We headed out on the Polaris Ranger today (12/29/21) to get an ice update. We started at our access and checked some ice at and between the following areas- Waconia Bay, Under the Wires(between the island and peninsula), Center Reef, Pillsbury reef, Deep hole in Wagener’s Bay, Harm’s Point , south side of Coney Island, Cemetery Reef and then “The Walleye Hole” between the marinas. There is a fair amount of snow on most of the lake. You will see in the video attached to this post how the lake looks and how the ice thickness varies depending on how much snow is sitting on it. We found ice between 7 and 10 inches thick today. Most of the holes drilled today were in the 8 to 8 ½ inch range. 9 to 10” of ice is what we found on some of the small areas that have no snow.
It’s important to remember the springs that we marked exist and there is always a chance there are springs we haven’t found on the lake that will affect the ice. This year seems to be a very active spring year. We have marked some more small springs and bubblers in the Waconia Bay. We have noticed more gas pockets in the ice of Waconia Bay and Wagener’s Bay than most areas we have checked on the lake. If you want to err on the side of caution, waiting for thicker ice than we normally feel comfortable with isn’t a terrible idea.
We will be allowing single axle wheel houses pulled with atvs or side by sides through our access starting Friday 12/31/21. We will not be allowing cars or trucks through our access (even for shoreline parking) until ice improves more.
We want to preface this report that Lake Waconia’s ice is in very good condition for walking. After drilling hundreds of holes the past few days and checking ahead of themselves, Ben and Avery were comfortable enough to take the marina’s side-by-side Polaris Ranger on the ice to cover more ground. They spent a lot of today marking the springs on Lake Waconia that we had in our GPS from previous years. All of them were active enough to be a problem so we marked them with lath board and flagging tape. Most of the ice that we measured while heading to the springs was measuring between 5.5 and 7.5 inches. We have done our best to mark everything we are aware of, yet we can’t say we’ve marked all the springs on the lake.
Based on the ice we’ve measured the past few days, we are allowing 4-wheelers and side-by-sides through the marina access starting Friday. We are not allowing wheel houses or permanent fish houses through our access at this time. Remember to check ahead of yourself when heading out. Here are coordinates for many of the active springs that were marked today…
E. of Cemetery Reef: 44° 51.586’ N 93° 46.474’ W
W. of Anderson’s Reef: 44° 51.673’ N 93° 46.263’ W
S. of Reinke’s Reef: 44° 52.660’ N 93° 46.246’ W
N. of Red’s Reef: 44° 52.460’ N 93° 46.230’ W
Between Keg’s & NW Side of Island: 44° 51.987’ N 93° 47.241’ W
S. of North Reef: 44° 52.351’ N 93° 47.113’ W
SE Side of Keg’s Reef: 44° 52.136’ N 93° 46.939’ W
S. of Red’s Reef: 44° 52.044’ N 93° 46.346’ W
East of Island: 44° 51.651’ N 93° 46.567’ W
East of Island: 44° 51.639’ N 93° 46.567’ W
Between Wagener’s Bay Access and Rock Dock: 44° 51.608’ N 93° 48.159’ W
Between Keg’s & NW Side of Island: 44° 51.940’ N 93° 47.225’ W
N. of NE Side of Island: 44° 51.832’ N 93° 47.146’ W
Ben and Avery spent a few hours today on foot checking ice on Lake Waconia. They started their trek at the Wagener’s Bay access. Heading towards Pillsbury they found a spring on the north side of deep hole just south of the reef (that they made a video about in our earlier report) and marked it and headed on top of Pillsbury and walked over to Center Reef. Where they checked in Wagener’s Bay, Pillsbury Reef and Center reef they were finding mostly 5 to 7 inches of ice. Where there was snow they found 5 to 6 inches of ice. Where the snow blew clean they were finding mostly 7 inches of ice. As they headed south of Center towards “under the wires” (the area between the Island and the Peninsula) some of the snow drifts are deeper. They found as little as 4 ½ inches of ice in deep drifts, but 5 to 7 inches was still the norm. Ben and Avery then ran over to the west side of the island to check on some spring locations from years past and marked 2 of them over there. They walked along the south side of the island to check on some other past spring spots in front of the beach part of the island. They marked the 3 springs that they found there and moved on. Ice thickness along the south side of the island was mostly 5 1/2 inches as there is pretty consistent snow there. From the East end of the island they followed along Cemetery Reef and were again finding 5 to 7 inches of ice. They found less of the 7” in that area because there is more widespread snow. From Cemetery they headed back toward the Marina crossing over the “Walleye Hole” (the area between the 2 marinas). Snow and ice thicknesses were similar to Cemetery Reef area.
