Sunday I fished Syracuse Lake, I was the last to fish it. The next guy to try it about 3 hours later called me that evening to say he fell in right where I got on and off the ice. Fortunately it was waist deep there.
I also helped a friend on Sunday to come off the ice on the north shore of Wawasee.
He had to walk thru 6" of slushy snow that was hard in the AM and melted by afternoon. That was a scary 150 foot walk back into the shore. He had been fishing in the middle of the lake. We compared notes and the ice on both lakes were 10-11".
I then went to the SLIP where I dock my boat. Two doors south of the marina some guy fell thru after walking off a pier 20 feet and stopping to drill to check the ice. It gave way suddenly and someone could hear him yelling for help. By the time help arrived the guy had beaten the ice and broke enough to get his auger handle hooked around a pier post to pull himself out.
By the time I got there to check the ice he was gone but the ice hole was still showing a struggle. I then talked to a brave soul fishing out a hundred feet from shore. He said he was about done because the ice was sorta iffy and another friend who had been out earlier said that the ice out from shore was 4 " solid with some softer overlay. By the time you read this I expect that the ice will be almost all gone from shore and that the rest will be crushed by the wind.
Syracuse Lake was solid Sunday morning but now about all is shifted away from the south and west shores and crushing itself against the east and north shore. BAD TO THE CORE. Today you can launch at the ramp and head down the lake into the channel into Wawasee. Not practical or safe but some guys do it to be the first.
Then I read about some fellow ice fishermans body recovered. RIP.
See ya'll next year, I hope.
