In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 1/28/23 - Access is now open for vehicles with single-axle wheel houses...read below to be prepared for the conditions.

Starting today, Saturday 1/28/23, we are once again allowing vehicles with single-axle wheel houses on through our access! We checked areas off the road to see how the layered ice is healing. It has gotten much better in the past 2 days. It’s not perfect, however. There will be plenty of locations scattered everywhere that will still have a top, thinner sheet of snow-covered ice, then water, and then the main ice sheet. We need more time and cold for it to completely heal. Thankfully with the driving wind on Friday, the snow was packed down to allow the cold to penetrate further and lessen that water gap, and in some cases fused the ice sheets together.

The access and road from the marina is in great shape and heads past Waconia Bay, out towards Center Reef and then to Pillsbury Reef connecting up with the system of paths created by others. The banks on the edge of the road are extremely hard and will not have healed as much underneath. There will be water, slush and likely potholes where you create a new path through the road bank. For those reasons, we are currently not plowing off-shoots to get off the road as we usually do.

What does that mean if you are planning on bringing out a single-axle wheel house? Scout ahead of yourself without your house by chiseling or drilling to get a sense for how layered the ice is. Be prepared with a 4-wheel drive vehicle, shovels, a tow strap, chains or sand for traction and a friend with another 4-wheel drive vehicle if you’re planning on going anywhere that hasn’t been used by anglers yet. If you’re heading to a spot that has had lots of activity this year, you’ll likely deal with rutted, bumpy ice, but less of a chance to have layered ice. If this year has told us anything, nothing is uniform on the lake.

Keep in mind we are a pay access and our fees are for access use only. We are not a tow service.

We’ll see you on the ice!

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 1/26/23 - Access will be open for limited use again Friday, 1/27/23

The access will be open for bringing portables out by walking, ATV’s, side-by-sides, snowmobiles and vehicles this Friday, 1/27/23. We will NOT be allowing permanent skid or wheel houses to be brought on through our access at this time. However, those wishing to remove your house from the lake may use our access if you talk to us.

The reason we continue to not allow permanent houses onto the lake through our access is that currently there remains too much water/slush sandwiched between layers of ice off the road. While things are healing, you will see a snow layer on top, a thinner frozen layer of ice, water/slush, and then the main layer of ice. Until that water/slush layer firms up, the likelihood of getting stuck is very high for anyone trying to go off the road with a fish house. The recent colder temps helped, but we need several more days of extreme cold to fully heal that water/slush layer up. It likely will not happen by the weekend. If it does, we will certainly update what we allow.

For those looking to bring a portable out with a vehicle, currently the road from the marina is in excellent shape until you get about a mile out. Once you get to the Center Reef area heading left to Pillsbury it gets jagged and bumpy. Again, this doesn’t mean things off-road are great for portable fishing. Be prepared for the conditions as you will likely be dealing with water wherever you set up. Give space to the permanent houses on the lake to limit potential flooding as that will continue to happen in some areas.

If you’re looking to go ice fishing with more ease and comfort, we still have 3 of our rental fish houses in Waconia Bay available to rent. The heat will be on and the holes open. Our 2 Ice castles have TVs so you can watch your favorite game on network TV or hook up an underwater camera you can rent from us. We also have rental rod and reel combos if you don’t have those. If you’d like to know more, check out our website at www.InTowneMarina.com

We’ll see you on the ice!

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 1/23/23 - No ATVs, Vehicles Yet

 We checked on Lake road conditions again today. In areas that were in rough shape things continue to improve, but need more time. Off the roads things are firming up more but there is water and slush under a crust in most areas we have been today.  For a short time our Access will continue to remain closed to everything but walking. Realistically we will allow ATV and vehicle traffic through our access before the weekend, but might not be  allowing wheelhouses or any permanents on through us for a bit yet. When the slush has firmed up off road more we will open things up to permanents.

 We still have 3 of our rental fish houses available in Waconia Bay for those happy to walk to them. We will be driving to them soon.  Give us a call at (952) 442-2096 to set up a reservation. We do not rent overnight.

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 1/22/23 - See our video update on why our access remains temporarily closed for use other than walking with portables

 

Happy Sunday. We continue to keep our access temporarily closed other than walking out while we wait for ice roads further out to firm up. Watch the video above to see what is holding us back from opening things back up. We need more cold to heal things up completely. Thankfully our road from the marina into Waconia Bay remains very good, so if you're coming out fishing with a portable it'll be an easy pull until you get off the road. It will still be wet with slush off the road, so be prepared for that.

We still have 3 of our rental fish houses available in Waconia Bay for those happy to walk to them. Give us a call at (952) 442-2096 to set up a reservation. We do not rent overnight.

