Last weekend of ice fishing season....

[Ducker]

I hope everyone who wanted to get in on some great Lake Erie ice fishing, got out this weekend. Because with the warm temperatures and rain this week, safe ice won't be around very long. I'm betting that we'll be able to launch by March 1st. I'm looking forward to some spring trolling for some hogs. The boat is ready to go, looking forward to the break-up.

[icingeyes]

Was great to be back on the ice! Made the several hour drive and got some time in during the last two weeks. First real ice I remember since 2014-2015?

Was a slow start but finally found the bigs and smashed them. Sometimes 20 on the livescope at once mostly trophy fish, amazing fishery.

Got a boat and looking forward to trying some spring trolling myself, couple generic questions if you don’t mind.

How long will the “hogs” (as you reference them, same thing im looking for) be around before they spawn out and loose that trophy look? When you start you will be in the western basin or over by Huron etc?

Thanks!

[Ducker]

You need to fish early, as soon as the ice breaks up. As the spring progresses, your chances diminish. You want to get one with eggs. My best is 13.5 lbs. We're finally getting an old enough year class that we should be able to catch 10 to 11 pounders. Good luck.

[West Basin]

March 01? Forget it.

With Lake Erie now near or at 100% ice coverage, and the Western Basin having 12-18" of ice (as of Friday), with two more days of frigid temps (Sat Sun) probably adding another inch or two, you are looking at say 16-22 inches of ice out on the Lake. The harbors and marinas, launch ramps, will probably have even thicker ice. Current forecast has two more periods of cold weather before the end of the month. It will take a long time for ice to melt enough to first get out to the Lake from the launch ramps, and second for the Lake itself to thaw and enough ice melt to make it safe to get out.

Right now with the current February forecast, I wouldn't plan on the (safe) open water season starting until mid-March at the earliest. So put to rest any idea of getting out before then. It's going to be a later start and season.