Watch our video on our earlier post that shows an active spring they found around 20 feet of water in Wagener’s bay south of Pillsbury Reef. We want to stress that while thicknesses are very good right now, it’s still important to pay attention to your surroundings and avoid areas that look abnormal like our video shows. The springs on Lake Waconia are almost always in the same areas each year. However, there are many years they are dormant or don’t affect the ice. This is one of those years where the springs seem to be more active and could be problematic if you don’t check where you’re going. We mark anything we find with lath board and flagging tape, but it’s impossible to mark everything.
This is a quick on the fly ice update. Avery and I are currently out on Lake Waconia and thought we'd post this video quick. From what we are seeing we have a lot of good usable ice out here. Just use common sense caution as usual during early ice periods. Thanks and be safe!
We headed over to the Wagener's Bay access today with intentions to walk out to Pillsbury reef and Center reef to do an ice check. Out in front of the access many of you might be aware of some of the small springs that sometimes are present. Pretty early in our walk Avery noticed one of the active springs. Ben doubled back to look for more where we thought they had been in the past and partially broke through the ice trying to mark one of them. Instead of heading out further on the lake we are going to take some time trying to mark whatever other springs we can find in the Wagener's Bay area.
Please remember this is still early ice and we always recommend checking ahead of yourself. This year could end up being a more active spring year in general because of the low water of Lake Waconia. Again make sure to pay extra attention.
Ben and Avery took the marina’s first ice walk on Lake Waconia today, 12/18/21. They measured ice in the range of 3 to 4.25 inches from the marina out to Waconia Bay and between the marinas in the area we call the walleye hole. A lot of the ice was in the 4 inch range. However, where it was 3 inches, the ice had air pockets, which were scattered throughout the bay. When chiseling and you poked through those spots it would bubble for a couple seconds.
Last night we got about 1 to 1.5 inches of snow, so there is now a little bit of an insulation layer on the surface which will somewhat slow down ice growth. However, despite that and the scattered air pockets, the ice is in great shape. Thanks to the warm up earlier in the week, all the previous snow had melted which once it got cold again allowed the ice to freeze clear. We expect continued ice growth for the foreseeable future as temperatures are predicted to remain well below freezing!
We are now open for the season starting today from Noon to 5 pm. We will continue with those hours for the short term as we wait for the ice to thicken. We will not be renting fish houses until we get more ice, but if you’d like to reserve into the future, please call (952) 442-2096 for more info and to book.
Come do your last minute Christmas shopping! We’ve got plenty of good ice fishing items to stuff a stocking. If you’re not sure what to get, we have gift certificates for any amount you’d like.
What a wild ride! We are happy to report that yesterday's extreme warm up and rain storm melted off all the snow that was on Lake Waconia! We were not very happy last week when all that snow piled onto Waconia’s freshly frozen surface. With the snow gone and some decent cold weather settling in, we are back on track to building ice!
We are also excited to report that we will be opening for the season this Saturday, December 18th! Our business hours will be limited to Noon to 5pm while we wait for the ice to thicken. We checked our immediate frontage today and found just over 2” of ice. We will do an ice check in general areas of Waconia Bay and the Walleye hole (area between the marinas) Saturday morning for some up to date numbers. We will post our thickness results on our website and Facebook by the time we open on Saturday.
Another summer season under our belts! We very much appreciate everyone who was able to join us on Lake Waconia over the last several months! Our Bait Shop and Boat Access will now be closed for the open water season. We look forward to seeing many of you again sometime in December when we open this winter. Don't forget we rent fish houses! We begin taking reservations when we open in December. Winter hours will be announced when ice conditions allow. Have a great fall!
With Fall coming and school starting our business hours are changing. Monday thru Friday We will be open from Noon until 7pm Saturday and Sunday We will be open from 8am until 7pmOur Gas Pump will be open until 6pm when the weather allows We will be closed for the season October 1st
We will be opening earlier the next few weeks. Our hours are now Saturdays 6:30 am to 8:30 pm and Sunday through Friday from 7:30 am to 8:30 pm. Gas service is available until 7:45 pm each night.
