I've never ventured out on the lakes on the 4th...What's boat traffic like around the east metro? Is it as crazy as I think it would be?

yep.

How about this afternoon and tomorrow? It should be thinning out with people heading home for work right?

Monday it should thin out. It's still packed bumper to bumper out there Today.

Yeah it was amateur hour out on Chisago today. Got on the lake at 7am got off at 12:30 pm. Hardly anybody out there until 11:00 then the skiers and pleasure boaters got out there. Since when did Chisago become Minnetonka? You have to get off the lake before noon or you are stranded out waiting to load your boat. I refuse to believe people are that thick or absent minded that they take so long to unload their boat - isn't it that obvious when there are 4 or 5 boats waiting to load and another 3 or 4 waiting to get on that you should maybe hurry up? Had a great day before it got crazy though 4 bass over 5 and another 4 over 4Lbs. All and all a great day fishing though.

TR-21,

I promise you, the slow-pokes, think everyone else unhooks their straps, loads their rods, throws a tube and a rope in, grabs the cooler and throws it in, goes back into the vehicle for their cell-phone, goes back to the vehicle again to grab sunscreen, and is not sure if they unhook or leave the winch hooked up until the boat is in - all while their back tires are already in the water. They are pretty sure that is standard procedure.

since it is the only decent boat landing in the Chisago Lakes area now. North Center is unusable, and South Center is worse. Green is a truck eating tire in sand spinning wreck, little green is fine but will only hold 10 boats. That leaves Chisago.. Which has been a zoo this year.

Deitz,
There will be one less fisherman on Chisago from now on.
Was out there today and watched a guy and his wife or girlfriend pull up and throw 4 lines out. I went over and told him only 1 line per person in Minnesota, thinking he may have been out of state. He then caught a bass over 12" and threw it in the livewell, I told him catch and release only on this lake.
He asked me if I was DNR, I told him it was just a call away
he told me do what you have to do so I called TIP and told him to get the other lines out of the water and get rid of the bass.
They left after that but as I was loading the boat to go home a few guys were talking about DNR stopping a small green and white runabout and escorting them to shore.
I gave him the option and he didn't listen.
By the way, phenomenal day on the water!

Congratulations on getting that guy caught. It's always awesome to hear a TIP success story.

ata boy!!!!

Good for you! Thanks for helping save our lake.

Awesome! I like to hear that the TIP line works!

The landings (what few are left) are getting heavy use now and a lot of people with bigger boats need more time or help. It even takes me more time when the trailer is tilted or half out of the water (There is always the few that do dump things) But for the most part we all are just going to have to plan on spending a little more time at the landing on weekends. I was on Chisago Sunday and did see two boats that were not able to put in at the landing and had to leave. One other thing to keep in mind is power loading is not making it any better so crank em on.

Shorefisher,
How big were the boats that couldn't put in?
I have a 21' bass boat that I have no problem putting in or taking out even in this lowered condition. If they were over that size they should be on a much larger lake that has plenty of room for pleasure boaters not a small "fishing lake" such as Chisago. As far as power loading, if you get your trailer the right depth in the water and can glide right on you don't need to "power load." You can do this on roller trailers or bunks - it just takes a little practice and results in no "blow holes" past the launch.

The old, I am safe until I get caught attitude. I'll be willing to bet that sometime in the future they get caught again. The DNR reports are full of repeat offenders.
The reply is always, "I didn't think we would get caught again".

Way to go! i was out there yesterday too i'm kinda mad i missed the show i would have loved to see some smart [PoorWordUsage] get what he deserved.