HaveCoolWillTravel
01-19-2009, 05:41 PM
It’s been a good spell of years since I last ventured out on to the ice for some fishing. After spending most of Saturday patching the shanty, tracking down the tackle and poles, made sure the lantern was in working order, cleaning the gas tank, gas line, choke, and carb of the ole jiffy, and got rid of the old gas that had the consistency and look of runny green jello. I thought I was pretty much ready to head out. Got up early Sunday, it was snowing pretty good at my house. A good sign, I thought to myself, as I loaded the gear in the truck to head out. Drove the 30 mins or so to the lake I was going to fish. Everything looked prefect as I drove past, on my way to the bait shop. I got some bait, a snack, and a pop. I was then ready to hit the ice for a nice relaxing day of ice fishing and that’s when the trouble started. I pulled into the parking lot and realized if I stopped I would get stuck in all the snow in the lot. No problem, I’ll park across the street. Unload the gear onto the shanty; everything was going fine, until the support brackets that held the runners up decided to break. Undiscouraged, I just unloaded and dragged the shanty the hard way through the snow. I got 15 feet onto the ice when my feet told my brain there was something amiss. There was 12 to 18 inches of snow on the ice. I kicked the snow away and there was 5 inches of water on top of the ice. I then used my spud to check the ice. It seemed solid enough but the people I fished with earlier in my life called people who fished on ice with water on top of it, fools(we fished on Saginaw Bay and surrounding rivers). Since I was out by myself and there wasn’t anyone around, I decide I didn’t have enough experience with inland lakes to make an informed decision, so I turned around and reloaded the truck and headed for a different lake. 8 lakes later and all of them having water between the snow and ice. Needless to say I didn’t get my relaxing day of fishing. My guess is the weight of the snow is forcing water on top of the ice rather than the ice not being safe. Anyone got any opinion? Is the ice safe or best to stay off it? Lord knows its been cold enough of late down here(SW MI) but I have no intentions of ever going through the ice again.