Sunfish are still biting great! We've had many good reports from 4 to 10 feet of water on crawlers or wax worms. Crappies have been good too with many anglers getting them off the weed lines in 12 to 14 feet of water on crappie minnows or worms. Those looking for bass have had success off of reefs like North Reef, Center Reef and Cemetery Reef fishing with artificial worms or jigs as well as spinnerbaits. Walleye action has been best in the late evening on fatheads on jigs or spinner rigs by Kegs Reef, North Reef or Anderson's Reef. It's been one of those summers where it's not uncommon to catch a northern pike or even a musky if you actively fishing for them. We've had enough reports of action for those on big spinners or big crankbaits that it might be worthwhile to try for those too! All in all, we've been pleasantly surprised with the bite so far this summer!
Have a great weekend and we'll see you on the lake!
Get out on the lake to beat the heat! Rent a pontoon with us and get wet! All of our pontoons are equipped with swim ladders to get in and out of the water easily. Pack a cooler with some cold beverages and enjoy the beauty of Lake Waconia. We have limited availability for rentals yet this weekend, with a little more availability next week! 4 hours for up to 9 adults on a Saturday or Sunday is $299 plus tax. During the week you can rent the same pontoon for as little as $160 for 2 hours or $195 for 3 hours and $45 per hour after that. Call (952) 442-2096 to reserve. Here's more info as well...
For those of you fishing, we have a special going for a limited time on regular leeches. $2.99 for a pack of 15! Great to keep in the cooler and use for sunnies, crappies, bass or even walleyes!
Water temps have been fluctuating between the upper 70's and low 80's during this hot spell. Sunfish are still in a spawning pattern. You can find them on their beds generally in the shallows and very active most days. Crappies have been a little deeper, along with bass and walleye activity. Areas like Pillsbury Reef, Center Reef, North Reef and the north side of Coney Island are all good locations to try for crappies and bass. Walleyes can be found there too, but also off Kegs Reef. Slip bobber fishing has worked for some, but also there have been reports of anglers trolling spinners with fatheads off the weeds of some of the reefs mentioned above. For the crappies, crappie minnows have been good, but also leeches or a chunk of crawler have worked well too. Unless you plan to use artificial lures for them, bass love crawlers and leeches as well!
Store hours are now extended to 8:30 pm starting this weekend! We have all of our Rental Pontoons and Fishing Boat & Motors ready for rent too! Check out our rental page at https://intownemarina.com/pontoon-%26-boat-rental for more information. Call (952) 442-2096 to reserve.
We unfortunately still don’t have our gas pump service available at this time. We expect repair service to happen after the holiday and hope to have gas available for next weekend if all goes well. Thank you for your patience!
It’s been almost 2 weeks since the Fishing Opener and things have been off to a good start! We have been hearing reports of anglers having success for multiple species of fish here on Lake Waconia. Lake water temps have been fluctuating with warmer air temperatures last week getting the water into the low 70’s, but the chill down later this week has brought water temps back down to the low 60’s again. Since there has been variance in temps the panfish had been starting to move up shallow last weekend bedding up, but have since been seeing them move out a little deeper again with some anglers catching fish out on weed edges in 12’ to 16’ of water. We expect them to move shallow again as the water warms back up. Anglers have still been getting mixed bags of sunfish and crappies in Waconia Bay, the western side of Wagener’s Bay north of the rock dock and the north side of Coney Island. With the catch and release season underway for bass we have been hearing a strong bite on the north side of the lake working the pencil reeds and near the carp trap area. The official Bass Opener begins Saturday, 5/29! For people interested in doing some trolling, there has been good action on the south east side of the lake working the weed edges trolling crank baits above the weeds getting northern pike and bass. Keep in mind northern pike between 22” and 26” must be released. This time of year we have been hearing of a reasonable walleye bite doing a few different things. There have been boats bobber fishing evenings with minnows and leeches off of harms point, another good option would be trolling topside of the reefs with spinners tipped with a leech or a fathead in the low light periods of the day.
Have a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend! We’ll see you on the lake!
