Here in NJ we had no option. Only 2 or 3 lakes were even remotely safe at the start of today but with it being sunny and 45 degrees out we almost didn't make it back to shore on the one we chose to fish. In a matter of 2 hours or so quite a bit of isolid crud ice had loosened and we went thru about 10 feet from the shore. We were lucky we left when we did cuz another 10-15 feet out from the shore it drops off to 20+ feet deep.
This time last year the ice was gone or unsafe for a few weeks on almost all of the places I've fished this month.
