I drove through LIlydale this afternoon and seen 5 porable ice houses on the south side of the lake. Is the ice safe or are those folks nuts?

A few of my buddies fished Karls lake in scott co. last night and said they had 3 1/2 - 4 inches of ice. I might try to get out there today.

Quetico, it was indeed Fish. Ice looked scary. There was a bit of open water along the north shoreline, too. That little lake seems to take longer to freeze each year than I think it should.

Karl's had a big open hole in the middle of it as of Friday

Just got back from getting kicked off the ice by the St. Paul police. I was fishing a small lake in North St. Paul and was on a solid 4 inches. He turned on the loudspeaker in his car and said the ice was too thin and if we didn't get off we would get a "citation". There were two other guys out there who would not get off when the cop said too, I didn't stick around to see the resulting confrontation, but I doubt it was nice.

I was pretty ticked off and really wanted to go talk to the cop and find out what law we were breaking but I decided to let cooler heads prevail.

I would have been very interested in what he would have had to say. I have no idea what they could possibly charge you with. Last year i was out on 7 inches of ice in chaska and i had a cop come down to talk to me because he was getting "complaints" that there was a person fishing on unsafe ice. He was really cool about it and just asked me how much ice there was and told me good luck fishing

As for the ice conditions i just got back from checking a few lakes. Bavaria still has a very large patch of open water to the right of the access that extends all the way right up to shore. Wasserman was froze over, but as of a day or two ago there was open water out there. It looked like someone has dragged there portable out and to the left of the access. Check the ice on the path and there was between 3 and 4 inches of ice. Steiger looked to be frozen over and a guy decided to test the ice by the launch by backing his truck onto the ice Of course about half his truck was on the ice when i got there and he quickly pulled out when he saw me. As i was leaving he continued to back his truck out on the ice, but i didnt stick around to see the end result. Stopped in at cabin fever and they said a guy reported 5 inches of ice out on lucy and was going out there. A few other smaller lakes in the area only had 3 inches right next to shore and with the snow cover i decided not to venture out any further.

Were getting closer! Weatherbug has the temps below freezing for highs almost all week!

I would really like to see the statute that says you can't be on the ice because its too thin. That kind of thing makes me wonder about the 5-0. It's purely a comfort call on if the ice is good or not and without walking out and checking the ice I don't understand that whole deal at all. I have freinds that go out on 2 1/2" (I tell them they are dumb and don't complain when you go in) and they are still alive somehow. I'm not saying its smart to go out on ice thats too thin (I like at least 4-5" myself) but it is so variable I don't see how the law could be broken. Some people won't even go out on the ice if its 3 feet thick, so who can make that call? Rant Off!

Anyway, I went to twin lake in Brooklyn Center and checked it out and found 4" of good clear ice on the southeast side of 100 but on the north side there wasn't much more than a skim of ice. I wanted to throw some tip ups out but nobody was with me so I will wait till I got a partner with. I'm gonna sneak out there and chisel my way out this week sometime and get some slimers.

Karl's lake is still open in the middle a little bit from the geese. Right out from the first point there is 3 1/2- 4 inches of ice. I know a few other guys that fished a small bay on Prior Lake today. It sounded like they did pretty well.

I am guessing that they could get you with a charge of reckless endangerment, it's just one of those "catch all" citations similar to disturbing the peace or disorderly conduct. Of course even if the cop was in the wrong and you didn't follow there directions, that's easily another citation for failing to comply! Must have been a slow day, no real crimes going on....

"Must have been a slow day, no real crimes going on...."


i guess that is a good thing huh?

Coon Lake north of Blaine had about 4", little pond near my house in Eden Prairie had 4-5" and Lindwood north of blaine looked about 3".

any ice reports for long lake in New Brighton. this lake is close to where I live and was froze over last week. I have not made it out to check ice thickness yet. might check it out after work today or tomorrow and see how the ice is if there are no replies by then.

Haven't been over there to check on the ice yet but do fish it quite a bit in the winter as it's close to my house. If you do venture out be careful, the lake has current coming in and out of it and can take a bit longer to freeze up good. Post what you find if you get over there.

I checked a smaller Chaska lake and got 5 inches around most of the shoreline. Not too much longer and I'll be out!

Ebiz,

Keep us updated on long. Looking forward to fishing it this winter!