We are open with limited hours this week. Current hours are 1 pm to 7 pm. We will be open this Friday from 8 am to 1 in the morning for fishing opener! Saturday of Opener we will be here from 5 am to 8 pm. We'll have all your bait and tackle needs! Gas service is currently unavailable at this time.
2021 Everyday Summer Season Launch Passes are still available, with limited quantities! Go to www.InTowneMarina.com to find out more information.
Pontoon and Boat & Motor rentals will begin in late May. Reservations can be made during business hours by calling (952) 442-2096.
Our Bait Shop will open for the season this Friday, 5/7 at 8 am! Hours this weekend are 8 am to 7 pm. Next week Monday through Thursday we are open from 1 pm to 7 pm. We will announce hours for Fishing Opener and beyond some time next week
. Keep in mind, the boat access is only open to those with Everyday Summer Season Passes on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays. Click the link to find out more information, availability and special early renewal dates for 2020 Summer Season Pass holders… https://intownemarina.com/
Pontoon and Boat & Motor rentals will begin in late May. Reservations can be made once we are open on Friday, May 7th.
Happy Spring! The bait shop will be open for the season on Friday, May 7th! We will announce shop hours later next week.
2021 Summer Season Launch Passes available soon! Click the link to find out more information, availability and special early renewal dates for 2020 Summer Season Pass holders…
The normal marina ice access is now closed to car/truck/wheel house use because of deteriorating conditions on our shoreline. For those wishing to walk or ATV with portables, there will be room to get by our Red F-150 as you come straight down the hill where our summer access is located. The bait shop remains closed until later spring. Enjoy the sunshine and warmer weather coming up!
We are now closed for the Winter Season! Our access will remain temporarily open for a limited time this week depending on the condition of the access. As always, drive at your own risk.
Thank you for another great winter on Lake Waconia!
We will update you with potential spring opening hours once the ice is off the lake and we have begun installation of our dock system. See you soon!
We will be closing for the season after Monday, March 1st. We will be here Saturday and Sunday from 7 am to 6 pm, and on Monday from 10 am to 4 pm.
Fish houses must be removed from the lake by the end of Monday, March 1st.
After March 1st, you may use your fish house on the ice during the day from one hour before sunrise until midnight. It may also remain on the ice from midnight until one hour before sunrise ONLY when occupied or attended. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/shelter.html
When removing your house, please help us keep the lake clean by picking up your trash and blocks when you leave!
It’s amazing we go from a week of 20 below low temps to a week of 40 degree highs. We’ve had plenty of calls from anglers wondering about ice conditions in this warmer period. As of now, the ice is still very thick in the 18 to 28 inch range depending on where you’re going. Accesses are getting beat up due to road salt and heavy usage. We’ve been doing our best to smooth out our access, but it will be wet and bumpy all weekend with this continued warmer weather. You’ll notice orange cones in front of the marina. We are using them to divert traffic around the ruts and potholes to preserve the access for as long as we can. Our access fee is $5 per vehicle per day on the weekend.
Unfortunately we do NOT have any shiners or sucker minnows available this weekend. Fathead minnows are in short supply as well, so we are limiting sales to ½ scoop per customer.
The window is closing! Come rent one of our fish houses in the FINAL week of the Season! Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week take 20% OFF normal rental prices! Call (952) 442-2096 to reserve. For more information about the houses, prices and policies check out our link here… https://intownemarina.com/fish-house-rental
With the extended period of colder weather over the last week, the lake is in great shape! We have a nice wide road plowed out from the marina to Center Reef and over to Pillsbury Reef. Off the road, you can still get around well with 4-wheel drive.We did an ice check on Thursday, February 11. We were searching for areas of lesser ice, under the deep snow drifts where there is more insulation. We found as little as 14 inches in some of these deeper drifted areas, with the majority of what we found being 15-16 inches. In areas there is minimal snow, we are finding 16-19 inches of ice. In the bays, Waconia and Wagener’s where the older and thicker ice is we are finding 19 to 25 inches of ice. It looks like the cold weather isn’t going anywhere for at least a week, so the ice should be in good shape for the rest of the season.
The fishing has seemed to have picked up a bit in the last week. Sunfish can be had out on Center reef and Pillsbury reef in 10-14 feet of water. It is crucial with the sunfish to be actively jigging for them, as they have been biting very light this year. Having a small jig on has also been very important. The best crappie report has still been coming from the deeper water in Wagener’s Bay, anywhere from 20-25 feet of water. The crappies have also been hitting lighter than normal, so it is better to be actively jigging rather than just watching a bobber. We have had several good reports of pike in the last two weeks on Center and Pillsbury reefs, in anywhere from 9 to 15 feet of water.
