Warm Weather

[bwachtel]

i was wonder what everyone thinks of this warm weather. these past 2 days ive encountered bad ice in south eastern iowa near the quad cities. the ice is starting to form a second layer and isnt making me feel to good.... just wanted to know others opinions on ice fishing for the next couple weeks. hope to go out again before i head back to college but i dont know if that will happen....

[Kevin23]

Bad ice? I fished on 12" (10" clear) yesterday... seemed good to me!

Curious to where you found bad ice?

[bwachtel]

a farm pond i was on and a backwaters. there was a second layer of ice forming in both areas. when you walked you could feel your boots fall through a thin layer. like i said its forming so its not a think second layer. but if you dont count the second layer, there was 5 inches of good ice. also on the farm pond, you would keep falling through the ice until you got out a couple feet onto the water. but after you got to the good ice you were fine. like i said this was in the southeast. near muscatine if any of you are familiar with it 15 min. from davenport. what im really worried about is this chance of rain Thursday and Friday. its only a 40% chance but if it did rain, thats not going to help the ice conditions at all. especially with all this snow we have already insulating the ice.

[EyesMan]

Its not even jan yet just head north alot of fishn left it aint really started yet hopefully we dont get inches of rain but a little rain will help get rid of some snow and it will get cold again this is iowa !!

[Kevin23]

Hard to find good ice around muscatine, I fished down there in the backwaters last year (think it was called the breaks or something), anyways it was 30 foot deep and the ice was terrible. Pucker factor was high that day, caught quite a few white bass though. This was early feb and the ice was only 5". Just travel up here, we got good ice almost everywhere and the rain will not affect it. By monday I'll be on the ice again.

[bwachtel]

yeah thats what ill have to end up doing... and yeah the backwaters to the mississippi down here is called the breaks. havent made it out there yet this year though. i was just wanting to get some opinions on what might happen to the ice after the observations ive made of it. ive only ice fished for anout 3 years so im still learning a lot about how the ice can be affected by the weather. my only fear is that the warm weather will screw up my ice fishing for the rest of the year (i have to head back to ISU before the tenth. thats when classes start up again.) i hopefully want to hit up hickory grove throughout january on my weekends. but im probably just over thinking this weather situation and it will probably be fine.

[Kevin23]

Believe it or not, it should help. They are not predicting as much rain, just enough to melt all the snow on top. By sunday everything that was melted will be froze again.

[ripNlips83]

I'm out fishing right now and all the snow is gone there is 2" of water on top. I still feel safe. Kinda

[Kevin23]

I'm out fishing right now and all the snow is gone there is 2" of water on top. I still feel safe. Kinda

If you are browsing iceshanty while fishing, the fish must not be biting too good. 

[ripNlips83]

Pretty slow today, auger holes from yesterday opened up about 2 foot so i couldnt really get on my good spots.

[bmk1976]

This weather is really putting a dent in my plans, glad I had some luck yesterday.

[bwachtel]

i dont know what you heard but its been raining here all morning and is not looking good at all... but i do agree that ass  soon as the colder temps come back everything should refreeze relatively fast. i just hope its sometime before the tenth i dont want to be done ice fishing yet this year lol.

[Kevin23]

Drive up here, 45 minutes north and you'll find 8-10" of ice and me fishing monday afternoon.

[TRCrappie]

Went out today in SW Iowa and did not see any problems with the ice at all.  The holes I drilled on Wednesday were already froze back over and were hard to find. 

[newtoia]

I hit west lake park today, and the ice was getting a little questionable.  for the most part there was 4-5" of good solid ice, but there were some parts in the 3" range.  Also, some of the older holes opened up to about 2 feet wide.  The ice is still good, you just have to keep an eye on where you are going

[Kevin23]

I hit west lake park today, and the ice was getting a little questionable.  for the most part there was 4-5" of good solid ice, but there were some parts in the 3" range.  Also, some of the older holes opened up to about 2 feet wide.  The ice is still good, you just have to keep an eye on where you are going

Can I ask why you were fishing at west lake? I've never caught a keeper there in the 15 years I have fished it, other than trout.. but who cares bout them glorified creek chubs.

[newtoia]

Can I ask why you were fishing at west lake? I've never caught a keeper there in the 15 years I have fished it, other than trout.. but who cares bout them glorified creek chubs.

I caught 9 gills in the 8-9" range, and about 30 altogether along with 3 largemouths (which on a panfish rod were pretty fun).  Plus, it is relatively close to where I live...i guess that's why I fish there...

[Kevin23]

Are you fishing the main lake?  I know there are keepers in the other lakes, but have never caught one over 5" in the main lake. 5" gills and 8" crappie one after another. I know lambach lake has some really nice gills and some huge bass.

[Hi Tech]

I have to agree with BBK, I've never done good at west lake BUT to be fair I've only fished it about four times. All the ice I've been on is a good 9-11 inches and this week I ve been on alot of ice(I'm on vacation) Saturday after the warm up we didn't loose any ice we just lost the snow, no water on top now!! I think the run off will oxygenate the water, just a theory?? I did good saturday afternoon on gills and some crappie! Good luck fishing Bud.