I also posted something on the fishing forum. I have (or had) a trip planned for this weekend Sunday-Thursday up into bog lake so, if anybody has any updates an ice conditions and snow cover up in the Ely and Isabella area please post them here. thanks much!

I don’t know anything about the ice thickness or safety, but with somewhat warm temperatures last weekend the snow depth dropped to 4-6 inches in the Isabella area. Freezing rain and snow are predicted for this coming Thursday and then snow and cold temperatures this coming weekend.

What would also scare me is did the lake freeze over,than the snow fall,if that is the case,that lake would not be to safe.
Its suppose to cool off going forward,better safe than sorry. Never know about future snow,but myself I would maybe wait one week.

Talk to a local or better yet have The Great Outdoors person blog in he probably knows present conditions.

Bog is a shallow lake so it might of froze early,but than if the 10 inches of snow in some areas are on top,it might be pushing your luck.
It did get in the 40's up there also.

Hey thanks for the updates and info guys! I would like to push it out a week but that is not going to happen due to work. I think on this trip a life jacket and ice spikes will be on the three of us until we can get a good read on the ice conditions. The gang seems up for giving it a shot, so I am thinking that is what we will do. it could very well end up as a nice long walk in the north woods. Even that would be a pretty good time. I also have a few back up lakes in mind as well. I will be sure to post info as soon as possible during or after the trip.

Good luck! Try to keep your boots dry.

Be nice if you could take a few pictures od around the lake and show fire effects from last year. Good luck.

The snow more or less melted in the Ely area during the weekend and especially Monday. Then it got real cold for two days. The result was some good ice-making on the lakes, with cold air and no snow cover. But I still have not ventured out on our (small-to-mid-sized) lake, so I can't say how safe it would be. I can say that the animal tracks I see on the lake still seem to be sticking very close to shore, not crossing the lake. Still, if I had a reason to, I would probably venture out, making sure to test the ice as I go and well-equipped with safety gear. I imagine conditions on Bog Lake are similar.

Greetings, I have been trying to skate the BWCAW for a winter trip for a few years, looking at Fri. the 14th. It looks like it will be cold enough to make ice by then. Anyone have any thoughts?

Skate ski? Or ice skate?

Thanks!! PINETREE and ARLO for the luck. It sounds like we will be needing it. pictures will be taken and a full report when we get back. I have not been to Bog in many years, last time I was there was 16 or so years ago. The fire, and also the 2010 DNR fish survey renewed my interest in that lake. So off we go!

Not sure how much this will relate, but sawbill was completely iced over on nov. 28 when I was there. I walked out on the edge a bit, but could hear plenty of cracking so i didnt venture any further. I didnt see any animal tracks that ventured out into the middle of the lake either, just tracks right along shore. There was plenty of snow in the woods, but there wasnt a lot of snow on the ice, maybe an inch or so, so good ice should be able to form.The woods were absolutely beautiful up there with all of the snow in the trees. Enjoy your trip and be safe. If you cant go on the ice, stick to the shores.

Bog lake update. we arived at the bog lake entry point on Sunday at noon with falling snow and good temps. we loaded our gear for 4 nights on 2 nine foot toboggans and 1 five foot and headed out. The first thing I noticed was that the trail was pretty overgrown I surmised that this lake gets little visitors. The second thing I noticed was that the trail was a lot more difficult than I remembered. there was a few steep inclines that were pretty tuff, but we made it to the lake pretty quick (1hr or so). I checked the ice in the middle of the bay and got 5.5 inches. We decided that that was safe and headed to the edge of the bay and checked again. the ice was the same so we drilled a few holes to get some water depths. we set up camp in 5 feet of water out of the wind and set some tip ups out. We managed to get 1 walleye and 1 pike that evening, things looked promising! The next 2 days were spent fishing and marching across the lake to see the burn. Tuesday the weather turned cold. Weather band said -10 at night and the wind picked up. the fishing was poor, 1 walleye. that night. We hunkered down and burned up a massive pile of wood and enjoyed a few adult beverages. Wednesday the temps were up in the 20's and windy. that evening we caught 2 walleyes and 3 pike and managed to loose 4 more at the holes. the next morning we packed up and headed out. in the end we measured 6+ inches of ice. in summery the fishing was good, all walleyes were 14 - 23 inches and pike were 24-28 inches. I have feeling if we had another day we could have hammered the walleye with the stable weather. I am looking forward to visiting this lake again! sorry No pics my SD card seems to be not functioning? I will post them when I figure that out.