Access use update…We’ve been expecting some true winter cold at some point and it’s finally here! With temps overnight getting below zero for the next 7 to 10 days, the ice on Lake Waconia will be thickening up nicely. We did another ice check today to see what we could find for minimum thicknesses in locations many anglers are looking to fish, specifically the area around Center Reef. What we found was ice ranging from 11.75 inches to 13 inches in the lesser ice areas we’ve been monitoring all winter. We also found an average of 13 inches out by the “Hump” between the marinas.
What does this mean? It means starting tomorrow (Friday, 2/5/21) we will be opening our access up for use to areas beyond Waconia Bay. Those wishing to get from the marina to Pillsbury Reef, Center Reef or beyond will be able to do so from our access. With the snowfall last night and this morning of about 2 inches, combined with the wind, there may some drifting on the lake. We will not be plowing our normal road to Center, Pillsbury and parts of Wagener’s Bay until the wind subsides, which may be Saturday. 4-wheel drive trucks and AWD SUV’s can get around quite easily out there right now. Cars will likely be able to get around, but come prepared with a shovel in case you get stuck on a drift. Because minimums on much of the lake are still in the 11.75 to 14 inch range, we recommend those pulling tandem wheel houses with trucks to stay on the thicker ice like Waconia Bay or Wagener’s Bay where it’s 16 to 20 inches.
If you want to go off the beaten path, keep in mind we don’t plow roads to many of the areas to the east and north. Also, as we’ve mentioned in previous posts, pay attention for the active springs we have marked with lath board and flagging tape and give them room.
As always, we can never guarantee ice. If you use our access it is drive at your own risk. We currently like the condition of the ice and do our best to check and report what we find throughout the season, but can’t cover it all.
Access rates are $5 per vehicle on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. It’s $3 per vehicle Monday through Thursday. If you plan to use the access a lot for the rest of February, a Winter Season Pass is $35. The pass is good until March 1st, weather and ice permitting.
We still have some availability for Super Bowl Sunday in the afternoon for Fish House rentals! Watch the Super Bowl in one of our new 8' x 16' Ice Castles that are equipped with a 32 inch TV. Price is $239 for 7 hours from either 3 pm to 10 pm or 4 pm to 11 pm. We drill the holes and the the heat is on and comfortable when you arrive! Call (952) 442-2096 to reserve. Check out the video below to see what they look like...
Today’s post is about springs on Lake Waconia. We recently marked 3 more active springs on the lake with lath board and flagging tape. This now brings us to 8 springs we have marked in the 2020/2021 winter season. The newly marked springs are located a couple hundred yards south of North Reef, on the southeast side of Kegs Reef, and south of Red’s Reef.
First things first, we aren’t sure if these are technically freshwater springs that are affecting the ice. It could possibly only be trapped gasses such as methane, or it’s a combination of a freshwater spring with gasses. For the purposes of our reports, we refer to them as springs. Regardless of what they are technically called, we have noticed these every year and do what we can to inform you. The information about springs we provide is giving the best representation of where they are located. We will not be posting screenshots of maps for copyright reasons, as well as the fact intensities of springs on the lake can change at any time. Thankfully this winter, the springs seem less active and are therefore smaller right now. Below is a listing of coordinates that can be used to help avoid them, but due to GPS variances is NOT a perfect pinpoint indicator. When we search for these springs each year, we use our coordinates as a guide to get us very close to where we expect the springs to be (as they seem to always be in the same general areas) and then actively chisel the area until we find and mark them. Some years they are easier to spot, due to clear ice and no snow being present. This year is not one of those years.
Keep in mind, the listing of spring coordinates below is NOT a complete list. We do not claim to have found every spring on Lake Waconia. However, we have noticed historically that the coordinates given have been the most active areas. If you see our markings, we recommend giving them plenty of space as spring activity can fluctuate over the course of the season. This is also why we always recommend doing your own checking, especially if you plan to go well off the beaten path.
