FHB- what are the chances that Shag will be open by friday/saturday?

big sturgeon, north of hibbing (mccarthy state park) went out last night. all 5 lakes are now ice free and we are free to get out there and catch nothing this weekend.

well after last nights thunder storm it just about took all of the ice off white iron. there are a couple ice bergs left but its is pretty much gone!!!!!

bemidjibasses with the weather being in the high 50's and nights above freezing i would have to say there is a good chance. the ice is breaking up pretty good and is ready to go. as long as it stays warm and windy it should be open. this morning when i checked the whole north side of the lake was open because of ice shifting. I'll keep you posted as the week progresses

Finnbay and others familiar with Birch - I heard a rumor that the DNR may close fishing around the Stoney area over the opener. Any truth to that? Thanks.

I haven't heard that. Was at Miller's Bait shop in Babbitt last night and nothing was said during general conversation there. Will keep my ears open and if I hear anything will post it.

Thank you.

Went out to shag again and just got back. it is now i would say 70-80% open from 50% this morning and miners is now 100% open.

You can call Shagawa open, since as of 5 this evening you could run a boat from east to west wide open.

The only ice left is piled up on the south shore, and there isn't much of it.

Yes, Great Outdoors, and I can call the west end of Burntside open this evening from the mouth of the Tamarack River to the east end of Birch Island and a little beyond. (say a quarter mile of open water).

It was a beautiful evening for a walk along the shore; the remaining ice sheet is nicely candled and pure black, and the wind driven waves are continuously eating away at the trailing edge of the ice sheet. For anyone who has witnessed ice out at this stage the sounds of nature are amazing.

The candled ice breaking up in the breeze makes a sound almost like a million small bells, and the local Herring Gull colony patrols that edge looking for winter washed carrion to free up from the ice. Their calls are mixed with the sound of returning loons. One old beaver added to the mix when he slapped his tail on the water. I first saw this guy sitting on my neighbor's dock. He slipped into the water and swam by, his head looking about as big as a 4 by 8 paver. He was good sized.

The bad news is that there is still an ice sheet about the size of Rhode Island floating around Kaleva Bay, and the northwest wind has pushed that sheet tight up against the south shore blocking the public landing off the Wolf Lake road. There were no boats launched there today, that's for sure. That ice sheet could be gone in the morning, but the forecast is for cold and still, so I will be very surprised if it is not still sitting there tomorrow. By Saturday though, it had better be gone from Kaleva Bay or I will file an official complaint with the Lakeshore Owners Association.

Now, given all this, I could drop my dock tomorrow and hope there is no east wind that pushes that ice sheet back my way, but I won't make that call until tommorow afternoon. In any case I am raising the odds on fishing this end of Burntside this weekend from 50/50 to 60/40, or even 75/25 if you pushed me.

Hans

So this evening I "officially" declare the ice off the west end of Burntside, and I went ahead and dropped my dock and will launch boats in the morning.

Now, there is still some ice in Kaleva Bay and points east. I hear the middle of the lake is still pretty well locked in. I'm not sure about the landings. We will just have to see in the A.M. where the wind deposits the remaining ice sheets. I am now using up my good luck trusting the dock will still be there in the morning, but what the "Heck", I'm so old I figure to run out of clock before I run out of luck. Hans

The public landing at the west end of Burntside was ice locked this morning but opened up this afternoon. This evening the western reaches of Burntside seem pretty clear of ice at least through the east end of Kaleva Bay. So, Good Luck. Go Git Em. Hans

P.S. The Van Vac landing was still socked in at noon.

It seems that the Van Vac landing and a large area extending both east (to Camp Van Vac) and west (to Dollar Island) are the only portions of Burntside with ice as of 5 pm this evening.

The East and West ends are open, and the North Arm (as far as the eye could see) is open.