<----  Please click on the Ice Facts link to the left of this page

Since Winter is upon us, we thought we'd include this handy Wind-Chill chart.
Click HERE to see the chart

Plus, it's always good to keep up on
Winter Weather Safety and Awareness
(click for more information)

Click HERE for a listing of all Minnesota State Records for fish

Fishing licenses good until April 30th, 2008.

"This was a mid-season change by Legislature, not in the 2007 regulations book, because it was already in print."
- Mille Lacs Messenger (Wednesday, February 13th, 2008)

Our roads are open and the ice is still good!

The perch have been picking up and moving into deeper waters. Big Point has been a good spot to find some of the larger perch.

Temps are looking pretty decent this coming week for doing some portable fishing. Hope to see you on the lake!

Private and Rental Ice Houses are coming off the ice
This is the last weekend for privates on the lake! Starting Monday, February 25th, we will begin pulling ALL houses to shore. Houses must be broken loose and ready to be pulled. NO EXTENSIONS. Any house not broken loose & dug out will be subject to a minimum $50 ice service charge. Fishermen's Wharf Resort is not responsible for any damage to houses, please be sure your house is ready to be pulled. Be sure to stop in the office to check-out and take care of any outstanding winter services you may still owe.

Fishing Continues...Catching Improves
For those who wanted to catch their limits this year, you had to work! The fish have been on the cameras, but to get them to bite had been tough...Better late than never! The bite has been getting much better the past couple of weeks. The permanent houses may have to be taken off, however the fishing does not have to stop. Grab your portables and fill your pails - the ice and fishing has not been better! This has been a great year for the ice, no bridges and plenty of snow. We will maintain the main roads as long as it is safe for our trucks to be on the ice.

1/16/08

New Roads Added!
We are now driving & pulling houses to 2 ½ Mile, 4 Mile, Baby Bump, & 4 Mile East. All of our typical locations are now open for driving vehicles and for pulling houses. They include: Shaw's Reef, 2 Mile, Big Point, 2 ½ Mile, 4 Mile, Baby Bump, & 4 Mile East. Roads have 18 plus inches in most spots, but use caution out on 4 Mile, as we did have quite a bit of water on the ice before this latest freeze!

Please Drive 10 mph on the ice!

Fishing Report:
The cold weather is here! This past weekend was slow for some, but we also heard many reports of limiting out on perch in just a few hours, and catching some nice "keeper" walleye as well. Dusk is still the best time to try for Walleye, and look in the deep rocks. We are hearing quite a few reports of some large Northerns being caught this year too!

1/10/08

Full Sized Vehicles, Snowmobiles, & ATV's are all welcome on the roads at this time.

We currently have over 100 houses on the ice. We are pulling & driving to Shaw's Reef, 2 Mile, & Big Point. We also have a ATV & Snowmobile trail to 4 Mile.

Change in procedure: We are no longer excepting email requests to be pulled out. Due to this years spotty ice conditions in some areas we require someone from the house to be here when it is moved. It is also a good idea to listen to the recommendations by our ice guys for safe locations for your house to be parked. The few issues we had with last weekends warm up were either due to customers insisting on their own spots off of our roads, or drilling too many holes under the house. Our roads are currently ranging from 16" - 18" and most of the ice we're putting houses on ranges from 12" - 14" but there still are spots out there thinner than we like.

The fish are out there! We are hearing lots of reports of seeing plenty of perch & walleye out there on the cameras. Try shiners for the walleye, and fishing the late night hours. For Perch, try waxies, and deeper waters during the day.

We now offer Shiners, Fatheads, Wax Warms, & Colored Wax Worms at the Wharf! The Wharf retail store also offers many of your last minute ice fishing needs such as fishing line, rattle wheels, mantles, games, toiletries, batteries, snacks, and much more!

Try the latest & greatest invention to ice fishing "Structure on a String" available at the Wharf. Ask one of the ice guys for their experience with the product and how well it works.

Don't forget we also rent StrikeMaster Augers, Honda Generators, & MarCum Cameras & Flashers. Reserve yours today!

