catawba

[wojo]

Good Luck !

[p.c.icenut]

 :thumbsup:This is Jan. 28, 2010.
There's ice as far as you can see , again .But still alot of open water puddles and ponds between the cliffs and S. Bass . Alot of open water betweenCatwaba and Kelley's .
The good news is , this is more then twice the ice that was out there yesterday .
The bad news is, when we do get back out there , we're not going anywhere fast . Atleast not in the first mile . It's rough as a cob .
There was shanties in the triangle between Rattlesnake , Green , and S.Bass . And an airboat was picking up some guys at the ferry dock , which surprized me . It looks even too rough for them .

[bladebait]

p.c. thanks' for the great posts regarding the ice conditions. It's good to hear from guys that have great knowledge of the lake and what it takes to ice fish out there.

[p.c.icenut]

As of Friday afternoon she was all froze up except for a big hole about 1.5 miles out, N.W. of the cliffs . Could have been a crack about 50 yards wide .
 I heard there was still some open water over by the Moose yesterday .
Just a few more days now .

[NorthSouthOhioFisherman]

Open water is still at the moose, thin ice is back in there

[jay2k]

Whats shakin' at Catawba?  Is there any chance at getting back out there, or am I holdin' my breath for nothing?  Few years back I didn't get out till end of Febuary, so maybe theres a chance..??  Can't dish out the cash to go to the island.

[Double J]

flew off pib sun.thin ice off catawba st park with major amount of open water.lots of wind lately and ice is constantly shifting,I could be wrong,but imo unless the western basin locks up it just not gonna happen this year,of course there's alot of variables and we dont have a chrystal ball so just depends but calm winds and a deep freeze are needed.Ijust spent 3 days at PIB and handled roughly 100 fish for my group of guys with easy limits fri and sunday.sun was best we did 36 fish by 0945 for our limit,and fun fished C&R till noon and caught over 60.tight lines Double J.

[pole_smoker]

Checked out Catawba saturday and it was very rough and lots of thin stuff. Three guys in the parking lot but they were about 1/4 mile off the pier. As far as getting out if we can it is going to be very rough going, due to small chunks all over the place and as of saturday no real good way to travel.

[p.c.icenut]

We went out off Cat. State park today . We had to go N.W. . Going North we ran into bad stuff right away . There's 2 big cracks within a half mile , so we back tracked and went around them . We were out about a mile before the ice went from being 7" to 4" in one spot surrounded by 1inch . There's alot of places that would look like open water from a plane .
 It has been windy , but not bad enough to be doing the  amount of moving . AND IT'S MOVING ALOT ! I looks like the rain water is still coming out of the Portage river and making a band of bad ice , AGAIN .
 Everything from Mouse to the S.W. Corner of S.Bass is barely froze . That's not helping .
More bad news : The ice is so rough you can walk almost as fast as you can ride . Big hunks of 4to 6 inch ice all standing on end and froze together , and it's like that for most of a mile .
We need more zero nights . It's been making about an inch a night , but it's busting it up or moving it all the time .
 The way I heard it , one airboat broke thur 16 times on the way to Green on Sunday . I can't believe they even got an airboat over that stuff . Also , one of those cracks we didn't like the looks of today was soppose to have been 20 yards wide when they came back in .
 We weren't the only ones trying to find fish and frozed water , but we both came to the same conclusion.
No fish

[Double J]

looked very dangerous from the plane ,shocked to even hear it was attempted,be safe guys,Isaw that crack from the plane sure couldnt go north very far.for the cold temps we have hard to believe we have such poor ice.that warm spell with rain was a killer.that ice is gonna keep shifting due to all the open water.

[NorthSouthOhioFisherman]

You goin tomoro?

[ultralight]

Thanks p.c.icenut for the updates. We are watching your posts for hopefully late February ice. Would like to make another trip out. We had a great time last trip on the 23rd. Hope to see you again this month!!!   Brad

[markesommer]

Hey, I'm planning on walking out from Catawba state park on tues Feb 7th, wed, thurs, fri next week. I would like to have someone to go out with me for safety, since my wife has to work!  I usually go out 1 to 2 miles north. Anyone willing to go let me know, we can split up out on the ice and try to find some suicidal fish. Mark 330-988-0093. I usually want to head out  on the ice at 7 or 7:30.

 

[p.c.icenut]

  Good luck ! We were standing out there yesterday watching the ice on the other side of the crack slide 6 foot to the east when 20 yards opened up off Camp Perry . And it's busting up when it slides . And what's worse , the Portage River opened up out into the lake today . Now with a N.E. wind it's all slide the other way.

[surfdog21]

Headed out on foot from the State Park tomorrow morning.  Will get out as far as we can...been ice fishing off there with my partner for the last 30 some years ( we both grew up in Catawba Cliffs) .  I'll post the report for you when were done Sunday.   Should only get better as its supposed to stay below freezing during the day for the next week...next weekend  should be a safe bet.

