Simcoe ice, No ice

I took a flight over lake Simcoe this afternoon to look at ice conditions. There was non to be seen anywhere . Balsam , Cameron and Sturgeon are all starting to look good .

That’s pretty cool to see first hand early ice conditions from the air. 👍

Did you notice if Little in Barrie was iced over?

I drove by this morning and it looked fully iced over.

Thanks for the info.

Just talked to 3 of my friends and Balsam, Cameron, and Sturgeon do not have safe ice yet. I will be with the family later this week so I will check the ice myself and see how it is doing. Next Sunday night January 2nd weather man says -14 at night and it will stay in the minus at night from then on as far as I could see. So you guys should be able to fish for PANFISH soon. Not yet but soon.

Forgot to say have a Happy New Year. Good Luck. AND STAY SAFE.

When does the ice typically freeze thick enough each year for you to fish on it safely?

I prefer eight to ten inches of ice, the more the better before I would take someone out to catch some Crappie on Balsam Or Sturgeon. Those are the only two lakes I take people out on. And Crappie is the only fish I would keep on those two lakes in the winter. I also never fish the river current areas near Fenelon Falls, Bobcaygeon, or Lindsay on Sturgeon. No river areas on Balsam either.

I prefer six inches of ice, the more the better before I would take someone out to catch some Crappie on Balsam Or Sturgeon. Those are the only two lakes I take people out on. And Crappie is the only fish I would keep on those two lakes in the winter. I also never fish the river current areas near Fenelon Falls, Bobcaygeon, or Lindsay on Sturgeon. No river areas on Balsam either.

I heard those crappies are good eatin' too. In fact, some say even better than Simcoe perch.

Crappie are my favourite fish. I am not sure about Simcoe perch. I do not fish Simcoe and have never eaten a perch. But I do know the people that fish Simcoe love their perch.

Crappie 1st Perch/walleye 2nd.
Just my opinion

Personally I’d take perch over crappie but only eaten crappie when their in the shallow canals / rivers prespawn in the spring , they tasted kinda muddy to me.

I changed my 6 inches of ice to 8 to 10 inches with more than 1 person. The MORE the BETTER. In fact I am quite afraid of ice and usually wait until it is thicker. February 2009 I went through the ice while walking my Doberman at a lake by my house. I had been on this ice before, there was snow machine tracks where we were walking. Perfect day to walk the dog, then in an instant my dog went to the right in front of me on her leash. I think two more steps and WHAM... I was in the water. My dog heard the ice and went around that spot, I got wet. I was very close to shore and water was shallow so I was only wet to my chest area and the dog was a big help in getting out. There must have been air pockets near me, the lake is spring fed, it could have been that as well. The part I found so amazing is as we walked the shortest way back to shore my dog kept moving side to side so I put my feet in her paw marks. You could see that she could hear the ice. I have been on the ice many times since, but I will never forget the feeling of my legs dropping from under me. For a few seconds I thought I was going to die. I thought my sister was losing her brother. I thought my parents were losing their son. I thought my sisters children were losing their uncle. I thought my wife was going to be a widow. They say your life flashes before yours eyes and all that stuff. I don't know about that, all I could think of was my family. My life changed after that, I became a better person, from the bad guy I was before that day on the ice. Some people get a second chance, but that is a much longer story. STAY SAFE OUT THERE.

Scary story, but thank you for sharing.

It's a harsh reminder that the water/ice is a deathtrap and we should all take as many precautions as possible when we want to enjoy it. That means a floater suit in the winter, and a life jacket in the summer, and we must wear them at all times and not just a percentage of the time.

I can't talk about hard water much, but I can tell you on soft water in the summer, I very rarely see people using life jackets. People think that water is safe.. they can swim. The problem is, when you go into the water unexpectedly, it's A LOT different than going into the water expectantly. And when it's more than 5 feet deep, you're a mile or two from shore, with waves and wind, at less than 60f, you have now entered a death trap.

Remember the game we all used to play in when we were kids? It was called "The floor is lava?" That's how we all need to view bodies of water, especially Simcoe, as that lake can go from 0 to 10 in seconds.