Ice conditions thread......?????

[Chris_JC]

I was out at Budd on Sunday. There were ice boats but I did not see anyone fishing - about 6 inches of ok ice. I may give it a try again Saturday early AM.

[briansnat]

Thinking of trying Aeroflex tomorrow morning. Anybody been there recently? Or should I head further north?

[NJSquatch]

Originally Posted by briansnat

Thinking of trying Aeroflex tomorrow morning. Anybody been there recently? Or should I head further north?

the local bait shop was reporting 5" in the front and 6" in the back....be sure to spud....the fat lady is about to sing

[FASTEDDIE29]

Thanks for the updates guys! I’ll be out in NW NJ tomorrow! All day!!! Get it in before it’s gone! Be safe and spud around! Good luck brothers!!! FLAG!!!

[briansnat]

Originally Posted by NJSquatch

the local bait shop was reporting 5" in the front and 6" in the back....be sure to spud....the fat lady is about to sing

Went there yesterday. Open water all around the ramp and not a soul on the lake. I didn't want to take a chance.

[FASTEDDIE29]

East end of Aeroflex, 7 inches, Big S. 7-8 inches, Monksville, 8-10 inches, State Park @ Hopatcong 4-6 inches! Temps pretty cold at night for the next 3 nights. We still have plenty of ice to play on!!!

Fished Swarts Saturday but it was slow! 1 flag all day with Perch, Gills and a pick of Crappie all day. 3:30 or so the mass of Crappie came into my area. Non stop action from that time til about 5:45! They were stacked 28 feet down in 33 feet of water. Not huge fish but some ok 12 inchers and some between 8-12 inches. Got about 25-30 fish in the last few hours of the day. Thank god they came in or else my day on the ice would’ve really sucked! LOL!!! FLAGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!

[FASTEDDIE29]

[NJSquatch]

Good looking eats.

Anything that had open water was likely smashed to sh*t with this wind. The shallow coves around the islands on Hopatcong are now filled icebergs from the main lake. Maybe this will teach those homeowners to stop running the ice eaters 24/7.

[icebadger]

well it's official you can stick a fork in the ice season on the cong i fished the state park area and there is open water around most of the shore and i took a ride around the lake, like squatch said the wind blew the lake apart in most areas i saw... you can get on to the right of the park the ice was 5" there however the crack that goes from one side to the other keeps you in shallow water 3 to 5' to be exact. managed to get two slime darts and two small perch. will try to look up north of rt 15 to find any safe ice. the lake never totally froze over. between the winds and up and down temps and the improper use of ice eaters the lake is opening up early as usual but at least we made it past feb 14th this year. lets hope next winter is a real one for a change.

[Chris_JC]

Originally Posted by Chris_JC

I was out at Budd on Sunday. There were ice boats but I did not see anyone fishing - about 6 inches of ok ice. I may give it a try again Saturday early AM.

I got out Saturday where there was still 5 - 6 inches but nobody was out. That was until about 50 first responders came for an afternoon of ice rescue drills. A few flags and 1 decent pike. I made sure to get off the ice before dark to avoid falling into one of the many large holes they chainsawed in the ice.

I thought that would definitely be it for the year but weather looks interesting the middle of next week. Maybe there will be some options?