I made it out on the ice today and started with long lake around 10:30. I had kind of a tough time finding the lake but I eventually stumbled upon it. I got out on the ice and there was one other guy already fishing. The ice was a solid 4-5" There was quite a bit snow with a little slush but not bad considering the weather last night. I fished for an hour or two and caught a bunch of small crappie/bluegill and decided to take off. I went out to cranberry next and was surprised to see a guy skate sailing on the ice(I'm not sure if thats what you call it). There wasn't as much snow there, some spots were just all blue ice. I started catching crappie right away but I was moving too much to set up the shanty so I got cold pretty quick. The ice was very solid but there are some VERY sketchy areas. I had a pretty close call in one bad area. There was an area of slush that was partially frozen that I had drilled in. The spot I drilled was 4" but as I walked back to another hole my right foot went through. I thought I had only broken through the slush but after I grabbed my auger and poked around(from the safety of the blue ice)I found a 3 foot opening in the ice
Needless to say I decided to call it a day after that. There wasn't anyone else out on the ice and I was getting cold anyways. better safe than sorry. I did end up with a dozen 9-10" crappie though.
