Ice Conditions

Lake Waconia ice conditions are not in the best of shape after all this snow.  The problem we are seeing on many metro lakes is the amount of slush and the amount of water that has found it's way up on top of the ice we have.  The ice underneath the slush and mess is still around 6-7" on much of Lake Waconia.  But areas where there are drifts and large amounts of snow the ice is a bit thinner-as thin as 3.5".  The slush and water makes for travel on the ice near impossible.  If you are willing to walk out you can try and hoof it out, only other way we have been able to get around is if you have a vehicle (4-wheeler or side by side) with tracks on it.  A snowmobile is also a good option.  As for getting around on a standard 4-wheeler, it is near impossible.  

Lake Minnetonka ice conditions are in even worse shape then Waconia.  Minnetonka did not have very much ice on it when all this snow got dumped on it.  Many areas of the lake are not safe to be traveling on.  The ice varies a lot.  We have found as much as 6" and as little as 1".  The weight of the snow has lots of water and slush on top of the lake.  The frigid sub-zero temps will help, but it still doesn't seem to be able to freeze with all the snow insulating the slush.   

I fished last night on Bryant Lake and was joined by Travis Frank of trophyencounters.com and Nig (my old roomie).  We had a few marks on the Vexilar and I was able to get one hooked up.  After a short battle with what felt like a decent walleye, I lost the fish.  I never confirmed it was a walleye, but it was a good fight none the less.  

I will be back on the ice today and tomorrow and will post more info as I have it.  Until next time, Fish On!