Thanks for the update catfish, looking forward to the pictures.

Thanks,I have been waiting for the update.Glad things went well. I assume the Tomahawk road was not plowed?

Sounded like a great trip! What other trips do you have planned? I will have two weeks off starting January 1st and will probably do a couple trips...gotta break in the new tent! Keep me posted, maybe we can meet up and get some fishing in!

Use to do the January winter camping trip,but now a little(a lot) older,I wait to February usually for a little more daylight. 16 hours of darkness is a long time in the tent. For some reason when I was young and in my mid 40's that didn't matter.

Thanks for the update. How much snow was on the ground?

Hey sorry about the late responce. There was about 4 of snow on the ground when we arrived and comming down pretty hard. when we left there was maybe 6 and on the lake maybe 3. Tomahawk was a mess, very icy! not plowed, and with it snowing it was pretty tricky. Karola I may very well be taking a trip up in early Jan. I have not pinned it down yet but I will keep you posted! What lakes do you have planned?

photos from bog lake.

Thanks for the info.

Catfish72,
It looks like you got a double decker tent going there? Cool beans!

Are you able to heat both of them? Or do you just use one as a vestibule area? Are they 2 separate tents, or sewn together? OK, i'll stop with all the questions. :)

Nice walleyes! Thanks for the pics!

The plan right now is to go in on Jan. 6th and stay through the 12th. Nothing is set yet but I might try spearing Basswood. I've been there in the summer but not winter yet.

The year 1969 I speared in back bay of Basswood.

quote TuscaroraBorealis: "Catfish72,
It looks like you got a double decker tent going there? Cool beans!


Are you able to heat both of them? Or do you just use one as a vestibule area? Are they 2 separate tents, or sewn together? OK, i'll stop with all the questions. :)"

Ya it is 2 tents not sewn together, they just sort of fits together. I lash the two uprights together and use the same ice screw for the two corners that touch. it heats up pretty well, if things get to cold in there I just shut half of one door. It is a 6x8.5x6 tall extension that is super versatile. It turns my 2 man into a 3 or 4 man when needed. I also use it as a portable fish house if the main tent is not set up on fishy water, also as a gear storage vestibule. It sure works out pretty sweet for whatever it is needed for.

quote karola: "The plan right now is to go in on Jan. 6th and stay through the 12th. Nothing is set yet but I might try spearing Basswood. I've been there in the summer but not winter yet."

Sounds like a great trip! I have never been out on Basswood yet in the winter, nor have I ever been spearing. If things work out on my end it would be real cool to meet ya out there and do some fishing. I would be only able to go for a few nights toward the end of yer trip. I will keep ya posted!

Great Photos, Catfish72!

Sounds good! I have one quick question...is that some sort of pole or stick you are using to support the sidewalls on your tent? I was wondering how to set mine up on ice and never thought to do something like that but it looks to work really good.

Catfish -- Nice, versatile rig. I'm envious.

quote karola: "Sounds good! I have one quick question...is that some sort of pole or stick you are using to support the sidewalls on your tent? I was wondering how to set mine up on ice and never thought to do something like that but it looks to work really good."

I am using old arrows from my bow to hold the walls out and up. there is two reasons for this. One being it keeps the guy ropes as short as possible so I am not tripping on them all the time. two I can get the walls far more taut so the wind is not so hard on the walls and stove pipe. I do suppose sticks would work in a similar way.
If I remember correctly you bought the mountain spike tent with 4ft wall. if this is right you will need some sort of poles on the corners of your tent. Otherwise you will need guy ropes 20ft long to hold the walls out and up. You could use aluminum or wood. As far as setting up on ice goes, I use mostly those HT Enterprises ice screws with some rubber hose on the shaft to set my tent up on the ice. It takes about 10 to get just the main tent solid. I will try to get some pics up of the hardware I use soon. If you have not set your tent up on the ice yet, you should go to a lake or pond near you and set it up on the ice before you go! It is a whole new deal setting up on the ice! I made the mistake of not doing this years ago when I decided to try a new tent out on the actual trip. Bad news! It took an hour and a half to get the tent up and it was barley up. We were very lucky to be out of the wind or we would have not had a tent at all. Post pics of your tent I am stoked to see it!

Ice and snow conditions off the Gunflint?? Looking maybe towards the ice on Seagull or Saganaga...

C

Seagull has 10" of ice as of this morning. - Forest Service tweet