Ice Out!

May 9, 2025

That’s right folks, the ice has finally left Vermilion Bay as of this morning. To be fair, it was looking like it would be gone yesterday but careful monitoring by our crack ice out team discovered otherwise. Let’s have a look at what transpired…..

Yesterday morning (May 8) and the ice has pushed up to the north shore with the south breeze.

Late in the evening most of the ice has disappeared but not all…..

Investigating the ice out situation, we call “there’s still ice on May 8”……..

Building the suspense, we offer an interlude of tractor porn….

Here’s the view this morning, May 9. Ice out is declared!

Thanks everyone for your participation. It was a hard fought contest. Here’s some of the more noteworthy guesses…

May 8—Thom Lusardi (you were sooooo close)

May 10—Derrick Zehr, Al Haggart, Ron Dilbeck—good job, but a day off.

Winning guess: May 9—Tim McCarthy

Runner up (right date but not the first to pick it) : Mark Grohnke

Congratulations to Tim MacCarthy. On your next visit to the lodge your winnings will be waiting for you!

It was a late ice out compared to previous years. Could there be a plethora of shallow lake trout this spring? Will the big walleyes be on the prowl? What about the bass? Time will tell. We look forward to seeing you all this season. Stay tuned for our fishing reports as we wind our way through the spring, summer and fall of 2025.