Carmi ice

[Dead Head on ice]

Can anyone confirm solid ice on Carmi off the boat ramp? Thank you

[Tacoma Marty]

Only 1” at the launch this morning. 5” on the south end.

[Vtperchchaser]

South end from the camp sites had 5+ last Sunday. There was a lot of open water out from boat launch. From south end small cove ice was decent from the swampy cove as you leave it ice for more clear and thicker. I’d have to imagine it’s pushing 6-8” by now. Middle is prob just freezing over. My back went out this morning or I’d be headed to check ice tomorrow

[pikeaddict]

I was planning on fishing it tomorrow, but not with the ice report I just got from a buddy who just finished checking it this am.  He told me 30ft off the boat launch at the state park (southside) there is only 2in of ice and there was no one else there.

[Vtperchchaser]

If you’re after pike or walleye park at the camp sites me fish one of the coves. They’ve been prove with 4-6” of ice for a couple weeks. I would not leave from state boat launch. It was open water still last Sunday. I live close to carmi and fish it a lot

[Bigunit]

Any ice report as of tonight?

[Vtperchchaser]

Went out this afternoon hoping to find more ice than I did. Left from south end camp sites and walked towards the island. As you get into deeper water 20’+ the ice goes from little over 7” down to barely 6”. Sad day. The 4” of snow on top is slowing the gains. Guess it’s stay on foot for me for a while still

[Dead Head on ice]

Does anyone know how the ice held up there after the last rain storm? Looking to head up Tuesday but don’t know if it’s sketchy now

[Vtperchchaser]

Still 6-8” of ice. Fished Saturday. Was a fair amount of water on the ice but it should be froze up today. Weather was great. Only situation we had was another fisherman set up about 20 yards maybe less from our line of tip ups. Pretty frustrating but we stayed anyway

[Bigunit]

Anyone fishing Carmi today?  What are the ice conditions?  Thanks

[Tacoma Marty]

3" to 4" 100 yards off the state park launch when I was up there yesterday.  The ranger wouldn't let me go into the campgrounds because they were clearing trees but someone was driving a 4 wheeler down on that south end.

[Bigunit]

Thanks Tacoma Marty

[Bob G.]

Fished Carmi Monday, Tuesday and today. Fished from the south state park boat launch on Monday with a friend of mine. We didn’t go past the big pressure crack. The ice made a lot of noise all day. I caught 5 yellows and a small walleye. Friend caught 11 yellows. Around 5” of ice.

Tuesday: Fished the north end from the boat launch. Kept 15 yellows on spikes and eyes in 19’ to 20’. Around 6” of ice.

Today: Fished today at the same spot as yesterday. Cleaned out the same holes. Kept 20 yellows, spikes and eyes.

Threw back everything under 8” including the skinny 8’s. The ice made a lot of noise the last few days.

Today’s fish. Caught a few nice ones late afternoon.

[Skorpion]

Good looking haul! Thanks for the report.

[Bigunit]

I was 300 yards from the 1st boat launch yesterday.  Had 7 tip-ups installed and I've been running all over them all day long.  7 tip-ups on Carmi is a but too much for a one man crew.  20 ish really nice perch, a big pike and 3 smallies.  No walleye this time.  Had a great time and it was a beautiful day.  Damn I love these days!

[Bob G.]

Fished today at Carmi. Still around 5” or so of ice at the north end. The surface was soft today at the end of the afternoon compared to Wednesday when it was solid.

Perch bite was slow today. I ended up with 15 keepers. Around 1:30pm, one of my holes produced 5 quick keepers and two dinks in 7 drops. Then it shut down just like that. Fish caught on forage jigs, buck-shot spoon and a white/silver bibbet with eyes and spikes.

Hoping the ice can survive the weekend weather until the cold spell next week. Next Thursday will be my next chance to go fishing if the ice is good due to commitments and I generally don’t fish on weekends.

[Bigunit]

Did anyone fish Carmi this week?

[Bob G.]

I didn’t go today, decided to run errands and do a few things around the house. Hoping to get out next week. Temps and weather looks good Monday thru Wednesday.

[Bigunit]

I plan to fish Carmi this sunday but I would like to know the ice conditions before dring 2 hours.  Thanks!

[ISLAND STORM]

I fished Carmi yesterday with my family. The ice was ok where I was (5-6 inches)but did fall off quickly. Was nice pulling a sled out on the ice with very little snow on it. That’s not the case today however since we got a solid 6 inches last night. A few things to note since your making a long drive: I didn’t see anyone out near the middle, a few guys were out further than me but I was only a few hundred yards off of shore. The main parking lot was closed with a cut tree across it and a guy working the logging operation told me the southern campground road will be getting closed at random times this week so the logging operation can continue. I did see a guy pull a hard shack on the ice but he kept it fairly close to shore. Caught a few nice perch and a couple decent pike. Just a nice day to be out. Hopefully this cold hold up to extend this crummy season. Good luck out there!!

[Bigunit]

Thanks for the input!  Much appreciated

[Bob G.]

Fished this past Monday and Tuesday at the north end. Monday was wicked windy blowing snow drifts. I managed 4 keeper perch. Tuesday was calm and single digit temps to start. I thought it would be a better day but only got 2 keeper perch.

I stopped by the state park after fishing both days. A few vehicles were there Monday and none on Tuesday. The tree branch is still by the entry to the parking lot and drove around it. I’m guessing the people fishing the south end parked by the campground.

Most days I fish the north end I see an older gentleman mostly fishing with minnows and pretty good. He uses a skinny weight with a snelled hook. I remember using a weight like that with a wooden jig stick 30 years ago but got out of ice fishing until 2 years when I retired and started from scratch.

Not being able to find a similar weight, I picked up some #5, 6 and 7 Swedish Pimples, 1/3oz, 1/2oz and 3/4oz to use as weights for fishing with minnows. I removed the treble hook and put the split ring on the front. Has split rings on both ends. Tied up 2 rigs with the 1/2oz Swedish Pimples and #4 snelled hook. I had a couple of older styrofoam minnow buckets and got a smaller plastic one and a net.

Have an AC powered aerator that I can use to keep minnows overnight in the garage and in my truck.

All of that said, the weather doesn’t look good and not sure if I will be back out. Either way, I’m set for using minnows next year.

Edit: Ice was 6 to 7 inches Monday and Tuesday.

[Bob G.]

Fished Carmi yesterday until about 1:30pm. Temps were wicked cold and wind was howling. I was the only one fishing without a shelter. Caught 3 keeper yellow perch. Friend of mine showed up. He has a 1 person flip over shanty. He fished until 4:30pm or so. He had 14 keeper yellow perch. Still around 6" of ice.