2021 early ice reports

skain11 · #1 11-18-2021, 02:13 PM

Anyone been out and can report on current thickness ? Should be getting better with this cold snap. I've seen Huy's videos however I appear to be heavier than him. Currently interested in the Edm area...Wab, Hasse, Star, Lower chain, La Nonne etc. Got the itch and prob explore more on Saturday and will report back here.

Poppa · #2 11-18-2021, 02:51 PM

I'm curious about southern walleye reservoirs......I assume still a long ways off. Been mighty warm this fall....

AlbertanGP · #3 11-18-2021, 04:36 PM

Ice is going to be super sketchy (read cloudy and weak) since it likely froze up during the snowstorm. And now it's warming up again. If it wasn't frozen last weekend, I don't want any part of it this weekend personally. Stay safe.

JohninAB · #4 11-18-2021, 04:43 PM

Lake north of Whitecourt on the way to Swan Hills had 5” to 6” of ice last Friday. Be back there tomorrow to see how much it grew in the last week.

fish99 · #5 11-18-2021, 05:55 PM

some ice in the shallows at pigeon now

Cold lake guy · #6 11-18-2021, 06:03 PM

Ethel and Hilda frozen, no snow all black ice! Want to go try manatoken this weekend in the shallows

Yes there is still white caps on cold lake

Willowtrail · #7 11-18-2021, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cold lake guy

Ethel and Hilda frozen, no snow all black ice! Want to go try manatoken this weekend in the shallows

Yes there is still white caps on cold lake

Hoping for another warm spell like last December so we can head back out to chase them post spawn Lakers

Cold lake guy · #8 11-18-2021, 06:56 PM

I’m not a trout guy but I remember fishing pike in open water in December

skain11 · #9 11-22-2021, 10:14 AM

Checked out Hasse on Saturday , no one on the ice and it looked dodgy. Stopped in at Star Lake , two solo guys fishing about 70 yrds from the boat launch. Ice appeared better but the windy blizzard conditions were enough to keep us in the truck. Weak effort by us but it just didn't feel right. Lots of winter yet to come.

fish99 · #10 11-22-2021, 10:21 AM

pigeon has 3 inches of ice out about 100 feet from shore , looks iced over this morning . not seeing any open water.

AlbertanGP · #11 11-22-2021, 11:55 AM

I've been fishing a little trout pond since Remembrance Day last week. It started out with 3.25" of good clear ice on the 11th. I went back on the 12th and all was still good, although that day was really warm and sunny with temps around 0*C as I recall, and it rained very lightly that evening. I came back the next day (Saturday the 13th, also a nice day...warm and windy) and the ice had thinned significantly for a 2' radius around yesterday's holes. I actually had to move to new holes as mine were becoming unsafe IMO. Sunday was heavy snowfall, followed by a week of highly variable weather. When I was out last Saturday (the 20th), the ice was now more or less completely cloudy and only 2.5".

TLDR: With the highly variable weather we've had the past couple of weeks...sunny days near 0*C followed by -15*C days, and heavy snow interspersed throughout...the ice is really, really unpredictable at the moment. Don't assume what was good days ago is still safe. A lot of that snow is being incorporated into new ice as lakes freeze, and it is not strong.
Stay safe on the ice.

FearNoFish · #12 11-23-2021, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willowtrail

Hoping for another warm spell like last December so we can head back out to chase them post spawn Lakers

Any reports for Cold Lake? Getting anxious for an early December open water voyage.
Thanks

SNAPFisher · #13 11-23-2021, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willowtrail

Hoping for another warm spell like last December so we can head back out to chase them post spawn Lakers

So far, chances are good. .....Hope I didn't just jinx it...
good luck!!

Lambo · #14 11-23-2021, 10:25 PM

Little Bow was wide open yesterday. I’m going to unwinterize my boat! 😁

Willowtrail · #15 11-23-2021, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearNoFish

Any reports for Cold Lake? Getting anxious for an early December open water voyage.
Thanks

So far so good, just need to not be working and to get a couple warm days

Drewski Canuck · #16 11-24-2021, 10:16 AM

Calling Lake froze last Saturday night, but this week there was some wind, and the ice broke up again.

It has re frozen this morning, but it is not in any way safe to walk on yet.

Last Sunday morning, even though there was ice, there was steam coming off of the ice, so it was not solid ice at that point either.

Drewski

AlbertanGP · #17 11-24-2021, 11:31 AM

Many lakes up north have frozen, thawed, frozen again, thawed again. This is almost a daily event still on Sturgeon Lake...it's probably happened at least a dozen times since the first freeze up at the start of the month. If you're not watching water bodies on at least a semi-daily basis, you really have no clue what you're walking on this season.

buckman · #18 11-24-2021, 06:23 PM

Driving home from my successful Mule deer hunt today.Went past Dalmead (Weed) Lake East of Calgary.Was someone with a tent on the South end of the lake.

Jims83cj5 · #19 11-24-2021, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearNoFish

Any reports for Cold Lake? Getting anxious for an early December open water voyage.
Thanks

Last lake in the province to freeze over

LUNKDAWGEH · #20 11-24-2021, 08:01 PM

Blood Indian Reservoir had about a half inch last Wednesday. Small ponds near Sundre had about 3 inches on the weekend.

Sent from my motorola one hyper using Tapatalk

AK47 · #21 11-24-2021, 10:39 PM

Saw pictures on Facebook claiming that Spray lakes have 5 inches of ice. Hard to believe, anybody can confirm??

The Fisherman Guy · #22 11-24-2021, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AK47

Saw pictures on Facebook claiming that Spray lakes have 5 inches of ice. Hard to believe, anybody can confirm??

Could be possible near shore. Spray ice thickness varies quite a bit in the early season. We've found 5-6" 0-100yds offshore, then 3" in the middle of the lake. Makes a guy pucker out that far - with no phone reception.

kc_okotoks · #23 11-26-2021, 01:36 AM

chain lake on hwy 22 ,lots of open water still.

Weavster · #24 11-26-2021, 04:03 PM

I flew over moose lake on Tuesday most of it was iced up with one stretch of open water in the middle maybe 800 yards or so

TROLLER · #25 11-26-2021, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AK47

Saw pictures on Facebook claiming that Spray lakes have 5 inches of ice. Hard to believe, anybody can confirm??

Snowballs chance in the hot place of that happening before mid to late Dec at the earliest. They have been no colder than Cochrane or Canmore and Ghost lake is wide open with guys fishing for the spawning Lakers on the weekend.

I have always planned on Spray after Christmas and you can usually fish right into mid April sometimes longer.

FearNoFish · #26 11-28-2021, 07:00 PM

5 inches everywhere we measured. Average bite today but only the small fresh stockers.

Dylan hunter · #27 12-01-2021, 09:09 PM

Does anyone have any info on lac la biche…looking to possibly check out the poplar point area around the 10th of December! This cold weather should thicken it up I’d think. Just walking out.

highwood · #28 12-02-2021, 11:47 AM

Just flew to Yellowknife, Calling isn't even completely frozen yet and many of the smaller lakes have very uneven looking ice that has formed, cracked, reformed, cracked, etc. Be cautious. It will be a while yet unless the mercury really takes a dip.

SamSteele · #29 12-02-2021, 12:06 PM

Saw a photo of whitecaps on Lesser Slave taken today. Going to be a while there.

AlbertanGP · #30 12-02-2021, 01:34 PM

One more week of warm weather before it takes a plunge, if you can believe anything the weatherman says. Definitely be careful if you head out. Take a friend when possible.