Sk8man

Sure hope so and it depends on how much the existing ice cover was affected by the recent rain and wind and whether it opened up any ice out there. The temps are supposed to be in the teens for many more days and single digits at night so it won't be long if it is not already there.

I called and had 10 of them and only one needed to be replaced and it was pretty old but they gave me a real nice commercial grade one to replace it....came yesterday. I had to give all the numbers to the lady and she then told me just the one needed replacing. Hard to see some of the number codes on the extinguishrs but ws worth doing.

I'm with Firechief for Lake O but for the Finger Lakes 4 five leader Seth Greens (two on floats and two side rigs) 2 small dipseys run short from boards or outriggers

In the first incident I had been standing in the exact spot the day before talking with a guy that was catching perch. There were quite a few people around us some kids ice skating and others throwing frisbies to their dog and walking all over the place etc. I wasn't able to fish that day and was just getting info from the guy. Next morning just before 7 AM I followed his tracks to the exact spot hoping to get some of those perch. Nobody else was around or within sight but I didn't think anything about it as there were many inches of ice the previous day and the temperature that morning was in the low twenties so I assumed nothing had changed overnight as far as ice conditions despite it having some snow on it. I didn't have my Clam shelter only a sled with my auger, depth finder, and bucket with rods. I was wearing a conventional snowmobile suit, several laayers of clothing with heavily insulated "moon boots". As per usual I had a pair of ice picks dangling from my neck. I made my way to the spot from the previous day and exactly when I arrived there ....swoosh the ice instantly dropped right out from under me and I found myself in water up to my chin and getting heavier by the moment from the freezing water soaking into my clothing....but....luckily I am 6 ft tall and my feet were on bottom AND I was not fishing in my usual depth of 15 ft or so or I wouldn't be writing this. It took me several minutes to get myself out by leaning heavily on my side and pressing on the edge of the ice as hard as I could rolling up onto it ( I had a large bruise on my side for over a month afterward) Luckily, some of the ice around the hole wasn't as weak as the spot I had gone through.The ice picks were of little use as there was quite a bit of hardened snow on the ice preventing them from digging in. Finally, I got myself out after exhausting my whole supply of swear words. I was freezing beyond belief and shaking and shivering very badly and again nobody was around except me. The one bright spot was that I had bought a large coffee and a cranberry muffin before going on the ice and had put it in my covered bucket in the sled all of which went in as well but I was able to retrieve it all and I sat there dripping water soaking wet shivering and drinking my coffee and eating my muffin and glad to be alive. By the time I reached my truck I was becoming hypothermic and even with the heater running full blast I couldn't fully warm up until hours later at home. Later that day I figured that water had been released about 500 yards from where I was down the outlet and it had probably eroded the ice overnight from underneath it and there was no way to tell from any visual appearance and with snow covering the ice as well. The first thing I did when I got home was to call the newspaper and police to let them know about the unsafe condition (right in front of the public beach). I did however refuse to give my name to the newspaper for obvious reasons Moral of the story: expect the unexpected and don't go out there alone.

Many guys out there may be experienced fishermen but they don't have a clue about what it feels like to go through and that you don't even have a chance to react to going through. The ice just lets loose beneath your feet in an instant. It isn't a matter of hearing it crack and being athletic you figure you can avoid going in. Like during military combat situations where 19 year olds think they are invinceable and that bullets will only find OTHER people, careless ice fishermen often too eager to get out there are a lot more vulnerable than they realize. Another thing is that hypothermia can do you in even if you partially escape the initial disaster and it doesn't take as long as you might think. When you are wet with the wind whipping your body temperature becomes your worst enemy and the distance to shore can mean life or death. Your legs become numb and you either have a hard time walking or can't walk at all. This isn't some crap I read in a book somewhere....I've ice fished for most of my life and I have been through on two occasions and neither time was it because I went out on visually "questionable" ice. A lot of stuff can happen out there that you can't predict no matter how experienced you may be. Don't take unnecessary chances.