would be. With the recent melting of snow and rain, we did gain some ice on the surface once the standing water froze up, so some of the new numbers surprised us a bit. Keep in mind, these numbers are not all clear/black ice. He found the ice along the Waconia Bay weedline to be 12.5 to 15.5 inches of ice. By the walleye hump/hole, he was finding 12 to 15 inches (commonly 13 to 13.5), with rutted ice being common. On the way towards Center reef the ice gets rougher yet in spots with more frozen ruts and scattered old hard snow. Because of that old snow and ruts, he found as little as 11 inches, with occasional layering in isolated spots. Ben continued on to Center Reef, Pillsbury Reef and Wagener's Bay. The ice in those locations was between 12 to 15 inches, with the common ice again being around 13 to 13.5 inches. Center, Pillsbury and Wagener's Bay have plenty of rutted ice, so again, try to stay on more smooth ice if driving. It's especially rutted going from the Wagener's Bay access to Harm's Point.

**5 PM UPDATE

Ben went back out after lunch to cover more ice. First he checked on the way to and on top of Cemetery Reef and found 12 to 15 inches. He headed to the East side of the island and found 13 to 15 inches. Shooting west from there in front of the island 12 to 13 inches was common. From the West side of the Island and towards the East part of Center Reef it was more of the 12.5 to 15 inches where he drilled. Ben headed to the South side of Kegs Reef and then ran up the reef and drilled around North Reef and further. He then shot west towards Nelsons Flats and drilled several holes. In that stretch from Keg's to Nelson's he measured 12 to 15 inches of ice. From Nelson's Flats area he decided to double back and check out Red's Reef and more. He drilled on and around Red's, over towards the Clay Banks, and headed to Anderson's Reef, then "The Beach"  weed edge and then back to the marina. In that long stretch he drilled frequently and found 11.5 to 15 inches. 

13 to 13.5 inches was by far the most common thickness found today. Some layered ice remains under some of the biggest old hard snow drifts found all over the lake. Those drifts can be avoided pretty easily. Don't forget to look out for the springs marked publicly on Navionics or physically marked by us with lath boards and flagging tape around the lake. 

As usual always check ahead of yourself when heading off the beaten path. We can't check all the ice on the lake but as long as people don't push it too far we feel good about how things looked out there today.

The Lake is back to being very slippery again. Don't forget your ice cleats and whether driving or walking, take it SLOW.

We'll see you on the ice!