In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 2/15/26

 Good morning,

We shifted the cones at the access this morning. For now, please come straight down the middle of the cones.

Drive extra slow both on and off the lake to help us keep the access open as long as possible for everyone working to get their permanent houses off Lake Waconia.

With the current warm temperatures, possible rain, and strong winds forecast for Tuesday (2/17), we strongly recommend that all permanent houses be removed from the lake as soon as possible.

We will be physically blocking the access at 5:00 PM tonight. Please plan to be off the lake before then if you intend to use our access. After 5:00 PM, the access will be closed to all car, truck, and permanent fish house traffic and will remain closed until conditions improve significantly.

Good luck

PS - We still have Small Shiners, Big Fatheads, large crappie minnows, and small crappie minnows.

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 2/14/26

 

Our access is holding up for today! We are not allowing houses to go on the lake through our access anymore but you can use our access to pull your house off today 2/14 and tomorrow morning 2/15. 

Houses have been leaving the lake continuously all day. We absolutely recommend removing your house and not leaving it out past Sunday.  With rain and high winds forecasted for Tuesday and Wednesday people will have problems around houses. Water will be draining and swirling and then holes will open up especially around the remaining houses.  

We still plan on closing our access entirely to truck and permanent fish house removal at some point Sunday 2/15 at noon or as late as 5PM depending on conditions. We are hoping to be able to open our access to vehicle and Permanent fish house traffic next weekend if things heal up at our access. We will keep you updated. 

See you on the Ice!

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 2/13/26

 IMPORTANT MESSAGE: With the warm weather and worsening access conditions we are no longer allowing permanent fish houses to be brought onto the lake through our access. This decision is being made to preserve the access for those who still need to remove fish houses that are already on the ice.

Our access will be closed (physically blocked) to all vehicle and permanent Fish house traffic sometime between Noon and 5PM on Sunday 2/15 (or sometime Saturday 2/14 if the access diminishes even faster) so plan on removing your house from the lake by then or earlier if you want to use our access. 

We will have an area for ATV, Side by Side and people walking to access the lake. 

If you insist on leaving your Permanent house out on the ice beyond this weekend, check on it daily. Look for water draining under or around your house. The rain and wind predicted for Tuesday and Wednesday will make conditions even worse.

We are hopeful that cooler temperatures later next week may allow the access to recover and reopen for normal use, but we will need to evaluate conditions at that time before deciding.

See you on the ice!

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 2/11/26

As of today, 2/11/26, our access is holding up well. Having said that, with the upcoming warmth this week into next week, we are Not allowing Tandem wheel houses ON through our access until after conditions hopefully improve. People who have tandem houses on the ice currently will be allowed to take them off through here as long as our access condition allows. We will be giving updates as soon as any changes need to be made about what we are allowing on through our access. General ice thickness has not changed as we are still in the 20 to 23 inch range.

All the accesses including ours will take a beating well into next week. We expect many houses to leave the lake by the end of Sunday 2/15. If you’re on the lake this weekend and insist on leaving your house out there, check it daily (look for excessive water around it and drain holes enlarging) and remember we might need to close our access entirely at any given time this weekend or after. Things start to cool down a bit Wednesday 2/18 but wind will probably come with it. If the wind comes and water is around fish houses we could have an even more serious problem with draining and swirling.

We’ll see you on the ice!

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!