A-Jay's 2nd Annual Ice Out / Open Water Countdown Thread ~

[12poundbass]

Interesting tid bit I saw this morning while watching the weather. Last year at this time the Great Lakes were 56% covered with ice. This year they are 9% covered. 
 

The Great Lakes and our inland lakes are apples and oranges but goes to show you how mild our winter has been. I still don’t trust the ice we have on our local lakes here because it’s been so mild and today and tomorrow are sunny warm and windy so that won’t help the ice building. 

[A-Jay]

1 minute ago, 12poundbass said:

Interesting tid bit I saw this morning while watching the weather. Last year at this time the Great Lakes were 56% covered with ice. This year they are 9% covered. 
 

The Great Lakes and our inland lakes are apples and oranges but goes to show you how mild our winter has been. I still don’t trust the ice we have on our local lakes here because it’s been so mild and today and tomorrow are sunny warm and windy so that won’t help the ice building. 

High 30's with Rain up here today - 

Sort of a mess but we still have a foot of snow on the ground and on the ice.

So it may be a while before we get to Mud Season; which 'should' be early and perhaps last a little longer this year.

Be wiping a lot of dog feet off soon.

A-Jay

[Way north bass guy]

17 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

High 30's with Rain up here today - 

Sort of a mess but we still have a foot of snow on the ground and on the ice.

So it may be a while before we get to Mud Season; which 'should' be early and perhaps last a little longer this year.

Be wiping a lot of dog feet off soon.

A-Jay

I know that game well, especially when you have two dogs that love to run around the yard and wrestle with each other, and your back yard is mostly clay based. Some times it’s a 5 minute job in the screen porch wiping down feet and bellies before anyone goes inside, and you still have to mop the floor almost every day. 

[12poundbass]

42 minutes ago, Way north bass guy said:

I know that game well, especially when you have two dogs that love to run around the yard and wrestle with each other, and your back yard is mostly clay based. Some times it’s a 5 minute job in the screen porch wiping down feet and bellies before anyone goes inside, and you still have to mop the floor almost every day. 

 

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

High 30's with Rain up here today - 

Sort of a mess but we still have a foot of snow on the ground and on the ice.

So it may be a while before we get to Mud Season; which 'should' be early and perhaps last a little longer this year.

Be wiping a lot of dog feet off soon.

A-Jay

I don’t miss mud season and walking Hank down out dirt road every night. Our yard isn’t terrible in the spring, just throw a towel down and wipe the paws when they come in and they’re good to go. 

[Way north bass guy]

I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I’ll take muddy dogs over snowy dogs any day, at least that means the boat is parked in the yard instead of the winter storage shed. 

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, Way north bass guy said:

I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I’ll take muddy dogs over snowy dogs any day, at least that means the boat is parked in the yard instead of the winter storage shed. 

Not me - Snowy dogs eventually dry - but are Very Clean   . . . . .

Cleaning muddy Malamute feet is like shoeing a horse !  

A-Jay

[12poundbass]

13 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Not me - Snowy dogs eventually dry - but are Very Clean   . . . . .

Cleaning muddy Malamute feet is like shoeing a horse !  

A-Jay

That’s how it was with Hank. He’s as big as a horse, so naturally I’d act like I was a farrier. 

[gim]

It’s balmy here today! 

[MN Fisher]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

It’s balmy here today! 

I know - had to run to Menards for some stuff for the further-mods on the canoe. Heat off, window half open...very nice.

 

Too bad it's just a short-spurt warmup.

[DogBone_384]

All the waters (fresh) near the Boston area are locked up and unsafe.  Plymouth and Cape Cod are open.  So far there's been no countdown this winter.

 

I'll be out Tuesday looking for my February fish.

 

 

[slonezp]

14 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

Interesting tid bit I saw this morning while watching the weather. Last year at this time the Great Lakes were 56% covered with ice. This year they are 9% covered. 
 

The Great Lakes and our inland lakes are apples and oranges but goes to show you how mild our winter has been. I still don’t trust the ice we have on our local lakes here because it’s been so mild and today and tomorrow are sunny warm and windy so that won’t help the ice building. 

Some pics of Lake Michigan (Door County) this weekend. The lake side is soft and the bay side is hard. Water is soft in Chicago

 

 

[DitchPanda]

Up here in Iowa I've seen ice out the first week in March and the third week of April in the past few years...my guess this year is March 23rd..just splitting the difference

[Zangof]

19 hours ago, DitchPanda said:

Up here in Iowa I've seen ice out the first week in March and the third week of April in the past few years...my guess this year is March 23rd..just splitting the difference

I'm in the Des Moines area and my guess is mid to late March as well.  While there is enough ice down here for people ice fishing the facebook groups are constantly talking about places that are not safe with really thin ice.  There is no snow on the ice and my yard is already mud so we are having to wipe the dog's feet right now.

[A-Jay]

 

68 Days ~ 

A-Jay

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

 

68 Days ~ 

A-Jay

One can only hope that it's sooner.

 

Of course here it's 93 days to bass opener...

[12poundbass]

15 hours ago, A-Jay said:

 

68 Days ~ 

A-Jay

Impatiently waiting here. 

[A-Jay]

 

64 Days ~ Maybe . . . .

A-Jay

[12poundbass]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

 

64 Days ~ Maybe . . . .

A-Jay

I know you have more, but we only have 3-4” of ice. This time last year we had 10”. 

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, 12poundbass said:

I know you have more, but we only have 3-4” of ice. This time last year we had 10”. 

I really have no clue what the hard water status is.

Sort of don't care either.

Because as long as the word hard is being used to describe what ever level it's at,

I'm still waiting . . . 

A-Jay

 

[A-Jay]

59 days ~

A-Jay

[12poundbass]

Kind of ironic you update this because the lake has been popping and cracking all day making ice. 

[A-Jay]

50 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Kind of ironic you update this because the lake has been popping and cracking all day making ice. 

That is interesting.

My Knees & Elbows do that all the time.

A-Jay

[Boomstick]

Given this winter, I believe I will be fishing (or building my harbor freight kayak trailer) in more like 50 days or so.

[slonezp]

Spent today working at my kids house. The ice fishermen were out in abundance as were the snowmobilers. Had to run into town to get some stuff and drove over a bridge that crosses, what they call the "Lower River", on my home water. Both shorelines have ice that goes out about 30 yards. The center of the river is open.  

[TriStateBassin106]

Oh man A-jay I already miss watching your videos on Lake Menderchuck. I know the feeling of not having Open Water for long periods of time, here in NY/NJ we get this really weird period of cold weather after January in the upper 30s/40s but it causes very thin ice on our ponds and lakes, it'll probably be like this until mid March, even in April we can still get temperatures in the low 40s and it honestly makes the fishing miserable, the bass will all of a sudden get into pre spawn mode if there's 55+ weather for a day or two and then the second it hits below 50 they go right back to winter mode. 

 

I just want those mid summer mornings on the lake back hahahahahaha