Fishing Report, Ice Fishing

Wednesday Weekly Ice Conditions #12

Dare We Say……

Knock on wood, throw salt over your shoulder, and rub your lucky rabbits foot.  Anything to make the proclamation I am about to write come to fruition.

We may be on the verge and back in the business of driving trucks without tracks on the ice again.  We are also, not quite, but also nearing the dirty word of ‘extensions’.

First The Good News

The hi’s for the next 10 days are forecast to be: Thursday 37, Friday 38, Saturday 38, Sunday 40, Monday 39, Tuesday 37, Wednesday 37, Thursday 28, Friday 25, and Saturday 22.

The low’s: Thursday 30, Friday 29, Saturday 31, Sunday 33, Monday 27, Tuesday 27, Wednesday 23, Thursday 17, Friday 14, Saturday 10.

What does that mean?  Well, in the perfect world it means that we will be losing MOST, if not ALL of our snow pack on the ice while maintaining our ice sheet and then late next week having the ice sheet solidify again so that we are ice fishing well into April.

It means we will be back on the ice with trucks by next week, in the perfect world.

In reality, it means we MAY be getting back to driving but some areas of the ice might me compromised.

The fact that those temperatures look to dip back down after this mid-winter thaw has us optimistic that we will be ice fishing past the March 15th deadline of having ice houses off of the lake.

The Other News

Didn’t think that we would have this to worry about this year but with the ice getting thicker and the snow pack on top of it, we were close to the housing on the auger in a couple of spots on Sunday.

Now, with the thaw coming we will be losing some of that snow pack so in actuality, we will probably not need them after that melt, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have one with just in case.

Still Slush

We have fielded a lot of questions about vehicle travel and we are still advising against it as of right now.  There is still too much snow on the ice and too many slush pockets to deal with in order to make it efficient.  That is probably going to change drastically over the next 6-8 days, but as of today, we still are telling people that tracked vehicles are your best option.

Ice Sheet

Our ice sheet is in that 26 to almost 30 inch range and although it is getting later in the year, that is good news when it comes to the later season ice fishing.  We should still have a stable ice sheet at least through March 15th.  Those conditions are subject to change by the day but looking at the weather forecast we actually like what we see.

Good Luck Out There!

Hold On To Your Rod…

AND…

CATCH MORE FISH!

 

 

About Travis E

Just a Devils Lake outdoor junkie. This is my blog. Follow me for fishing reports, waypoints, and other information that can help make your day on the lake a success! Connect via Facebook, Instagram, or email. Read on for the latest fishing reports. I also offer limited guided day trips and up-to-date waypoints where I’ve recently caught fish. See you on the lake or in the field!
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