We went out for our first ice walk today, 12/12/19. What we found did not surprise us. We’ve been given some great cold weather this week, but the snowfall we got before the cold did impact the variability of ice thicknesses in all areas checked. The first part of the walk began in Waconia Bay and continued past “Under the Wires”, out to Center Reef, west to Pillsbury Reef and south to the deep hole of Wagener’s Bay ending at the Wagener’s Bay access. The second part of our walk was to the “walleye hole” between the marinas and the south side of Cemetery Reef. What we found was ice as little as 4 inches and up to 8 inches. Where the snow was deeper, ice was usually 4 to 5 inches thick. Where the snow was not quite as deep we had between 5 to 6 inches of ice. Where the wind had swept the ice free and clear of snow, there was 8 inches of ice. The ice itself is in excellent shape. However, when you drill into the ice anywhere there was more than minimal snow, water instantly comes up the hole (no freeboard). Where there is 8 inches of ice, there is some freeboard and water does not come up the hole.
It’s certainly exciting that we are seeing thicknesses like this! 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! If coming out, we are only allowing walking through our access at this time. With continued cold coming this weekend, we will update when we will allow ATV’s, etc… in the future.
Don’t forget, we open for the season tomorrow at 9:30 am! Stop in to say hi, load up on bait or pick up your Winter Season Access Pass for $30.
We look forward to seeing you!
