Snow and Ice condition

I copied this from the lake - link site regarding the conditions on the Flowage as of April 23rd.


Guys, A ice report from the DNR station in Mercer,I stopped to talk Chris yesterday at the dnr station in Mercer, we talked about her trash containers at the public boat launches, She said that there was 24 inches of good ice 18 inches of bad ice and 12 inches of snow on top of the ice, and she's put off delivering her trash containers until the week of the 13th of May so they are not planning for the ice to be off by the opener. On a good note they will start off with a 2 fish bag for walleyes on the Flowage depending on what gets speared she said it might go up to 3 fish but we won't know that until the Indians are done spearing, on a better note all the launches are still froze and they can't get there boats out, Lake off the falls is open a little bit and Murrays Landing river channel is open but not by the launch.

The ice is out on the Flambeau River above the paper mill dam in Park Falls. I've never seen so many and such an assortment of waterfowl congregated on the river at one time as I've seen the last 2 days, including a flock of 9 loons, all waiting for the big water to open.

The Spring peepers have also started their chorus tonight given the temps hit 80 degrees today.

Unfortunately, we are under a Winter storm watch with the potential of 8" of snow starting Wednesday night into Thursday.

Welcome to May everyone!

Greetings to All,

To follow up on other posts concerning ice / open water conditions, Pictures below were both taken from the top of the ramp at the Springstead boat landing.

One was taken on April 25th and the second is from this afternoon (May 1). Ice has melted quite a bit in the last few days but, with snow predicted for tomorrow, there is no way that the Baraboo portion of the TFF will be open by Saturday.

Attachment 19659

Attachment 19660

Tight Lines,

Tom502

This a satellite MODIS image from yesterday. As you can see there snow on the ground and the flowage is completely white.

http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/mod...egion=s&page=1

Starting this afternoon through Thursday four to eight inches of the fluffy stuff....

See ya on the ice,

Jeff Robl of Bobber Down Guide Sevice has posted on the L-L site that the Murrays and Lake of the Falls landings are open and have fishable open water. If you have questions, you can contact him at 715.776.0140.

https://sites.google.com/site/bobberdownguideservice/

Well, the weather forecasters were actually right for once. We have received between 6"-12" of wet heavy snow. Some areas received even more. We continue under a Winter Storm Warning until 11:00 am on Friday, May 2, 2013. There are also areas of flooding in Iron County. If you are intending on coming up for the weekend, use caution when driving. Ice travel is also not recommended.

Now the good news. The TFF is at nearly full pool. The discharge at the dam is at over 6 times what it was a few days ago, so that will definitely get the water moving in the TFF causing the ice to break up further. In addition, the forecast for next week is for sunshine and highs in the 60s.

Happy Fishing Opener 2013 everyone! Be safe out there and Good Luck!

WOW and thanks for the update we have been looking at the web cams and have been seeing all that has been going on .will be up on the 19th and will have to change things up this year. intellicast is reporting snow for you through 9 am then rain all day on fri. and the eyes are not going anywhere so we want all to be safe. we were in the 80s for 2 days and now a cold front . a full pull and 2 weeks to go thumbs up to all,can't wait , starting to shack like a wet dog . LOL

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC

The ice is out on the Flambeau River above the paper mill dam in Park Falls. I've never seen so many and such an assortment of waterfowl congregated on the river at one time as I've seen the last 2 days, including a flock of 9 loons, all waiting for the big water to open.

The Spring peepers have also started their chorus tonight given the temps hit 80 degrees today.

Unfortunately, we are under a Winter storm watch with the potential of 8" of snow starting Wednesday night into Thursday.

Welcome to May everyone!

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Hi Scot, I have never seen the dam flow at 2600, that is really high. Did Shane have to go over and change it daily. WOW !! Thanks.

George G. The discharge today is at about 2,900 cfs. Yesterday it was at about 1,800 cfs. Wednesday it was about 600 cfs. Shane checks with Excel Energy each weekday morning to determine how they want the gates and tubes set. He then goes to the dam to do it and gets a reading of discharge.

The maximum recorded daily outflow from the Turtle-Flambeau Dam was 3,440 cubic
feet per second (cfs), and occurred on two separate dates in 1939 and 1952.

