Red Lake Ice Conditions

[caribou]

Sunday May 12 – We are still walking on the lake ice here in Red Lake 😮 while the smallest lakes are now nearly ice free . We know folks are anxiously waiting for open water season to get underway in Northwest Ontario. Spring is late to arrive and just yesterday we had snow flurries – not a melting day. Today, a high of 10C (50F) and sunny but… still not a very good melting day. 🙁

Predicting ice-out is like predicting the weather – the two are very much related after all. The forecast calls for upper teen temps (mid 60sF) for next week… again not as warm as we would like to see for a quick melt. We think that entering Woodland Caribou this week (May 12-18) will not be possible even in small lakes at the Leano entry as these are deep lake trout lakes.

We will keep you posted here… back to update mid week… so please monitor this site.

[caribou]

Tuesday May 14 – still about 6″ of ice out on Red Lake. Ponds, rivers and the very small lakes have cleared up but ice still clinging to most lakes. Deeper lake trout lakes (Leano, Bunny, Paull, Wrist, etc…) are likely still frozen. There have been no planes in the air the last few days to check on conditions. The rain today will have helped. Lets hope for warm temperatures in the days to come. Suffel/Iriam Rd to Leano is now clear of snow but soft.:(

[caribou]

Saturday May 18th – Today is opener day for walleye season. Many visitors in town are not able to go out boating on Red Lake but most managed to launch their boats in open waters in the bays and along the shores and rivers.

The ice that lingers on Red Lake is black and appears to have thinned considerably. A strong wind should break it up and move it along but… no wind in the forecast.

Good News 🙂 is that some paddlers were able to enter at Leano and make their way to Paull and to Jake Lks yesterday. No ice report received… just know they made it that far. No word on conditions from the west via Garner or Siderock Lks but suspect lingering ice there similar to Red Lake.

[caribou]

Sunday May 19 – BREAK UP… still ice floating about but for the most part, Red Lake has broken up. Most park lakes should be open and ready for paddlers. 🙂

[caribou]

Thursday May 23 – All is clear. No ice left on the lakes except for Trout Lake to the east. Happy paddling everyone.:D:D

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