Hope to see you soon! We have plenty of cold beer, warm meals, and ice roads to go around!

Roads are in Excellent Condition, Perch bite has been mid day and Walleye late night, both in the 25 to 30 foot waters. Shiners seem to be the bait of choice. Roads open to Shaws, 2 Mile, and Big Point. Be sure to check in at the resort before going on the ice as conditions can change quickly with the forecasted warm weather coming. ***Calling the resorts and bait shops for tomorrows conditions does not work. Stop in when you get to the lake.

During the past week our trucks have been out full time making some of the widest roads on the lake. The great freeze we have had over the last couple of day's has really helped the areas we had cleared for houses. Today we will begin pulling houses again with the reminder that we do have a chance of 4 days above freezing ahead. To be on the cautious side you may plan on leaving your house on shore or staged in shallow waters and just head out to your favorite spots in portables. Roads are wide and clear to Shaws Reef, Two Mile, and Big Point should be finished today with 4 mile following. Big point and 4 mile are ready for those transporting themselves, we will not plan on pulling to these locations until after the forecasted thaw.

THANK YOU to those of you posting the "PLEASE SLOW DOWN ON THE ICE" messages on your favorite ice fishing chat forum. We cannot stress enough how speed can be dangerous and destroy the roads for hundreds of other anglers that want to enjoy the ice roads as well. It is this type of management that will keep the roads safe. The Mille Lacs Lake Resorts put hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars into the ice roads you drive on, it never hurts to Thank a driver when you see one. Be sure to ALWAYS check in with a resort or local bait store immediately before going on to the ice for up to the minute conditions of the ice. Calling ahead for tomorrows conditions will not be accurate.

Please note: We do not pull any private houses unless the owner is here personally or emails us the general location where they want to be pulled. All emails should go to Wharf@FishermensWharfMN.com. We do not use GPS coordinates. Privates are pulled on a first come, first serve basis.

Full Sized Vehicles, Snowmobiles, & ATV's are all welcome on the roads at this time.

Today has been a very successful day. Dennis and his team were able to cut a new main road as well as clear several areas around Shaws Reef to place houses. We have found a few areas close to 2 Mile that did not take on water when plowed as well. Tomorrow we will try to get a few more houses pulled with more attempts of finding dry spots on 2 Mile. If you plan on coming to have your private pulled, expect to find Shaws as the recommended spot for your house. If you wait until after the weekend, we should be able to start moving to 2 Mile. If you block your own house, block them high, as the temps should start freezing the water that is on the ice.

Wear good boots and watch for the slush. We cannot stress slow speeds enough...Be kind to the ice, it can be kind to us.

Rentals - We will have all booked rental houses on the ice by Friday Noon check-in. Other than a little water around the houses, things are looking great.

Please note: We do not pull any private houses unless the owner is here personally or emails us the general location where they want to be pulled. All emails should go to Wharf@FishermensWharfMN.com. We do not use GPS coordinates. Privates are pulled on a first come, first serve basis.

Snowmobiles & ATV's are still all that's recommended on the ice at this time. We currently have roads plowed & staked to Shaw's Reef and limited 2 Mile.

The perch & walleye bite have both been steady. Shaw's Reef has still been doing great for perch (12 - 16 ft) and 2 mile has producing a few Walleye.

Slush! This is the "S" word of the day. Today we have been in the process of plowing new roads to avoid the large areas of slush. We have 9 to 13 inches of ice, however the double digit temps and snow have not been making ice, like it was a couple of weeks back.

Due to the slush, we will not be pulling houses today and we will try to pull a few of the smaller privates tomorrow. We do have a few small rentals on the ice at this time and do not plan on any additional ones until this weekend depending on the weather. If you do have a larger Ice House or Ice Cabin rented for this week, please contact us to discuss your options. Lets continue to think ice!

Please note: We do not pull any private houses unless the owner is here personally or emails us the general location where they want to be pulled. All emails should go to Wharf@FishermensWharfMN.com. We do not use GPS coordinates. Privates are pulled on a first come, first serve basis.

Snowmobiles & ATV's are still all that's recommended on the ice at this time. We currently have roads plowed & staked to Shaw's Reef and 2 Mile.

