Is it January or March? With the weather and the numbers of jumbo perch, this weekend felt more like late season ice fishing. On Friday afternoon we headed up to the North end and found a lot of other anglers with the same idea. We kept on the move and picked up a nice mixed bag of walleyes and perch in 25-28 feet. Most of the ice in the area was 12-13" but we did find some that was only 10". On Saturday we carefully ventured out from the East side on snowmobile and ATVs. We found a large crack running North and South just East of 2 mile reef. There were some areas that were crossable on foot, but it isn't worth the risk with shifting ice conditions. We were able to fish some of the rock piles around Lakeside Reef and South. We did connect with some nice walleyes ranging from 21-26 inches. The ice was 10-12" in that area. In the afternoon we went back up North and found another nice mixed bag of fish. There were quite a few lookers on Saturday compared to the aggressive fish we found on Friday. Sunday was another nice day on the water. We fished a new area along the North end in 28-29 feet and found the same steady action with mainly walleyes. Over the deeper water we had varying ice depths of 8-12 inches. We caught many different year classes of walleyes ranging from 5-27 inches and perch from 3-13 inches. There are still large areas of open water and thin ice all along the East and North end.
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Humana Insurance Representative-Brainerd and Mille Lacs Area
Thanks Fife. Looks like the forecast is finally going to take a crack at the cracks. Its nice to be on fish like that in January with the temps we have been having. Has the fish thinking its early ice too.
Thanks for the report. I am making a attempt to get out there next Sunday finally
There is a stretch of ice from Hunters Point to Picard Point that opened a few weeks ago and the ice looked to be about 4-6 inches in this area. On the North end, there is an area of thinner ice a couple miles out from the Carlsona area. We went around it, but I did see a 4 wheeler cross it. A few other 4 wheelers checked it out and turned back. There was some open water near Hunters Point on Friday and I'm guessing that is where that snowmobile went through.
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Humana Insurance Representative-Brainerd and Mille Lacs Area
Alot of areas are experiencing nasty cracks this year. I've seen cracks that open up 4 feet in a half an hour! There's alot of unstable ice all around the lake, still, due to the world's largest ice cube floating in it.
SO BE CAREFUL>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Know where you're going!!