its time for ice fishing. (felon, transport, eat)

[tcrackly]

Broken bones?! I'm worried about falling to oblivion. While we fished we would watch the ice floes and guess which one would be likely to flip over next.
My DH knows the area well. He always contends that the salt water ice freezes the same way every year so you can anticipate a safe route. Or at least teach yourself how to recognize which ice is unsafe.
He loves to tell a story about how he and a bud watched an older feller set up on the "wrong" floe, then fall in. DH fished him out and the two of them dried him off, warmed him up, and sent him on his way. Most definitely saved his life that day.

i don't think I would look good if I was could only be retrieved on the following tide.

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by tcrackly

Broken bones?! I'm worried about falling to oblivion. While we fished we would watch the ice floes and guess which one would be likely to flip over next.
My DH knows the area well. He always contends that the salt water ice freezes the same way every year so you can anticipate a safe route. Or at least teach yourself how to recognize which ice is unsafe.
He loves to tell a story about how he and a bud watched an older feller set up on the "wrong" floe, then fall in. DH fished him out and the two of them dried him off, warmed him up, and sent him on his way. Most definitely saved his life that day.

i don't think I would look good if I was could only be retrieved on the following tide.

I'm not familiar with the term ice floes. I don't think I've ever fished a place where I saw actual open water. Perhaps we fish more inland, I suppose. Obviously the shacks are never set up in the middle of a river, however I've seen them set up on each bank of a river - there was a safe path where you could walk across to the other side. You'll see tall pole markers with orange flags guiding you to safe walking paths.

We used to joke if that someone fell into a race hole, someone up the line would pull you out as you went by. (if they liked you, so always be nice to fellow fisherman)

[tcrackly]

On the smaller river tributaries, especially the brackish estuaries around here, the ice forms chucks, floes, like on the ocean. the floes connect like puzzle pieces and rise and fall with the tide. Sometimes at low tide, the ice will refreeze to the bottom only to release when the tidal water moves back in.
It's both scary and inspiring.

[Kracer]

Where trout are the primary catch on lakes that get a fair amount of ice fishing pressure, would you consider those same waters to be good fishing in the open water season?

[RANGER.101ST]

Originally Posted by Kracer

Where trout are the primary catch on lakes that get a fair amount of ice fishing pressure, would you consider those same waters to be good fishing in the open water season?

yup even better during open water.becouse the laws are diff between both seasons.

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by Kracer

Where trout are the primary catch on lakes that get a fair amount of ice fishing pressure, would you consider those same waters to be good fishing in the open water season?

You'll also find a good amount of bass in the same lakes, if that's what you're into. Both large mouth and small mouth.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by tcrackly

On the smaller river tributaries, especially the brackish estuaries around here, the ice forms chucks, floes, like on the ocean. the floes connect like puzzle pieces and rise and fall with the tide. Sometimes at low tide, the ice will refreeze to the bottom only to release when the tidal water moves back in.
It's both scary and inspiring.

Rivers that are close to the ocean have higher salt levels in the water and tend to form ice floes when they freeze. I know what tcrackly is talking about. We used to have to deal with them at the Royal River in Yarmouth. The water was quite salty there and it took some really cold weather to get it to freeze all the way across the channel. Salty tidal ice is quite soft and breaks into floating chunks when the tide comes in. You have to hop from floe to floe to get out to the solid ice pack. When there's plenty of ice there is no problem but in the early winter and late winter when it's warmer the floes become loose and bob up and down when you cross them making the trek out to solid ice a challenge. Many places that have the floe problem will make a kind of bridge out of plywood to cross the cracks in the floes . This makes it easy to egress onto the safe ice. You do have to know where to walk and how to read the floes to safely hop across them. If the floe is too small for your weight it can easily roll over when you step on it and down you go! I have been in the Royal River several times! Believe me it's no fun!

[island mermaid]

These were taken yesterday on Long Pond on Isle Au Haut.



Yes, even Flat Stanley likes to ice fish!

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by island mermaid

These were taken yesterday on Long Pond on Isle Au Haut.



Yes, even Flat Stanley likes to ice fish!

Flat Stanley! We had a man and his wife take pictures of their Grandson's "Flat Stanley" ice fishing in our shack last winter! I had never heard of it before. It was kind of a neat thing for kids to do and Grammy and Grandpa were right into posing the litter paper doll!

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by island mermaid

You'll also find a good amount of bass in the same lakes, if that's what you're into. Both large mouth and small mouth.

The words "good" and "bass" should never be used in the same sentence!