(no) ice report

took a trip yesterday to search for ice @ south ontario and:

- chemong lake: some 2" on the south end; pretty sketchy, i spud my way some 30m out, didn't dare go further. few ice rinks were there as well. temps are in the plus for the rest of the week so stay away from it for at least 2 weeks

- crossed over south pigeon lake, due to current it was all open water, although further north i could see ice. i imagine was even worse then chemong, i think there were wet spots as well this is all i could see from moving car over bridge

- more or less same thing with balsam: water in coboconk crossing, some ice further away

- open water all along ON-35 on the way to Minden

- gull lake: all open water

- twelve mile lake (i hope this is not considered a small lake) i saw it frozen all across and actually saw some people on ice, close to shore. i considered to go investigate it closer, but the side road was very steep while existing and was narrow and covered in ice/snow so i decided against it. i imagine there were probably 2 inch. again considering the positive temps for next few days i don;t think it will be usable for ice fishing before another 2 weeks

- lake rosseau: open water. in fact my buddy used the ice fishing rod to fish from the dock for 5 mins so the trip was no completely wasted. got skunked though

- little lake seemed to be frozen all across, but afaik that one is all private access so imagine is not very relevant

- on a small back lake i did find 2 - 3" of ice, the only chance i got to test my new underwater camera. did not really dare go far although i saw a group of people on the other side of it digging wholes all over the place. i took that as a sign that they could find no fish so moved on to the other lakes described above.


thought of saving you some trips, although if you are restless and sick of good food you'll probably do it anyway

Nice report, although not good. At least you got off the sofa and made a great effort.

Yep, thanks a lot for taking your time to check and report!

Thank you very much for the report.

Thank you for the report. Definitely, one of the more helpful postings. Appreciate it.

Well done. As mentioned, very appreciated.
Cheers

great report, thanks for sharing the info😊👍

Thanks for the update. Still some mild temps until mid first week of January by the looks of it. Could be a bit later of a start this year.

Was out today getting parts for boat at harris boats works and seen some guys fishing on ice did not look the best out there brave guys

I can also confirm from Kempenfelt Bay up the west side of Simcoe to Orillia is wide open still.

There is ice on Couchiching however not sure of depth, saw a few people out fishing yesterday but close to shore and with the temps being in the plus ranges and rain forecast over the next few days, you wont catch me on it anytime soon. Tudhope and Couchiching park have ice but further into the lake is still open. Narrows are open as well (never really ice over due to current).

As stated little Lake is covered in ice however I checked thickness last week and it was only 1.5 inches at the shore, made it 30 feet out before I chickened out and went back. Saw 2 guys out there yesterday fishing but I still wouldn't risk it if I am honest.

Havent ventured further North or Orillia so not sure what conditions are like up there.

Great report! Thanks for doing some of the leg work! Looking at the weather to dip into negative double digits this week, I'm hoping to track some safe ice next weekend.

Thanks for update.
Hopefully next week it will start to thicken up at smaller lakes

Looks like ice fishing starting later and later every year

More like

Maybe we can extend the boating season to November/December soon Screw this cold weather stuff.

More like

Maybe we can extend the boating season to November/December soon Screw this cold weather stuff.

Was in a boat today......awesome.......lots of open water to fish.... but not on Simcoe