As a total noob on ice fishing, I'd like to get the group's consensus on ice conditions of Echo and Rockport. We have a group that wants to go fishing, but I'm pretty sure that the ice conditions are entirely safe on those ponds. I'm trying to talk to the group into going to Soldier Creek instead. Last thing I want is to be "that guy" who goes onto unsafe ice and totally screw up a fishing day.
-Cheers
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Wow, with the boat show coming and the recent warm weather...I'd go with the Gorge or your plan B Soldier Creek. Its not the lake ice but the edges and slush you will deal with. Better get the hip waders ready
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[quote waterbilk]Wow, with the boat show coming and the recent warm weather...I'd go with the Gorge or your plan B Soldier Creek. Its not the lake ice but the edges and slush you will deal with. Better get the hip waders ready[/quote]
Yeah...I think I have them convinced to go with Soldier Creek. I'm just making sure I'm not overreacting about all the warm weather
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Here's my report from Echo on Sunday:
http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gfo...ead#unread
If you can get on the ice at Echo I think you will be ok. I would guess you will need a fairly long sturdy plank in order to get on the ice. With the temps not even getting below freezing at night I have written off Echo and Rockport unless we see an unexpected cold snap in the near future.
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I'm going to try one last hooray at echo tomorrow afternoon I'm prepared to take a long plank, I'm pretty certain ice is safe around 8" from what I've heard but as someone else stated edges and slush are the biggest problems, I'll report back tomorrow
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Keep me posted. As it stands I think we've all decided on Soldier Creek, but we'd rather do Echo
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So I drove passed both rockport and echo and there appears to be open water all the way around the lake anywhere from 5-10' so I think it is safe to say that both Rockport and echo are done for the season.
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Thanks for the report. It looks like we just decided to drive up to Devil's Creek
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Made it out on echo today for a couple hours, ice was plenty thick once I made it over the incredibly sketchy plank fashioned out of a 2x8 split down the middle with a 2x4 right next to it for good measure. Definitely couldn't have done it without the low temps last night! Anyway, first line in the water I instantly had a hit but missed it as it caught me off guard. Fished that spot for 45 minutes with no luck then moved north towards the dam! After about 40 more minutes I hooked into a 17" bow which ended up being all that I caught in the 2 hours I was there. Although the fishing was slow for me and the 2 guys next to me, (they also only caught one 14" bow), I'm glad I was able to get in one last outing as I can finally put the ice gear to bed.
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