The perch & walleye bite have both been steady. Shaw's Reef has still been doing great for perch (12 - 16 ft) and 2 mile has producing a few Walleye.

Be sure to check out our Ice Assessment, Procedures and Safety document to learn some interesting ice facts.

12/20/07

We have been plowing more roads and have a consistent 9 to 11 inches of ice. Due to the warm weather this week, ice has not been forming, but the snow is starting to melt. However, we are expecting more snow this weekend.

Private houses will not be pulled out until sometime after Christmas. When the time comes, we will send out an email and it will be posted on our website as well.  Keep in mind, we will not pull any Privates unless the owner is here personally or emails us the location where they want to be pulled. All emails should go to Wharf@FishermensWharfMN.com. We do not use GPS coordinates. Privates are pulled on a First Come, First Serve basis.

We do have a few SMALL rentals out, so if you want to fish this weekend call soon to reserve your spot. Snowmobiles & ATV's are still all that's recommeded at this time. We currently have roads plowed & staked to Shaw's Reef and 2 Mile.

The perch & walleye bite have both been steady. Shaw's Reef has been excellent for perch (12 - 16 ft).

We will be open Christmas Eve 8am to Noon, and closed all day Christmas Day.

We look forward to seeing you this weekend!

We will continue to keep you updated with these emails as the ice progresses.

We are looking forward to a GREAT winter season!

THINK ICE! ~The Wharf Crew

We have a road out to Shaws and 2 Mile with 9 to 11 inches of Ice. We had a few small cracks close to shore that we flooded the past few days and are now sealed and ready for travel.

The ice will not be quite ready for heavy travel this weekend so we are still recommending travel with lighter vehicles. We have cleared several fishing areas on Shaws Reef for fishing this weekend and we will try to pull a couple of small rentals out as well for those anglers looking for a little more shelter.

The perch have been a little stronger bite than walleye around the Shaws and 2 Mile area.

Snowmobile trails have been groomed around the area with sled traffic being a common site. Portable ice shelters are a common site on the lake with snowmobiles and ATV's running them around.... The Great Ice Season is upon us!

Our StrikeMaster rental augers have arrived! Our cameras and flashers from MarCum Technologies should be arriving shortly. Renting is a great way to "test drive" new gear. It is not too late to add items to your Christmas list!

12/13/07

We still have between 7" - 8" of solid ice right outside the wharf. Further out on Shaw's, it measures from 8" - 11" but not as solid.

We have been doing some flooding close to shore to help strengthen the area for our access, but the layer of snow on top has really slowed down our ice making progress.

ATV's & Snowmobile's are all that's recommended for travel on the ice this weekend.
Elsewhere, there lot's of snow on the trails for you snowmobilers !

We ran out to Shaw's today on snowmobiles and found 1 - 1 1/2 feet of snow cover with a pretty steady 8" of ice.
With the cold weather forecasted it seems we should continue making 1/2" of ice per day.

ATV's & Snowmobiles have been running the lake with portables the last couple of days.
On our trip to Shaw's we came across 1 crack in the bay that had 5" of ice, so please be cautious when traveling unchartered areas.

As always, safety comes first. At this point we are not driving any full size vehicles on the ice.
We will begin plowing roads & pulling houses when we find a consistent 12" of ice.

We are looking forward to a GREAT winter season!

THINK ICE! ~The Wharf Crew

P.S. Don't forget about the Holiday Party this Saturday. Click here for more details

The channel has been frozen for the last 2 weeks and is about 11" thick.
The bay has froze over a couple of times and was broken up from strong winds before the snow.
The cold weather the last couple of weeks has made about 7" of ice out to Shaws before the snow came.
With the last two snowfalls we have about 12"-14" of great snowmobiling snow!
This may slow down our ice making process a bit, however, we are sure to have an earlier start on the ice than the last few years.

11/28/07

The channel has been frozen for the last week and is about 4" thick.
The bay has froze over a few times and then the ice breaks from wind & warmer temps.
The cold weather the last few days has made about 1" of ice out there and it looks like it is going to stay.