[NorthSouthOhioFisherman]

Good luck and be safe out there this weekend, let us know how ya do, I am really itching to get out since the ZOO is getting old

[bladebait]

Went out of Catawba Tues evening. Were met by the DOW(pretty nice guys) then by "homeland security" These guys set us back a good 45 minutes checking citizenship and the boat for illegal substances. Felt like we were surrounded by a "swat" team. Finally got the boat on the ice at about 2:15. Went out towards SBI and man what a horrible ride. Lot's of thin ice with a "ton" of open water. Busted through at least a dozen times. West of Green looked open for quite a ways. The shove ice hitting the good ice east of green was about 6 foot high. On the other side of the shove ice was a good 10-12inches solid ice all the way to Rattlesnake. No cracks except for one near SBI state park which was about 5in wide. Rode back off of the ferry dock with Joe Kostura and the passage was just about all open. It's still got a lot of freezing to do before were heading out on the wheelers. If you can make it to the island they are catching fish. This weekend looks bad with the northeast wind and snow. Lets hope it's not all that bad.

[forkzilla]

You are lucky to catch the airboat.  The last 3 times my buddies were going with Joe, he canceled on them, and they had to fly.  I always fly.  Much better chance of getting there when you want to, especially with any wind.

[p.c.icenut]

I just got back . We never made it out . The whole sheet of ice from Green to Camp Perry moved 273 feet . There's about a 1/4 mile of open water south of green . A crack that runs from Green to Catwaba to Port Clint to Camp Perry . It was one of the most amazing things I ever saw ,,, to watch the ground (Ice) crack and what you're standing on slide under the stuff in front of you . Seeing the ice for miles all coming at you . And the ice was 8" thick . And yes it was measured .
 After it stopped , there was places four layers thick .
 And yet the guys who walked of the State park were still sitting there . When I left out there , it looked like 2 shanties were between 2 cracks .

[NorthSouthOhioFisherman]

There are some guys out today, can't tell ya thickness but that stuff is really movin and open water is all over

Just thought I would throw that out there, nice Mike

[RangerTim]

I would like to know why Homeland Security was checking you guys out.  They had no reason to!!

  You were in the USA,  had not even left the mainland yet and  I am sure you guys had your Ohio drivers lic. on your person.

  So what is going on here.

   You guys were American's on  American soil !!

   This is not what the Homeland Security force should be doing.   I would have probably been very upset with that type of search.

[OhioMadMan]

I would like to know why Homeland Security was checking you guys out.  They had no reason to!!

  You were in the USA,  had not even left the mainland yet and  I am sure you guys had your Ohio drivers lic. on your person.

  So what is going on here.

   You guys were American's on  American soil !!

   This is not what the Homeland Security force should be doing.   I would have probably been very upset with that type of search.

 Yep this is where our country is heading...... Papers Pleeze.....

[wojo]

I would like to know why Homeland Security was checking you guys out. They had no reason to!!

 You were in the USA, Had not even left the mainland yet and  I am sure you guys had your Ohio drivers lic. on your person.

 SO what is going on here.

   You guys were American's on American soil !!

   This is not what the Homeland Security force should be doing.   I would have probably been very upset with that type of search.

Hey RT Let me fill you in on what goes on with HC. They check us all the time in the summer in the western Basin. You don't even have to cross the border and you can  get checked ! And if you hassle them you make it worse. They HC have given all local police and county sheriffs orders on what to be on the lookout for in the winter ?? Like someone is going to walk across the ice with a ?? Or what ever. Yes I agree they created a monster with HC. ! But There is  major issue with things like the Bessie plant being right there. So I suppose we have to put up with it. Oh by the way they also have air support.They check on us last season with it ! They sent the land patrol over while they where circling above .

[jay2k]

Did Catawba survive the blow?  How about the snow up there?  15 inches here in Akron.

[Shanty Rat]

Did Catawba survive the blow?  How about the snow up there?  15 inches here in Akron.

going to the islands in the morning , fishing sun. and mon. I will report on my boat ride and ice conditions when i return.
hope to catch me some eyes. don't think we'll be taking the 4-wheelers out any time soon

[bladebait]

Homeland Security said they were checking to make sure we were citizens. Then they said with Canada being so close they thought possibly we could be bringing others back over. They almost confiscated one of my buddies Mustang survival suits because it had US Coastguard on the back(maybe that's why they checked?) They asked where we got it and told them on EBay out of Alabama. One of the officers said he investigates EBay for stolen merchandise.

[p.c.icenut]

Did Catawba survive the blow?  How about the snow up there?  15 inches here in Akron.

No where near the snow you got . It ice looks better then it did yesterday . Those cracks I wrote about are mostly closed , but still long strips of open water in place and now a few open puddles near mouse .
 Now the whole north shore of the lake is open again , 'big time ! Northernly winds for the next few days should keep the ice in place while the rest freezes .

[wojo]

Homeland Security said they were checking to make sure we were citizens. Then they said with Canada being so close they thought possibly we could be bringing others back over. They almost confiscated one of my buddies Mustang survival suits because it had US Coastguard on the back(maybe that's why they checked?) They asked where we got it and told them on EBay out of Alabama. One of the officers said he investigates EBay for stolen merchandise.

Yes like you  came that far across the ice ? And eBay stolen merchandise ? Come on now !  HC get serious ! The problem is the power went to their heads !

[justinb]

how is the ice and are they walking out yet and how far?

[kha924]

question how long of walk is it to the islands? and do some of you guys just walk out there wearing survival suits? 1 more ? i see some ppl fly? like small charter plane between portclinton or what?