We went for another ice check yesterday afternoon (12/9/18) and today (12/10/18). The cold weather over the weekend has definitely helped gain us some more ice and slowly started to thicken up some areas that are covered in snow. When we are talking about thicknesses, generally the lesser ice will be under snow or wet slush (that insulates the ice, hampering growth) and where it’s thicker it usually is clear ice, but potentially combination ice (mostly good ice with frozen slush on the surface).
Yesterday we walked to Waconia Bay, past “Under the wires” (between Coney Island and Lakeview Terrace) and out to Center Reef. Waconia Bay now has between 5.5 to 10 inches, with a lot of it between 7 to 9 inches. “Under the wires” was between 6 to 9 inches. North of “Under the wires” is where the transition from older to new ice is, which encompasses Center Reef and areas to the east that we have not checked yet. There is a very large area of very thin ice or open-water near the shallow part of Center Reef. This bad area is near where many anglers like to fish. As you get a little further away from there to other locations people fish on Center, you’ll find thicknesses between 3.5 to 7 inches, with a lot of it around 5 to 7 inches as there is less snow on that ice.
Today, we headed out from the marina and to the east. Between the marinas in the “walleye hole” we have ice in the 5 to 9 inch range. With the ice thickening, we were able to get to Cemetery Reef where it is between 3 and 7 inches. However, a lot of Cemetery is closer to the 7 inch range, as there aren’t many snow-packed areas there either.
We also did a short walk in Wagener’s Bay today as well. Again, it varies depending on where the snow is or isn’t, but we found between 6 to 11 inches. We’ve had people ask us what the wood lath board with flagging tape was marking out from the access. Those are marking small springs we found last week and continue to be areas to watch out for.
It’s certainly exciting that we are seeing increased ice thicknesses! As usual, we always caution to do thorough checking yourself if you intend to go out with anything heavy. We do our best to get accurate info for you, but we cannot cover everything!
We look forward to seeing you!
