Ice Report-Ready and stocked for the Re-Freeze -Jan 11, 2018

The last 3-4 days of warm weather has the snow melted and some of the ice on the  big lake and ponds getting sketchy. Tonight the temps are going to drop again and the refreezing process will begin.

We stocked back up on Waxworms, lake Erie Emerald shiners, spikes and Mousies in preparation of more of the ice fishing season.

We also still have , hand augers, buckshot rattles, pan fish lures, iceline, ice rods and combos , swedish pimples and much more.

Here’s a little info on how ice melts on lakes and ponds.

Thawing  occurs in four ways:

A) Top Surface Melting is most strongly driven by warm wind. A 24 hour, 50 degree thaw with winds in the 20-30 mph range can melt a couple inches or more of ice.  Holes of several types and sizes are also common after a windy thaw.  Heavy rain over 24 hours with only moderate wind will result in about an inch of ice loss. Most of that is from the warm air. Drain holes are common in this situation if the ice is less than about 6″ thick.

B) Internal melting is driven most strongly by sunlight but also occurs slowly in cloudy conditions. This causes relatively slow loss of thickness but can dramatically weaken the ice. Thicker ice takes longer to weaken but it also takes longer to recover its strength when the weather turns cold.

C) Under-ice Melting is most commonly caused by turbulent currents in the water under the ice. It is common in rivers, lakes with river like characteristics,  under bridges, and over reefs and deltas from side streams in rivers and with features like gas holes.  Underice melting also takes place in shallow water (especially ponds) when sunlight heats the pond water enough to cause melting of the bottom of the ice sheet.

D) Wind driven rafting:  When the ice is weak enough or the wind is strong enough the ice may be pushed over itself at pressure ridges or onto the shore.  Large scale rafting is most common on thaw weakened ice that is between a couple inches and a foot thick.  For the wind to get enough grip on the ice the ice sheet is typically several miles in dimenstion. The wind needs to be 20+ mph and most thick ice rafting takes place a winds in the 30’s or more.  On thin ice, rip outs also occur.  Rafting and ripouts  creates open water that is stirred by the wind, bringing warmer, deeper water to the surface.

As always , have fun be safe and good luck fishing.