January 2023

01/20/2023 The ice on Mille Lacs is not good a lot of slush and snow. The ice thickness is way below normal for this time of the year. We are finding the good black ice in the 10 to 12 inch range with some areas only being 9 inches. I had one of my regular customers stop in and told me he had went out with his truck and wheel house this past weekend on the southern part of the lake because we have not let any trucks out. He said at best the ice might have been 12 inches he drilled his holes the night he arrived and in the morning there was a foot of water around his house. He said he had a very difficult time getting back off the lake because of the deep slush. Ian Leonard on channel 9 the last few weeks has been warning people that this years ice does not have the same strength as ice on a normal winter because of a Igloo effect. He said because of the amount of snow and lack of normal below zero weather the ice is not getting thicker and in fact is being fractured by the warmer water under the ice. The ice this winter is not safe for truck traffic some resorts are driving on it but in my opinion they are putting there customers life’s at risk, I will not do that. I am only letting ATV’s and Snowmobiles out. Walleye fishing over all has been pretty good in the bay and real good on the mud flats. Some of the fisherman told me even on the flats when they have drilled some holes water has come up and flooded the area where they were fishing.

Fishing Report / terry

01/20/2023 The ice on Mille Lacs is not good a lot of slush and snow. The ice thickness is way below normal for this time of the year. We are finding the good black ice in the 10 to 12 inch range with some areas only being 9 inches. I had one of my regular customers stop in and told me he had went out with his truck and wheel house this past weekend on the southern part of the lake because we have not let any trucks out. He said at best the ice might have been 12 inches he drilled his holes the night he arrived and in the morning there was a foot of water around his house. He said he had a very difficult time getting back off the lake because of the deep slush. Ian Leonard on channel 9 the last few weeks has been warning people that this years ice does not have the same strength as ice on a normal winter because of a Igloo effect. He said because of the amount of snow and lack of normal below zero weather the ice is not getting thicker and in fact is being fractured by the warmer water under the ice. The ice this winter is not safe for truck traffic some resorts are driving on it but in my opinion they are putting there customers life’s at risk, I will not do that. I am only letting ATV’s and Snowmobiles out. Walleye fishing over all has been pretty good in the bay and real good on the mud flats. Some of the fisherman told me even on the flats when they have drilled some holes water has come up and flooded the area where they were fishing. Read More »

1/02/2023 Ice conditions did not change this week we have a lot of areas that have 10 inches of the good black ice. What is troubling is that we found several areas where there is only 6 inches of the good black ice. The ice is not thick enough for safe truck travel in fact we had reports of several trucks going through the ice this weekend. ATV and snowmobiles have been going out in the bays and out to the mud flats. Walleye fishing has been good in the bays as well as the mud flats. Some nice perch are also being caught on the mud flats.

Fishing Report / terry

1/02/2023 Ice conditions did not change this week we have a lot of areas that have 10 inches of the good black ice. What is troubling is that we found several areas where there is only 6 inches of the good black ice. The ice is not thick enough for safe truck travel in fact we had reports of several trucks going through the ice this weekend. ATV and snowmobiles have been going out in the bays and out to the mud flats. Walleye fishing has been good in the bays as well as the mud flats. Some nice perch are also being caught on the mud flats. Read More »