Did the ice survive in pheasant country this past weekend?

L

Limitless

Well-known member
When I was out on Friday, in SC MN, although I didn't take any actual measurements, it looked like it was about 3-4+ inches thick on the sloughs. It was wet on top, by the end of the day, from the sun and 40+ degree temps. I did not go out Saturday or Sunday, but know it was supposed to be in the high 40s in SW/SC Minnesota.

Any report on whether the ice went out by the end of the day, Sunday, or did it survive? I was assuming it would survive, but just get wet on top and refreeze this week (Wed and Thurs will be nice and cold), and may even gain some inches. But something I saw in an online tool seemed to show some ice falling out from the warm weekend weather, so I thought I'd ask on here.
 
I was out in central on Saturday afternoon and it was rock solid. It was mid 40's when I was hunting with the sun shining.

Yesterday when I was driving past a couple lakes in the northwest Twin Cities, half the lakes were still wide open. But those are sizable lakes, not pheasant sloughs/ditches so take it with a grain of salt.

You'd have to be borderline suicidal to ice fish on lakes like these at this point, and yet people are doing it.
 
gimruis said:
You'd have to be borderline suicidal to ice fish on lakes like these at this point, and yet people are doing it.
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I saw 2 people out on Clear Lake, south of Forest Lake, when I was driving up I-35, on Sunday afternoon. I shouldn't be surprised, but didn't expect that. Even in the sloughs, on Friday, I was a bit hesitant to walk in the middle of the more open patches.

Of course, sloughs have hot spots that a regular lake might not have. I also found a completely unfrozen patch on higher ground, 20-30 yards from the edge of a slough, about 6 feet in diameter. Nice, clear spring fed water.

As long as the ice didn't fall out of the sloughs, we could make 2+ inches this week.
 
gimruis said:
I was out in central on Saturday afternoon and it was rock solid. It was mid 40's when I was hunting with the sun shining.

Yesterday when I was driving past a couple lakes in the northwest Twin Cities, half the lakes were still wide open. But those are sizable lakes, not pheasant sloughs/ditches so take it with a grain of salt.

You'd have to be borderline suicidal to ice fish on lakes like these at this point, and yet people are doing it.
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I truly do not understand that part of ice fishing. It’s surely some ego thing trying to be some badass or something. Once again I do not understand
 
Springer22 said:
I truly do not understand that part of ice fishing. It’s surely some ego thing trying to be some badass or something. Once again I do not understand
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My only guess is they like ice fishing as much as many of us like pheasant hunting. I suppose if we had to cross ice in order to access pheasants, we might be tempted to push it.
 
Ice is fine in cattails and most open water on small to medium-sized sloughs in southern MN. What melted during the day was freezing overnight. Standard precautions about thin ice near moving water (ie ditches), drainage tile inlets, muskrat huts, beaver dens, etc. still applies.
 
nater said:
Standard precautions about thin ice near moving water (ie ditches), drainage tile inlets, muskrat huts, beaver dens, etc. still applies.
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Also a reminder that refrozen ice isn't as strong as first frozen. A lot of the stuff I was walking on last week already had some amount of refreeze in it though.
 
I ice fish and try not judge others for chasing their passions. They would think bird hunters, waterfowlers are crazy as well. I guess everyones entitled to their opinions though.
Ice fishing in 4ft of water isnt very life threatening.. just one scenario
 
gimruis said:
No rooster or fish is worth dying over in my book.
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Agreed.

The shallow sloughs with plenty of muskrat huts (although as mentioned above, don't want to get too close to the huts), don't scare me as much, since I figure the chances of going over my head are lower. It is the ones where I don't know the depth and I am a ways from shore, in cattails, with some open frozen patches (deeper water than will support cattails) that scare me. The ones with cattails on the edges, if thick, scare me a bit, until I get to the open frozen water on the inside, once that ice is thick enough.

gimruis said:
Besides, a lot of em are just drinking beer out there anyways. Believe me, I know who they are.
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That's funny.
 
UplandHntr said:
Ice fishing in 4ft of water isnt very life threatening.. just one scenario
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Good point. If I know (or think) a slough is that shallow, I am not as concerned about hunting it. It might ruin my hunt to go through, but as long as I don't go over my head, I should be able to get out. Maybe also a good idea to carry ice safety pics in our vests though. A 5-6 foot deep break through might be a challenge otherwise.

To be clear, you want to wear those around your neck in deeper water. I am talking about getting out of water you can stand up in, but might be tough to get up on the ice.
 
UplandHntr said:
I ice fish and try not judge others for chasing their passions. They would think bird hunters, waterfowlers are crazy as well. I guess everyones entitled to their opinions though.
Ice fishing in 4ft of water isnt very life threatening.. just one scenario
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I can understand that one a bit more. Get a thrill without certain death at least
 
Last weekend I spend the weekend at the cabin in the Alexandria area. We hunted birds Friday and Saturday morning and realized there was 6 inches of ice so we deviated from birds and ended up catching 20 walleyes Saturday evening. Very good decision. Six inches of ice is good for me.
 
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