Slave lake ice

[Talking moose]

Anyone going ice fishing on slave this weekend? Driving by the lake right now.

[Ice Fishing Maniac]

Heard from friends with seasonals out at Shaw's Point that most of the ice on the lake on the west end was along the south shore line. That was last weekend.

[RavYak]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

Anyone going ice fishing on slave this weekend? Driving by the lake right now.

Lake was ~60% ice free on the 15th(almost all of the west half and 1/4 of the east half), can't be too much left now.

[Talking moose]

Originally Posted by RavYak

Lake was ~60% ice free on the 15th, can't be too much left now.

I’ll take your word for it. Maybe I’m having hallucinations.
Was quite a lot still between slave and canyon creek. But lots of open water on the western half

[RavYak]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

I’ll take your word for it. Maybe I’m having hallucinations.
Was quite a lot still between slave and canyon creek. But lots of open water on the western half

Ice is likely just pushed down on that south shore.

This was on the 15th



On the 12th only about 20% of the ice was off so it has been disappearing fast which is why I say there can't be too much left. 10-20% left would still be a lot of ice(by eye) but it will likely only take another day or two to disappear especially with the winds forecasted to blow it into open water.

[Talking moose]

Originally Posted by RavYak

Ice is likely just pushed down on that south shore.

This was on the 15th



On the 12th only about 20% of the ice was off so it has been disappearing fast which is why I say there can't be too much left. 10-20% left would still be a lot of ice(by eye) but it will likely only take another day or two to disappear especially with the winds forecasted to blow it into open water.

Yup. That pic is still fairly accurate even today.

[Talking moose]

From the hiway the ice was as far out as the eye could see

[Bushleague]

On the east half its pretty hard finding enough water along the south shore to throw out a cast. Let alone launch a boat. I took the bike for a cruise yesterday and at least from Dog Island to Assineau there is no access.

Earlyer there was some water, and the pike fishing was phenomenal, the wind has switched and the ice has drifted south west for the last couple days. I haven't been watching it move today, but I can see out my window that the ice is still up to the shoreline in Widewater, some open pockets but for the most part it is as talking moose says... Ice as far as you can see. I think the ice in Rav's picture was all bunched up by strong winds from the west that we had earlier this week. Now it appears to have spread out more, I wouldn't bother coming up this weekend.

[honker_clonker]

Originally Posted by RavYak

Ice is likely just pushed down on that south shore.

This was on the 15th



On the 12th only about 20% of the ice was off so it has been disappearing fast which is why I say there can't be too much left. 10-20% left would still be a lot of ice(by eye) but it will likely only take another day or two to disappear especially with the winds forecasted to blow it into open water.

What site do you get these images from? Looks awesome.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

Anyone going ice fishing on slave this weekend? Driving by the lake right now.

Feel free to stop in for coffee when you come past Widewater... and I'll show you a little spot that's open enough to fish from shore. Just a little spot but I caught a half dozen pike and one nice walleye last night.

[Talking moose]

Originally Posted by Bushleague

Feel free to stop in for coffee when you come past Widewater... and I'll show you a little spot that's open enough to fish from shore. Just a little spot but I caught a half dozen pike and one nice walleye last night.

Dang! I’m already at McLennan...

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

Dang! I’m already at McLennan...

Well, maybe on your way back. I got a sick kid today, but I'm going to try and get a canoe out there later this evening. Happy trails.

[RavYak]

Originally Posted by honker_clonker

What site do you get these images from? Looks awesome.

Zoom Earth. It is nice because they put up 2 pictures each day, that picture is as much as you can zoom in though and as you can see not the best quality so it works with the bigger lakes but doesn't help with smaller lakes or rivers.

Originally Posted by Bushleague

I think the ice in Rav's picture was all bunched up by strong winds from the west that we had earlier this week. Now it appears to have spread out more, I wouldn't bother coming up this weekend.

Yeah you can tell it is bunched up a bit. With the shifting winds(was NW, now NE then supposed to go E and SE) that ice will be spread out more.

If you want to fish Slave lots of spots you can do so at(whole west half). I would be surprised if the east side isn't pretty much ice free at some point this weekend too. All the other lakes in the area are ice free as well so if you were planning on heading up that way I wouldn't cancel your weekend plans(maybe modify them slightly).

I'd post an up to date picture but its been cloudy the last few days up there.

[Sooner]

Zoom Earth is awesome. Just spent some time fooling around. Thanks for the tip.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by RavYak

If you want to fish Slave lots of spots you can do so at(whole west half). I would be surprised if the east side isn't pretty much ice free at some point this weekend too. All the other lakes in the area are ice free as well so if you were planning on heading up that way I wouldn't cancel your weekend plans(maybe modify them slightly).

I'd post an up to date picture but its been cloudy the last few days up there.

Yes, much of this is true. however if the wind doesn't change one will not be able to get a boat out on the east end even if most of the ice is gone. And one had better keep a close eye on the ice when out in a boat until its gone. On the bright side, when/ where its been possible the shore fishing has been really good. I've just been ripping up and down the shore on my KLR and fishing wherever I can find open water with excellent success, only thing is I've had to go on a wild goose hunt every day to find water.

I've caught more pike over 36" out of Slave in the last 3 days than I have in the last 3 years. Havnt quite broke the 40" mark yet but hopefully in the next week.... 10" herring under a bobber is working like TNT on the big ones. A buddy in SRD told me that their netting has them very optimistic that Slave will once again be a trophy pike fishery in the next couple years, oddly enough it seems to be one of the few lakes they haven't adjusted the limits to help realise this goal.

[LSLAKER]

Checked the east end of the Lesser Slave Lake this morning (May 19th) and there is now no ice left on the lake. People are going out on the lake with their boats today.

[Brock1]

i went out on the east end on Sunday. a few small pike and no walleye at all. talked to about 10 different groups on shore and in boats and no one caught a single walleye. Seeing as the ice just came off do you guys figure they were all in the river still? guy on shore from Town said last year during may long he was getting walleye every cast at the weir , he said they were coming out of the weir like crazy. just little sharks there this weekend

[35 whelen]

More than likely a later spawn this year

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

[ptemomo]

Originally Posted by Brock1

i went out on the east end on Sunday. a few small pike and no walleye at all. talked to about 10 different groups on shore and in boats and no one caught a single walleye. Seeing as the ice just came off do you guys figure they were all in the river still? guy on shore from Town said last year during may long he was getting walleye every cast at the weir , he said they were coming out of the weir like crazy. just little sharks there this weekend

Same thing for us this weekend. First time getting skunk for walleye there since we started going years ago. Tried beach, island, the banks... no luck.

Talking to some local they saying that it habitually takes a couple weeks after ice off for them to show up. Ice only cleared the east side last Thursday.