We look forward to seeing you when we open for the season tomorrow morning at 9 am! We were on the ice today snow blowing in Waconia Bay widening and lengthening our path that we started yesterday, so it should make things easier to get to your spot. There are still areas with scattered heavy drifts, but the warmer weather today settled some of the snow a bit. If setting up a portable or wheelhouse, please set up off the path. As we mentioned in our last report, you'll want chains on your ATV if you plan to haul anything with it. We will be allowing snowmobiles and ATVs with Single-Axle Wheelhouses through our access. It will be bumpy and wet right away at the access as we are dealing with some ice heaving, but the access is still in good shape.
We placed 3 of our 5 rental houses on the ice today! If you are looking to rent, we have our 2 Ice Castle fish houses (#2 & #3) and one of our 7x14 fish houses (#5) available starting tomorrow afternoon. Call (952) 442-2096 to reserve your date to get on the ice!
Happy Tuesday! First things first, we will be opening our bait shop and lake access this Thursday, 12/29 at 9am. Hours will be 9 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday and from 8 am to 5 pm Saturday and Sunday.
We have been out on the ice a good amount the past 2 days both checking thickness and maintaining our access to prep for the season. As expected, there is a lot of snow and heavy drifting on the lake. When checking ice thickness yesterday, we took our Polaris Ranger side-by-side out to cover area faster. We went from our access to the walleye hump/hole between the marinas, out to Center Reef, Pillsbury Reef and into Wagener’s Bay up to the Wagener’s Bay access. We found ice ranging from 9 inches to 15 inches. 11 to 12 inches was most common, with 10 inches and 13 inches being next most common. 14 to 15 inches was less common, with 9 inches being the least common. Keep in mind, these thicknesses are roughly 80% solid ice with 20% of it frozen slush on top. Any of these thicknesses can be found on any of the areas we checked. The thickness varies that much. Also, we briefly went to the marked area off the NW side of Coney Island that was affected by ducks and swans using it. We found as little as 5 inches of ice there. We did not look for any more springs from our last report due to all of the snow, so pay extra attention for anything unusual. At the bottom of this report will be coordinates to the most common springs we know about. We don’t know where all of the springs are, so let us know and mark them if you see something.
Because of the heavy snow in some areas there were pockets of slush underneath some of the deep drifts. We saw slush in front of the Wagener’s Bay access yesterday. Today, at our access, we have been moving snow that had slush on part of it. If you drove by at all, you may have seen Ben in the plow truck moving that snow and slush away from our frontage to firm up the area. We had thoroughly checked the ice and felt comfortable to use the plow truck on our frontage. Jimmy was out further in his subcompact tractor with front snow blower creating a path into the Waconia Bay that we will eventually widen with the plow truck for a road. We are not advocating car and truck usage yet, as there is so much variance in ice thickness on the lake and the extreme snow load on the ice after the blizzard.
When we open up the shop and access on Thursday, we will be allowing ATVs and Snowmobiles for now with Single-axle Fish Houses. Please do not leave your fish house on our plowed frontage. Chains on your ATV are a must if you are towing anything. Be prepared with shovels or other equipment to deal with the snow. Plan your route before just pulling it out there. It won’t be easy going. Having a friend with a second machine is a good idea if possible. We don’t provide fish house towing service.
Keep in mind our access rate if driving ATV’s or Snowmobiles is $5 per day on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays and $3 per day Monday through Thursday. If parking and walking out through our access, it is $2 every day. A Winter Season Pass is $35. As always, we can never guarantee ice. If you use our access it is at your own risk. We do our best to report thicknesses to you but can’t cover it all, so we always advise you to do your own ice checking before going out, especially when hauling a fish house.
Here are coordinates of common springs we have found in the past. This does not mean we have found them this winter and they likely are NOT marked…
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
West Side of Deep Hole in Wagener’s Bay: 44° 51.788 N 93° 48.396 W
Northwest Side of Deep Hole in Wagener’s Bay: 44° 52.002’ N 93° 48.525’ 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
Happy Monday! We’ll start with bait shop news first before getting into the ice report. Despite the positive ice news below, the bait shop and access will remain closed at this time as we await the extreme winter weather later this week. Measureable snow is likely on Wednesday and Wednesday night. There are predictions for high winds of 30 mph+ potentially gusting over 50 mph on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with brutally cold wind chills and blizzard-like conditions. We will update our shop and access opening date later in the week once we know how things shake out with the weather.
Now on to the ice report! We took a long walk to several areas of Lake Waconia today,12/19/22. We are very happy with how the slush from last week firmed up nicely. It not only added immediate thickness and strength to the ice, but also freeboard (the thickness of ice that is above the water level). Last week when you drilled a hole, water flowed out and flooded the area of ice around you. Now, with positive freeboard there generally is up to ¼ inch of ice above the water in your hole.
