The open water season got underway on all but a handful of area lakes this week, as ice-out was declared on Lake Vermilion, Shagawa, Pelican, Burntside, and Kabetogama.

Ice continued to reign as of midweek on Snowbank Lake, east of Ely. Lingering ice also remained on portions of Basswood and Trout, north of Vermilion, but Pat Loe at the Forest Service seaplane base in Ely said he expected that high winds on Wednesday should have cleared remaining ice on those two lakes as of Thursday, May 5.

Lake Vermilion’s official ice-out was declared May 1, which was just two days later than the April 29 average. Lake ice was not as deep on most area lakes this year as is typical in the North Country, largely due to heavy snows early in the season that prevented good ice development. While such conditions can lead to early ice-outs, frequent snowfalls in April slowed the melting of ice.

Other area lakes cleared just a bit later than their average. Shagawa was ice-free as of Friday, according to Loe, three dates behind its average date of April 27. Kabetogama was clear as of April 30, according to Phil Hart at the Gateway Store. That puts it two days behind its normal April 28 ice-out.

Pelican went out on April 28 and Rainy Lake went out on May 2. Dates for ice-out on Burntside were unavailable at presstime. If you have dates for these lakes, please contact Marshall at 218-753-2950.