Here’s the list of active springs we have marked this year in order of most to least active…
1. E. of Cemetery Reef: 44° 51.586’ N 93° 46.474’ W
2. W. of Anderson’s Reef: 44° 51.673’ N 93° 46.263’ W
3. S. of Reinke’s Reef: 44° 52.660’ N 93° 46.246’ W
4. N. of Red’s Reef: 44° 52.460’ N 93° 46.230’ W
5. Between Keg’s & NW Side of Island: 44° 51.987’ N 93° 47.241’ W
6. S. of North Reef: 44° 52.351’ N 93° 47.113’ W
7. SE Side of Keg’s Reef: 44° 52.136’ N 93° 46.939’ W
8. S. of Red’s Reef: 44° 52.044’ N 93° 46.346’ W
This is a list of springs that have been active in the past, but seem inactive now or have not been found by us and are therefore not marked…
1. East of Island: 44° 51.651’ N 93° 46.567’ W
2. East of Island: 44° 51.639’ N 93° 46.567’ W
3. Between Wagener’s Bay Access and Rock Dock: 44° 51.608’ N 93° 48.159’ W
4. N. Side of Wagener’s Hole by Pillsbury: 44° 51.962’ N 93° 48.240’ W
5. Between Keg’s & NW Side of Island: 44° 51.940’ N 93° 47.225’ W
6. N. of NE Side of Island: 44° 51.832’ N 93° 47.146’ W
We did another check today in hopes of finding ice thick enough to get past Waconia Bay and Wagener’s Bay with trucks and bigger Wheelhouses and we did not find it. Ice in the areas that have remained thinner all season, such as Center Reef and beyond is 11 to 13 inches. We won’t drive our plow trucks on less than 12 inches so we will only being plowing from the marina to Waconia Bay if there is any measurable snow this weekend. Wagener’s Bay and Waconia Bay still has the thickest ice ranging from 15 to 19 inches at this time.
We spent some time bombing around parts of Lake Waconia today to get an Ice thickness update. We again focused on areas of the main Lake that people have been patiently waiting for to grow thicker. In general we were finding areas that blew open around Christmas time to be in the neighborhood of 10 inches to 13 ½ inches of ice now. The areas we checked were on The Walleye Hump between the Marinas, Harms Point, North of Pillsbury Reef and portions of Center Reef. We were very disappointed to find as many of the 10 to 11 inches readings as we did. The 2-3” of snow blanketing the lake are certainly slowing down ice growth, despite the cold nights we have had. The next few nights are supposed to be good and cold so we should pack on some more thickness by later in the week. Lake Waconia is sure taking its sweet time this year in the ice growth department!
Getting around in the few inches of snow on Lake Waconia is pretty easy at the moment. The people that are driving in Wagener’s Bay and Waconia Bay generally don’t need four wheel drive at this time. On the main lake walking and ATVs etc will have little trouble. We will update you again in two or three days after these upcoming cold nights do their job.
We did some more ice checking today. This time we focused on areas with lesser ice that we’ve reported on all season. Thankfully the cold is doing its’ job! We drilled some holes on Center Reef on spots we’ve been keeping track of, and we found a minimum of 10 inches and up to 12 inches of ice. Similar story as we drilled on the “hump” east of the marina and Cemetery Reef. We are still only driving to Waconia Bay from our access at this time. It's good news that things are catching up, but we aren’t comfortable venturing out further with the heavy stuff yet.
We are extending our store hours starting this weekend. Saturdays and Sundays we are open from 7 am to 6 pm, and Monday thru Friday we are open from 8 am to 6 pm.
For those of you looking for 1# propane cylinders, we have a good quantity for sale, but are limiting it to 4 per customer. Price is $5.99 per cylinder.
Despite the mild mid-week temps, we have gained about an inch of ice since our last report on 1/18/21 thanks to some colder overnight temps. With another cold night tonight, we expect a little more growth. Because things are improving, we will be opening our access tomorrow (Friday, 1/22/21) to cars and trucks (up to 1-ton in size) and tandem wheel houses for use to Waconia Bay. Those not wanting to drive out can park on the ice, but if you do please spread out. As always drive at your own risk. Access rates are $5 per vehicle on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and $3 per vehicle on Monday thru Thursday. If you plan to park and walk, it is $2 per person every day. A winter season pass is $35.
