Ice fishing around these parts? (Chicago, Madison: safe, ATVs, schedule)

[Windy City John]

Any good ice fishin 'round these parts? Can you drive your Volvo AWD on the lake and fish from the car? Is the ice thick enuf to hold my Hummer without crashin thru?

[Drover]

I participate in
ice trials -- essentially
autocross on a frozen lake. The furthest south where we can consistently hold events is in Hustisford Wisconsin, which is about an hour northwest of Milwaukee. And even that far north, we have sometimes had to cut seasons short because of weather. Two years ago we even had to cancel the entire season as I don't think ice ever even formed on the lake, much less thick enough to hold a few dozen cars. The closest place I know of where ice trials have been consistently carried out for the full season schedule is in Eagle River WI, which is a solid six hours north of here.

[Paige65]

You might try http://www.lake-link.com for good ice fishing information. On this site there are reports on ice thickness, as well as general fishing info., for many of the lakes in MI, WI, and MN. I don't think there are too many places in NE IL that are safe for ice fishing right now. There is ice fishing currently happening on the lake that I'm most familiar with, about an hour north of Madison, but the ice is still sloppy in places and nowhere near ready for trucks or ATVs. However, most winters they do eventually drive trucks on it.

[NYrules]

I wouldn't recommend ice fishing in IL unless it has been really really cold (0 degrees F for about a week) because many of the ponds and little lakes around here are spring fed (warm ground water) and don't freeze very thick, not to mention that overall the weather here really doesn't get cold enough to cause thick ice. Temps for the most part have been hovering from 30-40 degrees daily with a few days here and there where high temps don't go above 30, so that won't make for very safe ice fishing conditions and especially won't make thick enough ice to drive onto like you see in "Grumpy Old Men" filmed supposedly in Wabasha Co., MN.

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by Windy City John

Any good ice fishin 'round these parts? Can you drive your Volvo AWD on the lake and fish from the car? Is the ice thick enuf to hold my Hummer without crashin thru?

Nothing near the Chicago region. You would have to go further north I'd imagine.