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!
