Lake Erie Ice Boom Delayed?

[BuffaloBass716]

I just read that there is more ice in the eastern basin of Lake Erie than normal so they cannot release to ice boom yet.  Anybody that fishes Lake Erie know how this will effect water temperature for months to come? Will this delay spawning? 

 

They have not said when they will release the boom due to the amount of ice either...

 

Thoughts?

[wnybassman]

I remember 10+ years ago we had a tournament on the first Saturday of May and we were glued to the Ice Boom Cam (back when there was an Ice Boom Cam) and the ice finally cleared out just two days before the tournament.   Erie is weird because it holds its ice forever.   It all breaks up OK, but just gets pushed against this end of the lake and is very slow to melt and/or go down the river.   I think the ice was thicker out there this year than it was that year too.   The lake has to reach a certain % of ice cover before they remove the boom.    20% sticks in my head for some reason, but maybe it is less.

 

The lake will warm up good once the ice is gone.   One advantage of a shallow lake.   The spawn will likely be a little later, but it normally runs into the normal opening anyway.

 

[BuffaloBass716]

I don't fish Erie itself, usually the upper niagara. Do you know if bass (both LMB and SMB) spawn in the river itself? Also, how much can the water temperature change between the Lake and the river.