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Posts: 49
| I figured I'd make it a goal to at least try and catch a musky through the ice this year since it's gotten cold early. The question I have for ice guys (I have never ice fished) is how do you know when lakes are safe? Meaning do I have to drive 2-3 hours to check out the ice? Is there any resource out there I should be checking? I'm sure there may not be a good answer here, just wanting to learn what I can before making scouting trips. Hoping to fish a southern WI lake before the season closes, is my goal. |
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Posts: 2274
Location: Chisholm, MN | Just go and check the ice as you're walking out. Keep in mind the deepest clear lakes freeze last. Some are not frozen yet here in northern mn and some lakes have probably close to 8 inches. You can look for reports on other online forums or facebook. Resorts are a good way to find out.
No ice is safe ice. But you should have 4" of solid clear ice before venturing out. Many people push it to less than 3", but it's not worth a terrible death over a fish. |
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| Here in northern WI, most bait shops that have a web site or post on face book will have regular updates on ice depth. As Kirby pointed out, it will vary greatly from lake to lake. I first fished the lake I live on almost two weeks ago. 4" hard ice. But, not far away a larger lake only had rim ice. That lake is not terribly deep but the area around it is flat and it gets a lot of wind which keeps it open longer. |
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Posts: 167
Location: IL | I was up last weekend. Fished a lake near the Casino. Had 4" of ice. Got my 1st muskie ice fishing. |
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