A quick reminder that we OPEN for the season Thursday at 8 am! We did an extended ice check earlier today
(12/28) on Lake Waconia. We spent a
couple of hours on our ATV and punched holes out to Waconia Bay, “Under the
Wires”, Center Reef, Pillsbury Reef, the Wagener’s Bay crappie hole, Harms
Point, the west, south and east sides of Coney Island, Cemetery Reef and the
walleye hole between the marinas. We
found lots of ice ranging between 7 to 8 inches in each location. We found as little as 6.5 inches and as much
as 10 inches (keep in mind the 10 inch locations were few and far between, and
had a larger percentage of cloudy, less strong ice as the top layer). We are very happy with our findings today,
but continue to suggest paying close attention as always.
During our check, we headed over to one of the areas we
monitor each year for active springs, and discovered that it is active yet again. This spring is located between Cemetery and
Anderson’s reefs in deep water and is open and bubbling (with a small, but dangerous
area of about 5 foot by 5 foot). We marked
the periphery of it with lath board and caution tape, so keep an eye out for
that. Lake Waconia has had other active
springs in the past, so keep a look out for anything strange and help us by
marking these locations if you find them.
We mention this, as a cautionary tale that all ice is never completely
safe and to always check ahead of yourself.
All in all, we are thrilled with the condition of the ice we
have checked, despite the active spring we found. At this point, we are suggesting walking or if
you need transport, don’t ride anything bigger than an ATV or snowmobile. We’d like a few more inches before we
consider using the big stuff! See you at
the lake!
