Ice Thickness Reports from Around Mille Lacs 01-04-2013

Ice and Fishing Reports from the Major Resorts from Around Mille Lacs

Perfection to mayhem is the tone of how the ice is going on Mille Lacs for this up coming weekend. Actually as the week has played out so have all the road and ice conditions around the entire lake. Ice fishing and drive-able ice for cars, trucks and even wheel houses is certainly being had on all four sides of The Pond.

As always it is very wise to call ahead to your destination to make certain they have their roads open to the public if you plan on traveling via car or truck but wheeler or sled you should fine absolutely no issues what so ever. Cracks, heaves and bridges are more common this year than in previous years but all the resorts on Mille Lacs make extra sure their roads are safe on ice that is actually never safe.

The one additional major alert which rings loudly through out all the resorts and their reports is to keep your speed down under the 15 mile per hour mark when using anf of the mark resort roads. Even when using a wheeler you are encouraged to keep it slow and I will extend this to sleds if you are running them any resort road.

Fishing for walleyes and perch is starting to heat up and amazingly deeper flats are producing more than shallow structure and the night bite also seems to be out doing the day bite in certain areas of the lake.

Have a great weekend and GO Vikings!

North End:

Red Door Resort Reports all is fine on the ice on the north shore as of late 1-3-2012 and they have a solid 15 inches out on the flats and the least they have found is 14 inches which was closer into shore. The crack at the shore which has been bridged is tight on the bank now and no live cracks between shore and the south tip of Eileens. The Red door has houses out as far as Weimer, Bombeck and Eileens and their road is out to the south tip of Eileens–following the east side of Resort . They also report that the ice is almost snow free and driving cross country is fine but watch closely for any fresh cracks or heaves. As far as fishing goes the walleyes seems to be most active after dark and though out the night on the deeper flats ranges from 26-30 feet deep.  They ask all driving on the ice to please drive slowly.

Barnacles Resort reports they have ice houses out as far as the Bumps, Rock Pile and Sands in 20 feet of water and have 12-14 inches of ice with the 14 inches in closer to shore.  Anglers are catching walleyes and perch on the Sands and East Flats.

South End:

Chapmens Resort reports approx 14-15 inches of ice on southeast side of lake 3 miles out near the wharf and big point. Roads are in good shape but call before hand and only cars to half ton vehicles are allowed but reports say they are allowing small to mid sized wheel houses.

Agate Bay Resort out of Isle reports no new cracks and they are even pulling some bridges back that spanned over cracks that have healed. They are allowing single axle wheelhouses through their access and are not allowing the bigger rigs through just yet. They report their roads have a solid 15 inches of ice and snow pack around the area is about 6 inches. If it has not been for all the cracks this year Agate Bay reports that this years ice is the best they have seen for many years. Fishing seems to pretty good even with the extreme temps and sunlight swings. Walleyes have been reported along Agate Bay reef and depth does not matter as much as your proximity to the reef. Anglers are finding a decent perch bite along Tullibee Trail off the fast break between 28′ and 32′ in the mud.

Brandt’s Resort reports they have roads opened to 1 1/4 reef but they are only allowing cars and single cab 1/2 ton trucks and are keeping an eye on the crack at Sloppy Joe’s which is not passable as of yet.

Wilderness Warmth Resort out of Cove Bay Reports having good roads out to King’s Hump and Sprite Island with ice thicknesses ranging from 14 – 16 inches.  Walleyes are being found in 18-20 feet of water and a very hot northern bite right in Cove bay. Best it has been in years.

East Side:

Appeldoorns Sunset Bay Resort reports roads are officially open to half ton vehicles and single axle wheel houses. They had some issues with cracks earlier in the week but have since worked their rear ends off to fix those issues and are good to go. Fishing reports are sparse but this will change any day as more come in but as always, Doe Island reef, if you can get around it, always holds good numbers of eater and trophy sized walleye and perch early in the season. Plus they have an all you can eat pizza and pasta deal going for the Packers and Vikes game this weekend so stop in and ask for Waldo for further details but also about the current bite info.

We are unsure of Nitti’s Hunters Point Resort as they have had some severe crack issues this past week but some reports and web cam images report travel on their roads so call ahead to be sure.

West Side:

Rocky Reef Resort reports all of their houses are out on the ice and a solid 15 inches can be found all around. They do report a very narrow road going out to the first hump but after they plow through the heave and the North Northeast winds of December sure did a number on the first mile and half of ice but they will be plowing through the mess slowly.