From the Turtle River Trading Company Facebook page:

Murray's landing is open all the the way to Boonie's Mound! Some people are starting to head out to go camping! We are open till 9pm tonight!! We are stocked up with Live Bait & ready to go!

Hey Tiny can you get some pics of the dam somehow, never saw that amount of water coming through before. What a year.

They're releasing 3668 cfs from the Chippewa! They are almost at full pool. That outflow must be something to behold!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC

George G. The discharge today is at about 2,900 cfs. Yesterday it was at about 1,800 cfs. Wednesday it was about 600 cfs. Shane checks with Excel Energy each weekday morning to determine how they want the gates and tubes set. He then goes to the dam to do it and gets a reading of discharge.

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Hi Scott, thanks for the info. Maybe Tiny could borrow Shane his camera and Shane could take a picture from the Cat Walk he has to use to make the changes at the Dam. Would be an interesting point of view. A Kodak moment to say the least. Down below on at the river would be interesting also. I certainly hope your weather is over with now.

Took a drive along Popkos this afternoon to Lake of the Falls. A few dedicated fisherman were fishing along the road in the little bit of open water, with temperatures in the 30's. One canoe out. More power to them! Ducks and loons are crowded in any open areas that they may find. My lake here in Mercer has about 18 inches of snow covered ice, and suspect that it will not be out for another 2 weeks. Makes the delayed delivery of my new boat a bit more easy to deal with.

From the justgetaway webcam, looks like open water along the shore!

HRG

Attachment 19688

Yeah, that tends to happen when the water level rises...if the ice clung to the shoreline and stretched, the lake would bulge in the middle until it popped like a big pimple!

There are pictures of Sportsman and Fisherman Landings. Flambeau Fluffy ice fishing opener day. Also at Robinson Landing and the Pipe at Trude.

Have a great day and catch the big one,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Tiny Fisherman

There are pictures of Sportsman and Fisherman Landings. Flambeau Fluffy ice fishing opener day. Also at Robinson Landing and the Pipe at Trude.

Have a great day and catch the big one,

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Great pictures. Wish I were there for the opener, but not with all the ice. No fish in the pictures?

Looks like you did what needed to be done! I think this is the first time I've missed out on opening weekend in almost 30 years. That's a lot of water heading down the river - hope nobody is having problems downstream.

The water was open about 40 yards from shore in front of our cabins on the Lake Bastine area on Tuesday, May 7, 2013. The ice that was out further was black with many cracks and pooled water. A loon swam by our shoreline and two flew by heading north, so there is hope.

Rain and wind are predicted starting Wednesday evening into Thursday, which will really help the ice-out situation.

Those that are fishing the Manitowish River area out of Murrays and Fishermans Landing were reporting a hot bite on walleye with jig and minnow.

We have got Winter on the ropes, but there was a report for snow showers on Saturday evening, May 11, 2013.

Think warm thoughts everyone. This Sunday is Mothers Day, so don't forget those special ladies before you head out fishing this weekend.

Does anyone know if it's possible (open water) to go from Fisherman's landing up the Manitowish yet?

Last I heard the answer to that was no, but conditions are changing faster than they can be reported right now...

Mark

WalleyesWanted,

See pics taken this afternoon at Springstead Landing. You may be able to launch a boat, but you won't be able to travel very far. I doubt that Fisherman's landing is much different.

My south facing shoreline has 80-100 feet of open water. Remaining ice is getting dark and looks to be "punky" in nature.

Like Scott said,the ice is melting but we need rain and/or wind to have open water. We have a 50% chance of rain forecast for Thursday with 10-15 mph winds. If this pans out, it's possible to see open water in the Baraboo basin by the end of the weekend.

Right now, it's cross your fingers and pray for warm, rainy and windy weather.

Tight Lines,

Tom502 Attachment 19714Attachment 19715

I just received the following email from Jeff Robl of Bobber Down Guide Service:

"5:00 pm on Wed. [May 8] Fisherman's Landing still frozen in. Looks real close to going out. I think by Sat. but don't know." (See L-L Site for photos)

Ron Yunk Jr. of Wilderness Piers called me and advised that Sportsman's Landing is still iced in as of May 9, 2013. There is water around the dock and ways out, but you can't get out of the bay.

