MyFishFinder.com Just like iceshanty but warmer
Ice conditions in this area are going South fast. Son fished the V. refuge today and said warm temps and wind cut off 2 inches of ice. 50 degrees and rain at the moment. dc
I didn't check thickness myself, but I'm guessing it started between 7-8 ended at 5-6. Yep ice turned grey fast, lot of water on top and I was fishing with Dons boy.
Pelican had 8 inches Dewey 7 inches, Hackberry 7 inches West long 5 inches, watts 5 inches, before this wind. Right now the wind and temp are equal 46 with gusts to 46. All the lakes had open areas. SW end of hackberry was open.
I bet the temp and the wind today tore the ice right off. Hope to god it cools down this week and the winds lay down. Try to keep you abreast of the ice conditions this week Grid.
I was in North Platte for the weekend, so Shaun7HL and I decided to head up to the Refuge on Saturday for a day trip to search for some ice. Lots of places were sketchy, but we found some fishable ice. The spud bar was an invaluable piece of equipment this trip. As we spudded our way out, the ice was extremely variable and would go from 6-7" to 1-2" in a matter of feet. These spots looked like they had been kept open from the waterfowl, but were not easily seen. I'm sure some of you are thinking that we are crazy, but we had spuds, picks, rope, didn't walk next to each other, and paid very close attention to the ice. Sometimes you just gotta feed the need (safely ) Fished Clear and Pelican for pike, but the bite was very slow. Only caught one 28-30" in 6-7 hours of fishing. We werent able to get out to our usual spots, but word on the street is that the Refuge hasn't picked up at all yet. Hopefully we will be able to get out there again in the next few weeks. Although it was slow, it was good to be fishing. Looking forward to SD Thurs-Sun - this weather ain't gonna ruin my season. p.s. - Thanks hardh2ofish for the smelt tip as well as keeping me in the loop on ice conditions!