Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Ice status on your pond(s)

Don't need to now. Checked this morning and my plugs didn't take. Now gaping dangerous hole where water came up.

You don't think it will refreeze? It's still fairly early in winter.

I'm hoping I can still get on early tomorrow morning. We barely got to 4", and now the warmer temps the past couple days have loosened things up. That's life at the southern edge of the ice belt....some years my season consists of 3-4 days.

Don't do it man. Not worth the risk. The fish will be there in the spring.

Just have another cup of coffee in the morning instead!

Your welcome to come up here anytime you want Tony. Hey maybe I could get Scott to join us for a day. Wish it was closer for you.

Thanks Cecil, very generous offer. If I lose my ice and suffer withdraw I may be in touch!

My neighbor is taking his daughter ice fishing on my pond tomorrow for her birthday. Hopefully I'll have a report as to how they did.

Should be plenty of yellow perch!

Can we get some pic's please? The way you guys grow YP is down right impressive. Cecils perch aren't perch. They are striped black and yellow footballs!

I'll try and get some pics tomorrow. Might just take the day off and fish all day.

Throw out the anchor. It's supposed to be windy! The wind is already kicking up here. Gusts to 30 are predicted.

Gotta watch it dropping trees today!!

My Genz two man fish trap will keep me out of the wind. I keep it tied to a pier post if necessary.

The neighbor said I had 6" of ice on my pond.

Did you lose your ice? My small pond is still covered but a lot of water on top of the ice in places. Went over to the large pond this afternoon and there is a ring of open water about 10 feet out from the bank everywhere but the south side.

Two boys, 13 and 17, drowned today after breaking through while ice fishing on an old quarry lake, about 12 miles north of me.

If there are any other southern Indiana ice anglers here on the forum, please watch your step guys. My ice is junk...open water in a lot of areas, after 4.5" of decent ice yesterday morning. Too warm, for too long.

My thoughts go out to the families of those boys.

So sorry to hear that. I'll bet they didn't know they could have rolled out on their backs. I did it once and it's amazing how simple it is but 100 percent effective.

If anyone needs a link on how it's done I can try and find it.

Still a good 4 to 5 inches of solid ice on my pond and it's tightening back up again tonight under clear skies. Amazing what a difference 100 miles north makes.

Same ice thickness here on my pond Cecil. Snow cover on the ground went from 5" to 2.5" in the past 2 days.

I fired up the aerator and it poked a hole through the ice in an hour, and opened up the ice at the rate of about a foot diameter per hour. This morning I have a hole that is about 15' across.

News
Division of Law Enforcement

Indiana Department of Natural Resources
402 W. Washington St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2748

For immediate release: January 18, 2015

Update:

Both juveniles have been pronounced dead at I.U. Health Bloomington Hospital. Clark "Edward" Shoemaker, 17, of Spencer and Dominic Arthur, 13, of Coal City. Autopsies are scheduled for Monday, January 19th at Terre Haute Regional Hospital.

Divers recover two juveniles after fall through ice (Owen County)

Spencer, Ind. – Indiana Conservation Officer divers recovered two juveniles this afternoon who had fallen through the ice of a rural rock quarry north of Spencer, Indiana.

At approximately 1328 hours Owen County Sheriff’s Dispatch received a 911 call in reference to two juveniles who had fallen through the ice.

First Responders arrived and navigated steep rocky terrain to reach the waters edge. Indiana Conservation Officer Divers located the two juveniles within minutes of entering the water. They had been submerged for approximately an hour and a half in 11 feet of water. Both victims were taken to I.U. Health Bloomington Hospital and their condition is unknown at this time.

The pair had been ice fishing with family members at the rock quarry near the 2400 block of Romona Road in rural Owen County. The ice was measured at less than three inches thick.

Responding agencies include Indiana Conservation Officers, Owen County Sheriff’s Department, Owen Valley Fire, Owen County Rescue, Owen County EMS and Air Evac.

Indiana Conservation Officers note that the warming temperatures had contributed to the deterioration of the ice. Always verify the thickness of the ice before venturing out on it.

I had two water striders either in or next to my ice hole last night. I've never seen that before. Also had one of the perch passed a snail albeit not the ramshorn species.

Ice has been taking a beating the last several day with temps in the 40's.. The extended isn't looking good either..

I was surprised to measure 5 3/4 inches of solid ice today.

Hard to believe but I am getting tired of catching up to 20 perch every evening up to 14 1/2 inches. I'm shooting for a 10 inch plus bluegill for a customer to complete an order, and can't get one to save my soul. Well actually that's not true. I did get an undersize one the other night and one that was plenty big but screwed up fins.


It appears the yellow perch are more aggressive! When they move in the Vex becomes solid red about a foot to 2 feet off the bottom!

Can't get a bite until a half hour before dark and then it's almost nonstop from then until a couple of hours after dark. The lantern on the ice seems to draw them in.

On another note I was sure I screwed up and the following fish was a male. (Pond is supposed to be all fast growing females) Turns out it was a female but the eggs were not very developed yet.

She did taste good rolled in flour, dipped in egg, and then Italian bred crumbs. Wow!

Both pictures are the same fish.





The above fish was about 11 inches and is a year and 8 months old. It spent most of it's life in indoor tanks, mine in the basement and one of three high school tanks I set up. Perhaps it's the young age and/or the indoor tanks played havoc on photoperiod response -- even though it was in the pond this fall? Or it has not been as adaptive on natural feed in the pond and is not as well fed as it could have been for egg development? It was eating invertebrates judging by its digestive tract contents.

My aerator has opened up a hole that is about 30' in diameter, and all the way to shore. I'll shut if off until the hole freezes back over and we get snow on the ice.

Mines about the same, but I keep mine running after I shut one off on another pond last year and the air line froze shut. I do have smaller less power hungry compressors for winter though.

Cecil,

You mentioned an air line freezing. I was told that can happen if the check valve at the diffuser fails/leaks. Is that what happened to yours? I was also told that runing intermittent is hard on the check valves. Ever had one fail?

Bill,

All my diffusers have check valves at the diffuser, unless they are a membrane diffuser, and many times I put one there too. As you remember last year was really really cold, and I think when it was shut off the warm air condensed in the airline and it froze up.

My winter compressors are so small and use so little power I just keep them running.