We walked from Waconia Bay, to “under the wires” (between the island and Lakeview Terrace) and out to Center Reef near Pillsbury. We did not cover Pillsbury Reef or into Wagener’s Bay. We also went to the walleye hump/hole between the marinas, Cemetery Reef and east on the way to Anderson’s. We stopped and marked 2 of the notorious springs that we have found every year lately. One was very active and bubbling (shown in the video), the other was thinly iced over, but problematic if not marked. We used lath board and flagging tape to mark around them, so they should be visible. Both of those springs are between Cemetery Reef and Anderson’s Reef. We expect to find several more springs in common places from the past, so continue to pay attention. For clarity’s sake, we did not make it to Anderson’s Reef, or north to Reds Reef. We then tracked back west on the south side of Coney Island and checked out the pressure ridge that extended from the southwest side of the island into Waconia Bay. That area has improved greatly from 2 weeks ago. It’s still something to potentially avoid with anything heavy in the near future. We also marked an area on the NW side of Coney Island with lath board and flagging tape that is still open water with ducks and swans using it that also has thin ice around it that is about a 50 x 100 foot affected area.
As for ice thickness where we checked, we typically found a range between 7.5 to 12 inches, with a lot of it 8.5 to 10 inches. Very little of the ice is clear perfect ice. Typically about ¾ of the thickness was solid clear ice with the top ¼ of it being frozen slush. Where we ended checking in locations that transitioned from older ice to newer ice, we found less ice in the 4 to 8 inch range and didn’t continue further. Those expansive areas are on the main lake east of Center Reef, behind the island and north of Cemetery and Anderson’s Reefs.
Keep in mind, we can’t cover everything. With the snow cover and variation of freezing times, we highly suggest doing your own ice checks before heading out. We know many of you will see our reported numbers and think it’s go-time to start bringing fish houses out on the ice. We continue to preach patience! We are holding off on bringing any of our rental fish houses out. If permanent houses are brought on the ice with the weather coming up, heavy drifting likely will occur, making things difficult to get around and adding lots of weight from the snow around your fish house which could flood your area.
First and foremost, we will remain closed this weekend as we are looking forward to the negative temperatures next week that we expect will improve Lake Waconia’s ice. We walked out to Waconia Bay today to get a sense for the conditions after the rain and snow event this week. As expected, it’s quite wet out there and tough sledding. Pretty much everywhere you go there will be a layer of water under heavy snow. Some areas are more saturated depending on the thickness of the ice below it. We are keeping our access closed to limit rutting and so it’s allowed to freeze as evenly as possible in the upcoming cold.
We also found a surprise spring in a location we have not found spring activity before. It was a couple hundred yards directly north of the marina near where our sailboat moorings are located. We marked it with lath board and flagging tape (Coordinates are 44° 51.242’ N, 93° 47.134’ W). Because of low water, this is expected to be an active spring year on the lake again, and to see an open hole bubbling in an unusual location is frustrating. It’s another reason we are being extra cautious this winter. With the blanket of snow on top of the wetness, we urge you to not make assumptions about ice thicknesses, especially after the most recent mild stretch.
Having said all of that, we drilled several dozen holes in Waconia Bay and in front of the marina that we found as little as 3.5 inches and up to 9 inches. A lot of it was 5.5 to 7.5 inches. Again, our goal today was to assess the wetness and usability for the weekend. While it’s usable with thicknesses we’d usually be thrilled to see, you’d definitely want to be prepared to be fishing in a puddle if you go out. The weight of the water on the ice is noticeable. Every hole we drilled water would immediately flood the area. When chiseling, it made a different sound than we are used to hearing and truthfully, we feel it’s the stress on the ice from the weight that is making it sound unusual.
We will announce our store opening hours and provide our next ice update early in the week after a couple of days of extreme cold. We expect the negative temps to really help solidify things out there adding strength and thickness to the ice.
In the meantime, we always suggest doing plenty of checking yourself if you’re venturing out. With the variability of freezing dates across the lake, active springs, stressed ice due to water weight and overall difficulty moving around on the ice, patience may be a good virtue to have for the short term. It’s the route we’ve decided to take.
Stay safe and we look forward to better days on the ice ahead!
Happy winter! Due to the varying ice thicknesses on Lake Waconia that we are reporting below, along with predicted mild temps, and a potential rainy, snowy and windy start to next week, we will remain closed at this time. This will be the only ice report we’ll make until later next week.
The ice at the beginning of this winter will be some of the most varied we’ve seen in many years due large areas of the lake freezing at different times along with the mild weather last week and the high winds when it got colder and tried to freeze up. While much of the lake is now frozen over, there remain scattered small areas of open water across the lake. It is definitely not a year to make assumptions about ice thickness.
Ben and Avery took the marina’s first ice walk today, December 7, 2022. They checked in Waconia Bay and to the east by the “Walleye Hole” or “Hump” that is between the 2 marinas. Some of the thicker ice was out from the perimeter shoreline that has been there since late November measuring 6 to 8 inches. Within some of those perimeter locations, they still found some ice as little as 3 to 4 inches with drifted snow. Once they got further out, they did find ice in the 5 to 7 inch range, but within those same areas were plenty of holes drilled that measured 2 to 3.5 inches too. There is a pressure ridge on the north side of Waconia Bay that extends to the island and should be avoided right now. There are uneven areas of snow drifted all over too which will hold back some ice growth due to the snow’s insulating factor. Unfortunately, due to the fresh layer of snow Wednesday morning, you can no longer see the obvious visible differences in the ice. That makes it extremely important to check ahead of yourself with a chisel if you decide to head out.
It might get tempting to go snowmobiling or ATVing, because there may be ice thicknesses that can support it in certain locations, but it’s definitely not a good idea to go across the lake unless you’ve taken plenty of time to measure thicknesses on your path. In general, we recommend avoiding using them at this time.
Be safe out there. We hope to report better news later next week!
