Talked to a guy who live on Pike Bay of Vermilion today. He said the DNR have pulled their nets for a couple of days because they were getting mostly suckers with just an occasional walleye.

stcatfish i live at the same place fishkid does and it is an area where a small stream comes in, also the little bit that is open keeps refreezing every night.

Minneapolis paper says today that the BWCA could get another six inches of snow this weekend. Weather Channel says rain. ?????

stcatfish: I haven't been over towards B'side lately so how is it looking? Is it going to be fishable--in a boat I mean?

what are estimates on the second week of opener?

Perhaps some good news!!!

I just checked 3 different weather websites and the forecast is looking much more favorable! Yes, rain/snow/ice either Friday night or Saturday but all next week is supposed to be sunny and in the mid-50's to 60 degrees!

Lets keep our fingers crossed!

lakerunner,

Burntside currently locked up pretty tight, but have no idea the thickness of the ice.

Need a bunch of warm days with wind to do some serious damage.

Was out to Little long tonight and it has not even started pulling away from shore yet. last week i was icefishin out there and still a good 16 inches of ice

Burntside had pulled away from the shore in several places earlier, that have since froze over with the cool nights.

None of the remaining ice on any lake could be considered "good" ice.

At this rate, I'd be surprised if I'll be able to open for lakers on Burntside. From the boat, anyway.

Speaking of lakers, I do well on top early on Superior. In past years I have tried some of the same techniques that work so well on Superior(in line planers far out to the side with cranks, and dipsies with iether spoons or flasher and flies-with absolutely no luck on opener.

Just flat line trolling in a canoe pays off every year on the opener for my brother in law in the BWCA-but not on Burntside.
I have mentioned before seeing many people soak a sisco off their docks on the opener, but it would definately be a unattended line from my dad's house and that's something I don't advocate.

Is there any shift in locations in the spring after ice out or would you still target lakers in the usual haunts that you have so eliquently shared with us on many other threads.

And if you guys could get out on the lake and shovel more, us city folks wouldn't have to be glued to the FM site searching for any glimmer of hope that ice will be out. Hans

There is some open water at the Tamarack river mouth, but not a hint of open water on the south facing shorelines visible from here. Forecast is cold for the weekend, but looks fairly balmy for the last few days leading up to the opener. Netting it all out, I'm still very doubtful for the opener.

Hans, there's plenty of good discussion to be had on the points you mention, but why don't you start a new thread on your topic so we can keep this one about iceout and give your topic the attention it deserves.

Has anyone checked Birch lately? We may be heading toward Babbitt, but it could change if we can't float a boat!

Thanks in advance.

I live on Birch, and there's still a lot of ice. It has broken away from our shoreline, but I live on Spring Ridge Road, and the springs may have something to do with that. Will keep you posted as the week progresses.