Ice Question
 

Sorry this is not fishing related, but if anyone were to know the answer, it would be this group.

I am a member of a dive/rescue team and we had a Ice Diving training event planned for this weekend. The location was going to be Watchung lake in Somerset County, which up until the other day had sufficient ice. With the recent warm weather and rain, there are no adequate locations around Somerset County. I looked into Budd Lake, but was told that is barely frozen around the edges.

My question to the group is, Does anyone know where there may be ice by this weekend. I need about 3-4 inches of ice and 10+ feet of depth to be able to run my drill. I don't ice fish so not sure what might be up north Jersey.

Thanks again and sorry not fish related.......

Re: Ice Question
 

I passed Budd Lake yesterday and saw 75-100 guys doing training/rescue drills on the ice, full wetsuits and all. That may be your best bet, but there may be something further north that could work better.

Re: Ice Question
 

edges probably all going to be crap by the weekend if they aren't already. more rain and warmth to come. slightly below freezing nights won't repair much. you could use a plank to get on i guess maybe.

Re: Ice Question
 

swartswoood lake had 11 inches ice edges ok . on sunday

Re: Ice Question
 

i would say little swartswood would be your best bet. you would need a plank for sure to get on the ice but I wouldnt count on anything being too great by the weekend, the ice took a beating already and the next 3 days are way warm and the problem is not dropping below 32 at night, thats where the ice takes the most damage. its prob over for this year after this week

Re: Ice Question
 

Andover Hunt and Fish Sport shop posted on FaceBook today that Lake Aeroflex has 5.5 inches of ice.

Re: Ice Question
 

Thank you all for your help. I'll let you know how we make out.

Re: Ice Question
 

that's a pretty dangerous general statement for a bait shop to post...

I can tell you all right now that lake is not uniform as far as the ice thickness, so do NOT assume you can have free range on there. That ice was probably more like 8 inches a few days ago in some spots...and when that ice was 8, other spots there on the same water were more like 5 and now those spots are probably 2.

you can't tell the difference now with the melt so hopefully people will use extreme caution if they attempt ice fishing from here on out...i'm already planning on rivers/streams or the boat in a reservoir if the wind isn't bad.

of course i have a 4 day weekend coming up...perfect time to have my options diminished :mad:

Re: Ice Question
 

Echoing Chris here. They posted there was 5" on the lake a few weeks back but when I went out there was only 3-4" along the western wed-bed/shoreline. Bring a spud bar and take a couple of wacks to test and always wear your hand spikes!

Re: Ice Question
 

We ended up using Lake Hopatcong. Dove off Lee's Marina. Ice was great at 5" for pretty much all 4 days. Sunday (2/18) it started to thin out but still good at our dive site. Definitely not good for fishing; open water showing all around. We were decked out in dry suits, pfd's and tethered to safety tender. Thank you all again for the help. Oh, and we didn't see any fish, but tons of structure down there!