from Rick

 

Yesterday Bob ice boated to Queer Isl.

says 3-4" ice in that area but only 1" ice with 2" snow on top from Matheson Bay to South end Scotty's .

Last year Dec 18 driving on plowed ice roads !

The ice has formed from French Portage North to Tee Pee Island and West to Crow Rock.

Fall of 2009 our last boat trip to Town was Dec 5. Winterized boats around 7th.

Lake level is up about 3" from Fall rains. ... from Rick Jackson December 6th 2015

Eva says Moore Bay has froze, still open water around Railroad Island ,,, from Rick

From Rick Jackson ; December 1st 2015

 

Bob texted this am and said : Frozen from Windigo north to French Portage.

Welcome channel froze over.

We could still boat to Island !!

Nov 22, 2015

 

Can you please post that Lawrenson Lake froze this morning and the bridge to Coney went in on Friday.

> Thanks

> Rick

We are boating!!

We made it to Bare Point Marina at 10:00 am Friday May 01. Had our steak sandwich,visit with friends. Just before we left the Island this morning the temp was +7, clear and calm, as soon as the sun hit the ice a fog developed and was hanging 6' above the ice but not over water. There was ice to push through Cat Island and again Rocky Narrows ,the are between Rocky Narrows and BarePoint was all fog with both ice and water,had to drive slow. There is still Ice on Manitou,Bigstone and you cannot get 1/4 mile beyond our Island.I would think a couple more days and all remaining ice should be gone-next weekend for sure. Lake is the lowest I can remember!be careful,safe and happy boating till next fall,Bye

Latest ice

Yesterday was a beautiful day,sunny,calm and 13. I went flying to check conditions,not looking good for this weekend? Lunnys are boating from Town to Scotty's beach.Ice is solid to shore all around Scotty's down to Queer Isl with a little open water around Railroad Island,Black ice in the area Railroad-Queer-Pipestone. I think we should be able to boat to Moore Bay Lodge for coffee tomorrow ? You could boat from Town to Welcome Channel but not any further than Brûlée Point.Pine Portage ice is black along the West shore but nowhere to go as Bigstone is Solid! Plan is to treat ourselves to lunch in Town Friday ,May 01, but may be a bowl soup at home??

Deep freeze

This deep freeze we are under is not nice!! The ground was white yesterday,not sure how but some it did melt? The good thing is we have had screaming winds for a couple days now out of th North,this has prevented the open water from freezing. Forecast is for wind to switch and blow out of the South. These strong winds have eaten away at the ice and on today's outting I made it to Queer Island but could not get around it. The Elbow is open all the way South to were the track splits on the words "the elbow"on a 6212 lake chart Talking with the boys closer to Town with ice boats and they say ice is firm,won't be boating for a few days yet-but it's early. It's too early to tell yet but this looks like one of the lowest Spring Lake Levels in a long time?

Lawrenson Lake

Rec'd the call this morning that Lawrenson Lake is open,once this happens we have boated to Bare Point Marina in as early as 4 days in 2012 and everyone remembers last year that was 10 days. With average being 7 days.So even with this weeks cooler temps( woke up to white ground) boating by end of the month looking pretty good. They also reported a Loon on the lake. Yesterday I boated as far as the double rr in the French Narrows on a 6212 map,because of the cooler temps I probably won't head out again till Wednesday or Thursday as don't expect too much change till after that.

Last day fishing season

Yesterday was the last day of fishing season so decided to try my luck-we ate meatloaf! I went out in the ice boat,drilled several holes South of French Narrows the ice varied between 16-20" by the weekend should be able to canoe across to East Allie Island? I took a couple videos of running the ice boat through the open water at the narrows. I cannot upload them onto this site with poor internet service we have so if anyone would like to see them contact me and I will forward them along, jacksonrd919@gmail.com I am still guessing boat to Bare Point by May 07 ?

Last quad trip

With the cold nights this past week The trouble spots down here froze over and I decided to make one more trip to town by quad.Met Greg Smith and his son Ryan at tip of Queer Isl. And we traveled together to Matheson Bay. There are a few spots to watch for otherwise a good trip. Lunny's still had truck on ice at Scotty's and said Skeads Landing was still good. The ice is in better shape North of Strawberry Portage than on the South side. A couple sunny days with double digit highs and the ice around French Narrows will go pretty fast. Travel will be by Ice Boat from today on.

Ice update

The ice road from the start of Dorian bay to our place is in very bad shape,lots holes in Marsh and you can see bottom. On South side of the French Narrows Portage the ice is 20" thick but candled and will not support weight of a quad. No travel advised down this way !!

Spring

I think everyone would have to agree this past winter we had the best ice roads ever.After the trouble we had down here last year with our road flooding then she froze over just enough to support the truck till I reach the deepest part before breaking through,now we are trying to push 5" thick blocks of ice that keep piling up underneath the frame.Took my son and I 3 hours to reach the Portage at French Narrows,a journey of less than 1 mile and at one point had both trucks stuck at same time. As of yesterday both our vehicles are off the ice,Our landing was the first to go,South facing and current,add to this the melting snow draining off the lake and we had several 10"diameter holes,couple warm days and these holes will connect and will have to build a bridge to get quad across. A few bird sightings are: March 05 heard the Caw of a crow as he flew overhead,they have been quiet up till now,and starting Cawing 6 am this morning outside our bedroom window ! A pair of Canada Geese arrived at our Narrows March 21,yesterday there was more than 12. First week of March more Eagles than normal,Grossbeaks have moved on. Received phone call last night that flocks of Seagulls were spotted Husky the Musky.Don't expect much change down here over the next week as any daytime melting is going to get cancelled by the double digit lows. Anyone venturing out by Quad be extra careful jumping the snow banks as there are large cracks that Parallel the road and are wet.