2020 ?

[jigginstick]

We may not have a ice season for 2020!! This is some crazy weather for January.

[wallydiven]

Certainly not looking very promising :/

[dearjimschmidt]

We may not have a ice season for 2020!! This is some crazy weather for January.

Does this include Dec. 2020?

[Iceman junkie]

Easy there fellow ice freaks!!! We still got time. All we need is a week or so of bitter cold. I know it doesnt look good right now but well get it. I dont care if it comes late as long as it comes!!! Keep your fingers crossed but im still pretty optimistic.

[RoeBoat]

Plenty of time,  hard to be patient

[SK8TNPIGEZ]

Open water bite is very good right now.  Water Temp 40.5 today in Indy.

[3300]

75 days left of winter and only had 14 days of winter go by.

When does Winter Start and End in 2019?

Start: December 21

End: March 20

[marmooskapaul]

I’m getting a little nervous/agitated myself jigginstick. Still time. It’s gotta get cold...soon!

[Whereareyouwalter?]

I knew all the awesome stuff I got when  gander went out was gonna be a jinx.

[pearcheyes]

If there’s a couple light wind days my boat is coming out of hibernation and it’s perch searching on wawasee for me

[Ace in the Hole]

Im taking my boat one day this week...most likely Thursday either to Maxi for eyes or Oliver for rainbows.

[Unclegillhunter]

Not funny! Was walking up to the Mail box earlier today and was thinking time to get the boat back out! Supposed to be up to fifty later this week! 
Keep it safe! JDL

[taxi1]

I knew all the awesome stuff I got when  gander went out was gonna be a jinx.

 

[bigr]

Last year the record breaking cold didn't hit til the end of jan early feb. It will be another short season if at all. No ice making coming in the next 10 to 12 days.

[fishinator]

Time to head north.

[musky8it]

THur and Fri 50's w/rain. So depressing.

The only icefishing I may get this year is with a ice fishing game called ProPilkki2(free download in Micr. store). Its not the real deal but it better than nothing.

[Ace in the Hole]

Went to Oliver Lake today with the boat. Had to break thin 1/4 ice in the channel. Only got to fish 1hr till water pump failed so i couldnt slow down enough to troll. I did mark big bait balls on the bottom in several locations. The bay right before you go into Owen lake was stacked full of pan fish. I should have anchored and fished them. Still cant believe I was fishing out of my boat on the Michigan line Jan 6.

[taxi1]

Went to Oliver Lake today with the boat. Had to break thin 1/4 ice in the channel. Only got to fish 1hr till water pump failed so i couldnt slow down enough to troll. I did mark big bait balls on the bottom in several locations. The bay right before you go into Owen lake was stacked full of pan fish. I should have anchored and fished them. Still cant believe I was fishing out of my boat on the Michigan line Jan 6.

I wonder what the bait balls were? Would be cool if the smelt made a come back.

[northrn-duck-assassin]

Seen an article today. "They"... lol, claim that erie will be 80% ice covered come mid february.

Lets hope that IS the case.

Go figure, first year in many i got all my gear ready to go before the ice came,  now no ice at all.

[RoeBoat]

"Coverage" doesn't equal good fishable ice.  I believe if you look back there was 100% or close to "coverage" last year.  I remember I couldn't believe when I looked at the numbers for the great lakes.

[abishop]

It was weird. Last week, I drove to Colorado to visit my son. On the way thru Iowa and Nebraska there are great ponds just off hwy. 80. Most all held great numbers of ducks and geese. Some were completely open others completely open. Did see 2 different guys ice fishing one 1 pond. I know that waterfowl will help keep the water open. Just want to get out on ice before I get back to work on Jan 19th. Dont think so, not 4 me. Not around here anyway. Maybe, sometime in February.

[Ace in the Hole]

I wonder what the bait balls were? Would be cool if the smelt made a come back.

A local pulled up in the lot and talked to me and said the cisco were coming back. Not sure what the bait balls were but they were large size minnows but not big enough to be cisco. My Lawrance 7x HDI showed stragglers very easy at 60 ft. Id say they were emerald shiners.

[taxi1]

A local pulled up in the lot and talked to me and said the cisco were coming back. Not sure what the bait balls were but they were large size minnows but not big enough to be cisco. My Lawrance 7x HDI showed stragglers very easy at 60 ft. Id say they were emerald shiners.

That state has been working on a cisco restoration plan and perhaps may have planted some or moved some around? I believe they were thinking of hatching and rearing some to bring them back. I volunteered to hatch some if it would help.

The smelt would be a plus to produce large brown trout. Without a cold water forage the trophy potential of brown trout is greatly reduced. You can produce browns up to 4 pounds or so on invertebrates zooplankton but getting much bigger than that is not probable.

Here is one the state gill netted in Olin back when the smelt were still abundant.

[pondbear52]

had to do a double take when i saw the pic but ^^^ hey i  know that guy! ^^^

[taxi1]

had to do a double take when i saw the pic but ^^^ hey i  know that guy! ^^^

Is that you? 