Current conditions in the bay are between 13 to 18 inches. We are not recommending going further than Waconia Bay with cars or trucks at this time due to lesser ice still existing past the bay heading north towards Center Reef or behind the island. East of the marina on the “hump” and out to Cemetery Reef and beyond is also less and not advisable for driving. Most of those lesser ice areas still have between 8.5 to 11 inches of ice. Wagener’s Bay has similar ice to Waconia Bay, but if you’re driving in that bay, we still advise to not drive out of the bay itself as the ice around parts of Pillsbury Reef and east towards Center Reef is still not thick enough in our opinion.
We feel very good about side-by-side, ATV and snowmobile use all over the lake (aside from the active springs we marked and reported earlier today).
As always, ice is NEVER safe. We report what we find, but also cannot cover every area on the lake, so we advise those of you looking to go to areas less-traveled to check ahead of yourself.
With predicted measurable snow on Saturday afternoon, if a road needs to be plowed, we will only be plowing (when the snow/wind is done) to Waconia Bay at this time due to ice thickness beyond.
We set aside a good portion of today to look for and find any active springs that we often find on Lake Waconia. In general, we had a much harder time finding them due to the current conditions of frozen slush and a little snow on top. We ended up marking 5 active spring locations (that have less than 1 inch of ice covering them) with lath board and flagging tape. 2 of the springs are between Cemetery Reef and Anderson’s Reef. 2 are between Red’s Reef and Reinke’s Bay on the NE side of the lake. Another one we marked is south and west of Keg’s Reef in deep water. The springs we found today aren’t affecting as large of an area as past year’s, but you will definitely want to avoid them. If you come across anything similar, we ask that you mark it with whatever you can and let us know.
If you aren’t familiar with these springs from past years, we are happy to show you in our bait shop where they are located. Watch the video below for the largest one we found east of Cemetery Reef in over 30 feet of water.
Things have firmed up nicely on the ice the past 2 days. Over the weekend it went from wet and slushy to crisp and solid, increasing ice thicknesses everywhere! Many anglers have been fishing in Wagener’s Bay and a lesser extent in Waconia Bay as the ice is thicker in those areas. Those locations are now in the 13 to 17 inch range. To get a better feel for areas many have stayed away from due to lesser ice, we drilled a number of holes today, 1/18/21. Starting from Harm’s Point, we found 7 to 9 inches of ice extending along the transition of older ice and newer ice to Pillsbury Reef. The Center Reef area ranges from 7.5 to 10 inches of ice in the areas we checked. From the “hump” by the marina to Cemetery Reef, we found 8.5 to 10 inches with some 12” mixed in. Behind the island towards Kegs Reef we were finding 8–10 inches of ice. There is a pressure ridge that starts on the east side of Center reef, runs over the North side of Keg’s Reef and heads towards Red’s Reef. The pressure ridge is definitely crossable by wheeler in areas, but you might not want to pull a wheel house over it.
We know many of you have been waiting for word on when we intend to open our access for driving cars and trucks. If overnight temps get as cold as predicted Monday night and Tuesday night, and we don’t get a lengthy warm-up in the forecast past Thursday, we hope to open the access up by Friday or Saturday. It all depends on ice growth with the varying temps this week. Until then, we continue to urge caution and patience with anything heavy in the locations described above that we hope thicken up soon. We will do another ice update later in the week and post any news on when we plan to open our access to cars and trucks.
Good news! The blizzard that never was came through last night and conditions on the lake today, 1/15/21 are much better than expected. All areas will have wet slush from last night’s precipitation, but most anglers that are set up on ice with thicknesses over 12 inches should be in good shape without much standing water. If you are set up on less than 12 inches with a heavier house, there might be a little standing water around. If you haven’t been out to your fish house lately it’s still a good idea to check on it.
We are still only allowing side by sides and ATV’s with single-axle wheel houses through our access. With the current wetness on the ice and not too much snow, we are hopeful that when the cold comes it will build thickness quicker so we can eventually open our access to cars and trucks, possibly later next week. We’ll see. We’ll also be getting our rental houses back on the lake soon and will update when they become available to rent again!
