Here's a report that Voyageur North had posted in the Gunflint ice report. I cut and moved it over here to keep the Ely ice report in the Ely ice report thread.


(Kawishiwi/Ely area report)

Here is what we know today, 5/5/08, about Kawishiwi area ice conditions:
Moose Chain and most of Basswood are still locked up, including Jackfish
Bay, however, Back Bay and Pipestone (around the edges) are partially
open.
Fall Lake is mostly open
Mudro and Horse Lake are breaking up
Wood and Wind Lakes are open (though getting to Wind may not be
possible)
Basswood River is mostly open, but may be no way to get to it
Snowbank and Lakes One through Four--mostly ice
Little Gabbro mostly open
Bald Lake has some ice
the Kawishiwi River is mostly open
The lakes in the Kawishiwi District mostly appear black. Farther east the lake surfaces still look white.
We expect another report tomorrow.
Becca

Of course we all (who hang out here) know from Kevin how the Lakes chain is doing & we know about Stuart River area too!

I hope I can post this link, its pretty cool. Or do a search for Lake Superior MODIS.

http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/modis/modis.cgi/modis?region=s&page=1

Check out the daily images, with little cloud cover you can pick out the lakes with ice. Vermillion and Trout plainly visible for today's coverage.

well i took the boat out yesterday and today. yesterday to just make sure the motor was up and working....and o how was she working...like a dream

today i went for some crappie...no luck. fished shallow and deep. water temps were 40 at the hwy 1 bridge and got up to 46 back in a bay on the north side.

there is only one bay that still has ice on it and it looked like it was going to go anytime.

there is still ice on the main lake...but looks like it will be gone before opener.

mike

Burntside update for Tuesday, May 6th. It's a battle between the nights and the days. And the nights are winning.

The last three days have been bright, sunny and clear for the most part (today is forecast to reach 65) and one can see the open water at the mouth of the Tamarack river now extending almost to the west end of Birch Island. And the open water here at the base of a shady hill on the south (north facing) shore is now a little wider in some spots. And the surface of the ice is starting to look a little darker, but closer to grey than black, IMO.

The trouble is it has been dropping into the twenties each night and today at 11:00 A.M. there was still a one eighth inch skim of new ice on the open lead along this shore. That is not good.

Given all that, I would say there is a zero chance this ice will go out today or tomorrow, and perhaps a 5% chance for Thursday, and maybe 10% chance for Friday. I would up that to a 50% chance it will go out some time this weekend. Now that's not a prediction, of course, because the fish Gods don't like predictions, but just on old man's musing on a spring day. Hans

I was planning on heading up to Basswood on Sunday. Any hope the ice will be out?

Boy did i love the weather we had today. the first nice day in a loooong time. now it is down pouring as i type this and to me it is a lovely view. just glad its not that white [PoorWordUsage] and its suppose to be above freezing tonight and i think the rest of the week. so i would have to say most lakes will be open for opener.

I think there will still be ice...on the end of everyones noses, in the early morn...

And don't cry if you don't catch much, it could freeze your eyelids shut...

Here is a website with daily satellite imagery for the Lake Superior Region. I used it to monitor when the ice was out on my lake. FYI, it works best on sunny days when the clouds are covering up the lakes. It looks like if you get north of Duluth about 60 miles that there is still plenty of ice out there. http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/modis/modis.cgi/modis?region=s&page=1

Anyone know how Birch is looking? Finnbay, how's you view these days?

Are there any crappies in Birch? I know that some guys don't share location knowledge but any help would be appreciated for my boys and I.

Thanks - fbw

elyminnesota dot com has live webcams under 'viewely'. Birch, Shag, Farm, Moose and Fall Lakes have cameras.

from looking at the web cams and talking people around my dad's cabin, the ice is out on birch. My dad's dock was put in yesterday or the day before. We are on the main stretch, by the way, across from the main landing outside of babbitt...

Thanks for the update guys. I knew about the web cams but did not know that Birch had one, that's pretty cool, I'll check it out.

Best fishing to all - fbw

Yes birch lake is completly open. Also went to miners this morning at 9 and it is 70-80% open. It will be gone by tonight i think if not then tomorrow.

Shag is i would say 50% open. The ice on the shore from the ice shifting was about 4-6 inches thick.
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Little long is about 30% open from what i saw at the landing. Im sure there is more open ice down the lake that i cant see. The ice is very dark and breaking up pretty good.
[img][/img]

Frank W,

there are crappie in birch...not a whole lot of numbers but the ones that are in there have some good size to them. iv been out the past couple afternoons searching with no luck. im fishing the south kawish. iv tried spots where i found them in the winter and tried way back in shallow warm bays with nothing but one little bite. iv been marking a lot of fish suspended in around 20 fow in the channel but have not been able to catch them. water temps in the bays got up to 47 and water in the main lake was around 40-41.

i might go out and try again this afternoon.

mike

Birch is open - my end and the south kawishiwi opened on the weekend, and the rest of the middle was open by yesterday. Yep, there are crappies, some real slabs, but with the water this cold don't figure that they'll be in a typical pattern right now. If you look for some shallow water around Riverpoint, might have some luck if you experiment with depth.