Ice Fishing 2026

[West Basin]

Ice fishing has started! Several people out off Catawba State Park. A few shanties off the west side of South Bass Island. And... it's 1 degree out there (wind chill -9)! Crazy people!

With the frigid forecast the next 10 days, and the Lake not forecast to get a lot of snow with the coming Saturday night / Sunday snowstorm, expect ice conditions to continue to improve with more areas open to fishing.

Here's a very interesting article about walking across Lake Erie on the ice to Canada. From 1978. Let's hear some stories about the "way it used to be" with winter ice.
I Walked Across Lake Erie — Alone

Also, an ice fishing video I made back during the real cold 2015 winter. Shows what the ice column looks like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1xP3mJdwtA

Give you something interesting to read and view while you're holed up over the weekend.

[gb1234]

Fascinating video! Thanks for sharing!

[West Basin]

A LOT of people out on the ice over the weekend. From Metzger Marsh / Crane Creek all the way around and up to / out to the Islands. Ice is from 15 - 20+ inches. Fishing success has been spotty, with most folks only managing a few walleye and a few yellow perch. Those that found a good spot have got close to or a limit of walleye, including some "hogs", along with some nice size yellow perch. It's generally taken 5-7 hours to get that kind of result. Temperatures overall are forecast to remain cold through the coming weekend, but not the frigid teens and single digits we've seen now for three weeks. So the ice fishing should remain solid (pun intended) through the weekend. After that, current forecast has warm then cold spells the rest of the month. So the ice fishing looks to continue through the rest of the month, and maybe into March. We'll see.