With the predicted weather tonight and blizzard conditions for Friday, 1/15/21, and the fact the marina has not been driving trucks on the ice yet, we have decided to pull the 4 rental fish houses we had out in Waconia Bay off the ice for the short term. The ice isn’t as thick as it normally is for mid-January. If the predictions of the snow and strong winds come true we expect heavy drifts around fish houses potentially causing some flooding around them. The recipe of standing water and high winds swirling the water around fish houses has been a cause for problems twice in the past 25 years with houses falling into expanded holes in the ice. If you’ve got a house on the lake and won’t be fishing in it this weekend, we suggest removing it from the ice (not leave on shore or snow will drift around it just as bad or worse). If you’re not removing your house, at the very least, check on it Friday.
Currently, the areas that had slush ice on top (most of the lake) has gotten soft. Thicknesses haven’t changed much if at all yet. There is not excessive standing water where we’ve checked in Waconia Bay, so conditions aren’t bad at the moment. If we luck out and get minimal snow, we are much less concerned. When the storm is over and we can assess what the ice conditions will be going forward into next week, we will hopefully be putting our rentals back on the ice. Stay safe!
We went out for another ice check this morning, 1/10/21, looking to see if conditions improved with the colder temps at the end of last week. Waconia Bay and Wagener’s Bay now have 10-15 inches of ice, with most of it being in the 12-15 inch range. Keep in mind that the top few inches is still the hardened “slush”, so it is not as strong as clear black ice. We continued our check out to Center Reef, where we found 6-8 inches of ice with some hardened slush on top. This area was wet with slush several days ago, so we were happy to find it had frozen and hardened. The walleye hump in front of the marina had as little as 5 inches on it, with the majority of it being 6-7. The ice stayed similar out to Cemetery Reef, where it ranged from 6-8 inches. Keep in mind; we haven’t done any extended ice checks out to other areas of the lake such as Anderson’s, Keg’s, or North Reef. As always, use caution and check ahead of yourself if you are venturing to any areas with less traffic. The forecast for early in the week looks to be mild, so we won’t be updating ice conditions until later in the week when we hope the cold weather comes. We remain patient and won’t be allowing cars or trucks from our access until the ice thickens up more.
The bite has been less active than normal to start our ice fishing season on Lake Waconia. Hopefully things pick up with the change in weather. Most anglers are staying on the thicker ice on Wagener’s Bay or Waconia Bay. Sunfish have bit during the day in as little as 8 feet of water, with some biting a little deeper out to 14 feet. Crappies have been a little more hit or miss so far, but action can be had in similar depths as the sunfish, but later in the afternoon or early evening. Some have tried the deeper hole of Wagener’s Bay too and had some success with crappies too, but the bite hasn’t been as strong as normal. Walleyes have been picking up in the evening hours as well, with nothing too deep. This week would be a good week to set up some tip-ups with sucker minnow for northern pike with the milder temps earlier in the week.
We have our NEW Ice Castle rental houses within walking distance on Waconia Bay ready for fishing this weekend! Both are 8’ x 16’ 8 hole fish houses, nicely equipped with a 32 inch TV to hook up your underwater camera or watch the big NFL Playoff games this weekend while fishing. Check out the video about the houses here… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQNuJuARIeA
The generally mild week of weather hasn’t helped increase ice thicknesses like we all hoped. On our recent check 1/7/21 we went out to Center Reef and found where a lot of fishermen like to set up shop has not improved a whole lot in the last week. We are still finding areas as little as 4.75 inches and up to 7 inches of ice. As we were out walking around on these areas, it’s very noticeable that there are a lot of places with slush. There are a few guys adventuring out to parts of Pillsbury Reef. In the deeper part of the reef it is 10 to 13 inches but not far away to the north from the transition in the shallower part of the reef where you will find 5 to 7 inches. From the Hump by the marina and beyond to Cemetery Reef we remain at 5-8 inches of ice. The ice in Waconia Bay and Wagener’s Bay continues to be the best ice on the lake. We are finding 10 to 14 inches (again, with that ice having frozen slush as part of those numbers).
For the upcoming weekend we will still only be allowing fish houses pulled out by ATV’s and Side by Sides from our access into the Waconia Bay. As the week goes on we have been seeing larger fish houses and some vehicle traffic over in Wagener’s Bay. Keep in mind the larger fish houses are only being pulled out by a dollied ATV. We continue to strongly recommend checking ahead of yourself if you are bringing anything heavy onto the ice. We are still only driving with our side by side at this point. This year is not a year to make assumptions about the ice. Outside of Waconia Bay and Wagener’s Bay, the ice varies greatly.
