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trout1

trout1
in Ice fishing

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Sk8man

Sk8man

Posted
Posted

If the wind doesn't let up probably January 2018 :lol: Seriously we need some still nights with this cold to start things up. On the good side the wind with ths current cold snap should mix the water so that itwill be more uniformly cold.snd hopefully freeze up better.

Gator

Gator

Posted
Posted

Who will be first?? I'll let him/her fall through, give it three days, and go fill a pail.

Sk8man

Sk8man

Posted
Posted (edited)

Gator is right... a few days for it to be right. Monday and Tuesday supposed to be 40ish then more cold. Going through can take a lot of the fun out of it. Just a side note but hope it is TOTALLY frozen up because otherwise high wind can undue things pretty quickly otherwise.

Edited by Sk8man
whaler1

whaler1

Posted
Posted

Bunch of people out on Braddocks this morning on my way to work.


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Gator

Gator

Posted
Posted

Last winter Brian and I went out of Vitale on some sketchy ice, but we had spuds, rope, all the right stuff and we were wearing floatation gear...well, I was wearing floatation gear, Brian's floatation is of the "natural" variety if you know what I'm saying :rofl:.  Sorry, buddy, couldn't resist.

 

Anyway, a group of visitors from PA see us out there, figure the ice is fine, and a convoy of them start marching toward us with no thought in their heads whatsoever as to why those guys are banging on the ice and waving their hands. Stupid is as stupid does. I didn't see any of them go into the drink, but when we got back to shore we found out that one of the women didn't feel comfortable with all of the open pockets of water and stayed at the truck. So at least they'd have had someone to call 911 when they took a polar plunge. 

Sk8man

Sk8man

Posted
Posted (edited)

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.

Edited by Sk8man
Gator

Gator

Posted
Posted (edited)

One of the first things I did after I bought my Mustang survival suit was to wash it off in I-bay. I've been through a couple times partially but never submerged, so I wanted to see what it was like in a controlled situation. I'm glad I did. It gives me some confidence that the Mustang is worth wearing, especially on early and late ice. 

 

One of the spots that we fished a few years ago on Quinte near Deseronto had so much flow that if you went through and submerged, I think you'd be 20 yards "downstream" in a heartbeat. That's scary stuff there. Particularly when I watched the ice fluctuate from 8" to 5" over the course of a day.

Edited by Gator
Sk8man

Sk8man

Posted
Posted (edited)

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:lol: Moral of the story: expect the unexpected and don't go out there alone.

Edited by Sk8man
GAMBLER

GAMBLER

Posted
Posted
On ‎12‎/‎16‎/‎2017 at 12:51 PM, Gator said:

Last winter Brian and I went out of Vitale on some sketchy ice, but we had spuds, rope, all the right stuff and we were wearing floatation gear...well, I was wearing floatation gear, Brian's floatation is of the "natural" variety if you know what I'm saying :rofl:.  Sorry, buddy, couldn't resist.

 

Anyway, a group of visitors from PA see us out there, figure the ice is fine, and a convoy of them start marching toward us with no thought in their heads whatsoever as to why those guys are banging on the ice and waving their hands. Stupid is as stupid does. I didn't see any of them go into the drink, but when we got back to shore we found out that one of the women didn't feel comfortable with all of the open pockets of water and stayed at the truck. So at least they'd have had someone to call 911 when they took a polar plunge. 

As my old man always used to say, sh*t floats. 

Sk8man

Sk8man

Posted
Posted

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.

  • Like 1
Sk8man

Sk8man

Posted
Posted (edited)

At south end - Roughly 4 inches some of it white ice  in most but not all places and a layer of frozen slush  under the snow in some others. Still need to be careful out there.

Edited by Sk8man
trout1

trout1

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thank you for the post! I went today as well... spudding all the way! Careful out there everyone!


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

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