Wayne Riebe of Gateway emailed me this morning (May 9) to advise that Lake of the Falls Landing is open down to past Dead Horse.

There is a 10 mph NE wind today with showers in the forecast.

Strong winds (20-30 mph) are predicted for Saturday, May 11, 2013 so hopefully that will break things up.

We will keep you posted as we the reports come into us.

Don Pemble here, was out by Fisherman's Landing today and it is ice free, now all we need is for the dock to be put in. By the way, I was out yesterday out of Murrays Landing and a client and we had had a field day not only on the eyes, but on the smallies too. We caught 18 or so eyes in the morning along with some big crappie and a few smallies. Afternoon temps increased and thats when the smallmouth action erupted, they were all over the gravel and rocky areas. Afternoon temps in the Bonnies Mound area reached a high in the mid 60's. Special note, the eyes were spawned out and the crappies were still full of eggs. During the cleaning of the fish I noticed the eyes had been feeding mostly on mayfly larva while the crappies were full of small minnows.

Good luck to all,
Don Pemble
Don's Guide Service
dpemble@centurytel.net

Oh Don, you had to mention it...mayfly larvae!!!

Mark

Conditions are rapidly changing for the BETTER, but use caution as we are not completely ice free yet!

Sportsman's Landing has opened , but large ice floes continue to be blown in and out of the bay. Caution is advised.

Donner Bay Landing opened, but closed again with a large ice floe.

There is a fair amount of ice between Piney Island and the dam, but it is broken in many areas and moving towards the dam. Navigation is either closed or hazardous.

It is believed that the Big Water past the dam is still iced in as of May 9, 2013. The strong north winds predicted should take their toll, but don't plan on getting down to Beaver Flats before Sunday, May 12, 2013.

Murray's Landing is open up to Boney's Mound and to Fisherman's Landing.

Fisherman's Landing is open to at least Long Island and possibly further, but presumably not into Big Water.

Lake Bastine is breaking-up with open water along the shore and open water along the north end around Dee's Island and Hiawatha. The north wind is pushing the ice down the Turtle River into Lake Bastine, so, again, conditions are changing rapidly.

Lake of the Falls Landing and Sturgeon Bay Landing are both open to at least Pink Rock and along the mainland shoreline to Piney Island in front of Lodge of Lakeview.

The last report about Springstead Landing into Baraboo and Sweeney is that it is iced and unnavigable, but is very close to being open.

Again, conditions are rapidly changing, but for the better. Fishing reports are good for walleye, crappie and CPR smallmouth bass angling. The weather forecast for this weekend is cold (40-50), wet and windy (20-40 mph); however, the forecast calls for temps in the 60s and 70s for the remainder of the week. We should be completely ice free by May 15, 2013, but hopefully sooner.

Enjoy the Turtle-Flambeau Flowage, Wisconsin's Scenic Wilderness Waters Area. See www.turtleflambeauflowage.com for more information about lodging, food and guides on the TFF or to order a free map of the TFF.

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Thanks for the update Scott. We'll be headed up tomorrow (Saturday), ice or no ice.

HRG

....thanks for the updates guys.....very much appreciated. due to my location, I need to launch out of the springstead landing; yesterday, i spoke with someone at the trading post bait shop in springstead and she thought this landing would be open today (Friday)....after reading other posts, i'm not sure if that is the case.

any further updates would be so very much appreciated. my gear has been packed for over a week now.....just waiting for the open water!!

thanks
mooselegs.

Mooselegs,

It's about 11:00 am on Friday 5/10.

I have not been over to Springstead landing this AM, but I live just around the corner on the first bay behind the landing. My bay is about 90% open.

The main basin in Baraboo is about 60% open. There is some shell ice along the islands as you come out of Springstead Landing, but it looks to be melting very fast.

I am betting that by late this afternoon or tomorrow morning most all of the ice should be gone.

Tight Lines,

Tom502

EDIT: 11:30am I just saw my first boat of the season going up the channel from the big water toward Fisherman's Landing