This was Birchdale today, also showing what the ramp looks like at this time. Open water is somewhere between mile marker 173 and 171, I don't have view of the river between these markers. Today the entire river looked similar to these pictures of Birchdale with the watery surface just above the ice. The warm weather is taking care of the little snow we did get this year. If your unsure of the mile markers I'm showing you can click onto "maps" on this site and you will see a map of the river showing where these places and markers are. Didn't see sun today but did have some drizzle. Water levels are steady for the moment. I went all the way to Pelland today to check out the ramp there and other than some shore ice anglers have been launching small boats there. I took a picture of the Little Fork River today, it's posted on the "brag board". In it you can see how low the water level is. With little run off this year and the low water level is, unless it increases a GREAT deal you may want to take it easy out there this year, shallow spots in normal years could be even shallower this year.