BZ:
I'm in S.E. Iowa, and have to be at about the southern extreme of what most would categorize as "permanent freeze" portion of the states. We normally have about 2-2.5 months of ice thick enough to safely fish through. (Say, 4-10 inches)
About 1 in 3 years we hardly have a month. This was an extreme year for us, in that we had maybe 2 or 3 weeks of reasonably thick ice, preceded by warm/cold spells where the ice would just get thick enough to be usable...and it would warm up or rain. Spring was long coming, and cooler than normal, but not cold enough to keep the ice.
I've fed just a handful of pellets half a dozen times over the past couple weeks...nothing touching them. The painted turtles are around, so it won't be long. I can't wait to "sample" my ponds, but I've gotta be a bit more patient. Maybe another week or so...but I'm turkey hunting this weekend, anyway.
Seen no floaters, but hardly ever see any in the ponds I fish around here anyway.
