FORT FRANCES—While there will be areas of open water on Rainy Lake for Minnesota anglers on their walleye-opener this Saturday, the North Arm of Rainy Lake remains iced in.
While it all depends on the good graces of Mother Nature, at least two local pilots were hopeful “ice-out” would occur prior to the Ontario walleye-opener next weekend.
Mike Dick of Rusty Myers Flying Service said Thursday morning he hasn’t been flying for a couple of days, but that anyone could see there’s still a lot of ice in the North Arm just by looking out from the Noden Causeway.
He noted Sand Bay, where Rusty Myers is located, always opens up early. But looking out the window there, he can see “it’s white out there way down the shoreline.”
“The worse thing is, it’s still cold at night. It’s hard for the water to warm up,” Dick remarked. “I’d give her a few more days yet. Maybe with the rain of the weekend, I don’t know.
“A few more days yet.”
Dick added “all the little bays” of Rainy Lake—such as Jackfish, Red Gut Bay, Stanjikoming, and Northwest Bay—are open. “But there are some big sheets floating around that North Arm and out to the east,” he said.
“Red Gut looked open. Some of the smaller lakes, like Mainville, are open. Any of the small lakes that warm up quick are open, but those big, deep water lakes, where the water is cold, Manitou and Manitou stretch the other day, were solid.
“After this weekend, I think everything should be in good shape,” Dick continued. “If we get that rain and it gets warm at night, and maybe a little wind action, it’ll clear things up.
“But as of right now, we’re nowhere near [ice-out].”
Like Dick, Kyle Melville of Melaire Ltd. said most of the smaller lakes in the area are open, but that the North Arm of Rainy Lake remains “solid.”
But he noted while it’s still pretty cold at night, wind conditions and weekend rain hopefully will clear the ice up by early next week.
(Fort Frances Daily Bulletin)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