Fish House Rental Prices & Policies

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia - 1/21/23 - Access remains closed today other than for those walking with portables

Good morning. Our access will remain closed today (Saturday 1/21/23) for any use other than walking with portables. We are waiting for more cold to firm up some of the lake roads that had several inches of water on them. They are starting to freeze, but if we drive on those areas, extreme ruts and jagged ice will occur. Thanks again for your continued patience.

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia - 1/20/23 - Access remains temporarily closed for any use other than walking with portables...

Our access remains temporarily closed all day today (Friday, 1/20/23) for any use other than walking with portables. We understand that may be unpopular with some of you. We wish to have our access open more than anyone. We are keeping it closed so that water and slush further up the road can freeze properly and limit potholes and rutting that will impact use the rest of the winter. Currently there are stretches of our road past Waconia Bay leading to Center and Pillsbury that still have several inches of water and slush between snowbanks. As for roads others have plowed, you’ll likely find significant water, slush and ice chunks between the banks of the roads in Wagener’s Bay.

We hope temps get cold enough overnight that we see improvement with more freezing of the slush on our main road to allow us to open the access up for vehicle use sooner than later. It may remain closed this weekend depending on how that goes. Even when we do open the access, it won’t magically mean things are easy getting around off the road to bring a fish house. We are seeing even more wet slush off the roads under snow than this past weekend. Truthfully, we don’t expect the slush situation off the road to improve until we get further into next week when the deep freeze hopefully comes. Therefore, if we do open the access back up, it will likely only be for vehicles without fish houses for a bit. For those coming out to walk on with a portable, be prepared to set up well off the road, away from others’ fish houses and look for “higher” ice that has re-frozen so you limit flooding around you.

We will update you with our access and lake road situation when we see improvements in the coming day(s). In the meantime, we continue to preach patience. We hope our decision to limit our access use will help things heal on the ice to allow for better and easier ice fishing ahead. Have a good weekend.

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia - Bait shop closed early at 10:30 am today (1/19/23) and access blocked until we assess it and ice roads tomorrow.

The bait shop has closed early today as of 10:30 am. The marina access will be closed and remain blocked until we assess it and the ice roads tomorrow. Thanks!

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 1/18/23

We are temporarily not allowing permanent fish houses through our access. Currently, the access will remain open for snowmobiles, ATVs, side-by-sides, cars and trucks so you can get to your fish house or go portable fishing. Please drive slowly to keep the road in as good of shape as possible. Some areas of the road have less water, but expect several inches of water in stretches of the road past Waconia Bay, especially on the way to Pillsbury and into Wagener’s Bay. We have lath board and flagging tape marking some of the holes that have popped open in the road and are bleeding water because of all of the weight on the ice. Those areas are why we have limited what we are allowing through our access, and may close the access all together if things get worse. We need a good hard freeze to heal up these areas. We do not expect it to happen quickly. It’ll probably take a few nights of low teens to single digit temps for things to improve.

We will continue to update when we know more.

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 1/16/23

Captain Obvious here…It’s a wet one out on the ice. With the mild temps and rain today, Lake Waconia is probably the wettest it’s been all winter. We aren’t putting this report out to panic anyone. As of this writing, Monday, 1/16/23 at 2 pm, the ice is holding up reasonably well considering the traffic on the lake and weight of the snow, slush and water. However, if you are driving on the lake roads, expect to see stretches of 3 to 5 inches of water on the ice. We ask everyone to drive at slower speeds to help keep the roads in good shape. Depending on how things progress overnight and into tomorrow we may have to consider closing our access to allow it to freeze up properly once the cold does come.

At this point, we are keeping our rental houses on the lake as they are on higher ice, blocked up well and always check on them. If you’ve got a fish house on the lake and you’re not currently fishing in it, we suggest checking on it in the next 48 hours. We don’t blame you if you decide to pull it off the lake though as things certainly aren’t ideal. Please don’t bring it to shore and leave it in front of our marina. Take it with you. If leaving your fish house on your fishing spot, we also HIGHLY suggest blocking it up with 4x4s to keep from having a potential regrettable situation when freezing temps come back later Wednesday.

We will continue to monitor conditions and report any major changes we know about. We appreciate everyone’s patience with everything this winter!

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 1/12/23 - Access will be open Friday 1/13 for vehicles and up to single-axle houses.

Hey everyone! Good news! Today, 1/12/23 Ben and Jim have been on the ice plowing from the end of our snow blown path in Waconia Bay to Pillsbury Reef. They plowed with our Blue Chevy Diesel with v-plow and Red F-250 with Boss plow. They marked a path they could open up that still is bumpy and slushy in areas, but doable to get to Pillsbury. From this road you can get the existing network of trails people have been using to the Center Reef area. Of course, with the extreme amount of snow the banks on the sides of the road are exceedingly high. Getting off the road will not be easy and will require work if you plan to get out there with a fish house.