[btoenges]

That state has been working on a cisco restoration plan and perhaps may have planted some or moved some around? I believe they were thinking of hatching and rearing some to bring them back. I volunteered to hatch some if it would help.

The smelt would be a plus to produce large brown trout. Without a cold water forage the trophy potential of brown trout is greatly reduced. You can produce browns up to 4 pounds or so on invertebrates zooplankton but getting much bigger than that is not probable.

Here is one the state gill netted in Olin back when the smelt were still abundant.

(Image removed from quote.)

That fish was netted about 5-6 years ago.  The smelt were gone by then by a long time.   I would like to know who said that about cisco.  It would be neat if the state would try and re-introduce them.  The state said that bad quality water i.e.  warmth and D.O. were to blame for cisco demise in the chain.  My buddies that use to catch lakers in Oliver told me they never caught a laker with cisco in their bellies.  They said that the lakers were stuffed full of smelt "like cord wood"  but never saw a cisco in a laker.   I think the cisco were declining in Oliver by smelt predation by that time.
   In 1986 a friend of mine caught a 12" smelt down rigging in Oliver.  He didn't know what it was.  He said it looked like a barracuda.  I was told that the size of that smelt was indicative of smelt decline. I.E. trout predation and lack of cisco food.   Would the state re-introduce cisco in Oliver?  My guess is no since they stock browns in the lake.

By the way did any one see an article in the South Bend Tribune this summer about the state record 38lb Laker that was caught in Lake Michigan?  It said the state estimated that the trout was planted in the late '70s.  The same time as the Lakers were planted in Oliver.  There might still be a laker out there in Oliver!

[Ace in the Hole]

Didnt know the man at the ramp who told me that but he was 40s in a black chevy truck. Said he heard they were stocking cisco in Oliver....maybe just a rumor...

[taxi1]

That fish was netted about 5-6 years ago.  The smelt were gone by then by a long time.   I would like to know who said that about cisco.  It would be neat if the state would try and re-introduce them.  The state said that bad quality water i.e.  warmth and D.O. were to blame for cisco demise in the chain.  My buddies that use to catch lakers in Oliver told me they never caught a laker with cisco in their bellies.  They said that the lakers were stuffed full of smelt "like cord wood"  but never saw a cisco in a laker.   I think the cisco were declining in Oliver by smelt predation by that time.
   In 1986 a friend of mine caught a 12" smelt down rigging in Oliver.  He didn't know what it was.  He said it looked like a barracuda.  I was told that the size of that smelt was indicative of smelt decline. I.E. trout predation and lack of cisco food.   Would the state re-introduce cisco in Oliver?  My guess is no since they stock browns in the lake.

By the way did any one see an article in the South Bend Tribune this summer about the state record 38lb Laker that was caught in Lake Michigan?  It said the state estimated that the trout was planted in the late '70s.  The same time as the Lakers were planted in Oliver.  There might still be a laker out there in Oliver!

Buck that was much longer than 5 or 6 years ago. Try over 20 years ago. I know because I was doing a column for the Goshen news and pulled some gill nets with Larry Koza on Oliver the day before. The next day without me they pulled up two browns of which I'm pretty sure one of of them was this one.

Before Larry retired he sent me an email indicating they were working on a program to reintroduce Cisco.

Cecil,
 
Here is the historical record of the number of cisco lakes in Indiana by year.
 
Year       Number
1900            45
1955            42
1975            27
1994            12     
2001            13
2019             7
 
As you can see, we have been losing populations at a fairly rapid rate. Not all of these lakes were stocked with Lake Trout, so there are obviously other factors in play. I will not dispute the Lakers probably impacted cisco and smelt in the Oliver Chain. However, it would be difficult to say definitively that they were the sole cause for the demise of those two species in the lake. As far as Bucks comments, when he says “they still stock rainbows in Little Crooked” I assume he’s talking about the residents? We certainly don’t stock it.
 
In the current re-write of the Cisco Strategic Plan, which is in the draft stage, the introduction/reintroduction of Cisco in an attempt to establish/reestablish self-sustaining populations is one of the objectives. One of the factors that will determine suitability of a water body will be the predator base in the lake. I’m not sure how trout presence in the lake will play out, but it could be a factor. In any case, it would be highly unlikely that we would try to reestablish Cisco in the Oliver Chain for trout forage. If you would like, once the plan is finalized and it is approved to send out to the public I will email you a copy.
 

[btoenges]

This is what an Oliver lake brown trout looked like when there was smelt in the chain!  State record brown from 1968.  It was caught in the spring.  It was something like 10lbs.  They found a 13lb brown floating on top of the water in the early 70's.  I have friends that caught 14 and 16lb lakers in the late 80's.  The state netted a laker in 1993 they guestimated to be 25lb.  If you look at the previous pic the length is about the same but the 1968 pic shows a whole lot more of cold water forage.

[RoeBoat]

Looks like it ate a 10lb bowling ball!  What a pig.  Thanks for sharing the photo, gotta love those old pics.