Blizzard delays ice house placements

A trip around Mille Lacs Lake Monday morning revealed that most resorts were struggling to open up roads to haul out fish houses. Highways 169 and 27 were wide open and mostly free of ice. Highways 47 and 18 were open but icy.

Sunday's 8-plus inches of snow, coupled with heavy winds and horrendous drifting made even the most hearty resort and ice fishing operations wince.

Castaways Owner Steve MacDonald said the heavy snow probably will delay his staff getting heavier houses onto the water for about a week. He was busy with a bobcat, removing snow. And he wasn't alone.

Lundeen's Owner Bill Lundeen said the heavy snow was about a week too soon. With the ice being 10-14 inches thick in many places, it will take heavier plow trucks to get roads open. There were at least two vehicles stranded at the mouth of Cove Bay overnight.

Check the pictures to see just what we are talking about. Hunter's Point, Mac's Twin Bay and Walleye Dundee's seemed to be making good progress in getting plowing done on the lake. There was a road open from Dundee's to Half Moon Island on the south shore but that appeared to be the only wide open road as of noon Monday.

If you have snowmobiles and portable fish houses right now, the lake is yours. DNR vehicles hadn't started much snow removal at most public landings as of 11 am. Things should improve greatly. Those with sleds were seen huddled outside Johnson's Port Side fueling up and the north lake snowmobile trails had already had a groomer go through.