What does that mean? It means we are opening up our access tomorrow (Friday 1/13/23) to those who wish to drive vehicles with single-axle wheel houses out on the lake. Thickness on the snow blown road to Waconia Bay is between 15 to 17 inches as it has been able to freeze thicker since we’ve been keeping it clear of snow for a while. Thickness on the road beyond Waconia Bay to Pillsbury Reef will vary just like the ice everywhere on the lake in the range of 11 to 15 inches. If you choose to bring a fish house out, be prepared with equipment to shovel yourself out or have a buddy that has what you need to clear a spot for your house. We will not be individually clearing spots for fish houses to go off road at this time. Keep in mind, if you are in an area there isn’t slush under the snow, there likely will be once you drill a hole. Bring 4x4s to block up your house as it will save you in the long run.

Life isn’t easy on the lake this ice fishing season, but we are doing what we can to get people out from our access as safely as possible. As always, we can never guarantee ice as it is never 100% safe. We are a pay access, so fees for regular Mondays through Thursdays are $3 and on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays are $5 to drive a car, truck, ATV, side-by-side or snowmobile through us. If you choose to park and walk out from our marina, that is $2 everyday per person 16 years and older. If you’d like to purchase a winter season pass, that is $35.

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 1/6/23 - Access open for limited use

Happy Friday! Our access is open for limited use. We spent yesterday moving snow and clearing a path with the subcompact tractor snowblower from the marina out to Waconia Bay. We are still ONLY allowing snowmobiles, ATVs and side-by-sides though our access. NO cars and trucks. The question many will have is “Can I bring my wheelhouse out through your access?”. We are currently not allowing wheelhouses through us this weekend until we clear more snow. There aren’t places to set your house other than the path and we don’t want that. Because we are not using our plow truck out on the main lake, we do not have anything going past Waconia Bay at this time. There continues to be activity over in Wagener’s Bay coming from that access, with some choosing to drive trucks. We still advise against driving trucks on the lake due to the extreme snow load, overall quality and strength of the ice at this time.

If you plan on coming out with an ATV or side-by-side, chains are a must. Even capable machines are having trouble due to the depth of the snow and slush in many areas. Be prepared with a shovel as you’ll likely need it. If you plan to come through our access to fish with a portable, please do us a favor and drill all of your holes well away from the path to keep it from flooding. That common courtesy applies anytime around roads and other fish houses, but especially this year with the immense weight of the snow.

If you have questions, give us a call at (952) 442-2096 and we’ll do our best to answer them.

Keep in mind we still have 3 of our 5 fish houses available to rent (#2 & #3 the 8x16’ 8-person Ice Castles and #5 the 7x14’ 6-person house). They are within walking distance from the marina in Waconia Bay. Check out rates at intownemarina.com

Have a great weekend!

Access conditions

 Just a heads up- Our access will be closed to all usage including foot traffic for a time while we attempt to make it useable. We will report back asap when we can. Thank you for your patience. 

In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 1-1-23

Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a safe and happy weekend! Before we talk about ice thickness, let's talk about the potential weather headed our way. We have all heard that some pretty significant snow could impact us Monday night and well into Tuesday. If you currently have a permanent house on Lake Waconia you might want to keep an eye on things. There is already more liquid slush on the ice now than before the weekend. That will only get worse with the predicted snow adding even more weight to the ice. At minimum, we recommend blocking your house higher so it doesn’t freeze in.

In the video we posted, you'll notice some cars or trucks and tandem fish houses on the ice. Those vehicles used the small city access in Wagener's Bay. At this time, we are still only allowing ATV, Side-by-Side and single-axle fish houses through our access. We are still not recommending driving as the ice includes frozen slush on top and is not as strong because of that. Also, the weight of the existing snow diminishes the strength of the ice when under stress of the extra load as evidenced by the flooding in many areas across the lake. 

As for ice thickness, not much has changed since our last report. Some of the areas we reported to be as little as 9 inches are now about 10 inches. We drilled 60 to 70 holes in locations most people are frequenting such as Waconia Bay, Center Reef, Pillsbury Reef and Wagener’s Bay. Most of the holes we drilled were between 11 to 12.5 inches. The most we found was 13.75 inches in a well-traveled area. All of the thicknesses reported include frozen slush ice on top. 

We will update mid-to-late week with lake ice conditions after the winter storm passes. In the meantime, pay attention to you or your buddy’s fish house in the coming days. Good luck and we’ll see you on the ice!