Fish-Hawk.Net

Ya I agree I have been fishing there for at least 7 years now and the last two have been very poor. However it's the only place I feel safe going at this time of year. Can't really go anywhere further than Shirley's bay anyways as mobility is an issue so I am stuck... waiting
PS the other "window" fishing at shirley's is sunrise, most of the time it's even better than sunset good luck this year boys hope to see you out there.

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Went to look today and it is looking pretty dark so that is not good news. It is either a crap load of water on top or it is wet areas not yet frozen. That is out from shore a couple hundred yards and in the bay, we'll I saw that someone had gone out about 50 feet from shore and drilled a hole but that is where the tracks ended so I suspect it wasn't thick enough to continue on. We really need those couple of cold nights that are coming this weekend.

Man I am praying to ole st nick please give me ice for BOXING DAY MADNESS!!! 2 FOR 1 WALLEYES!!! ALL YOU CAN EAT

Fellow ice fisherman, just be patient. I have fished Shirley's for a long time. The ice is not ready. The snow we got didn't help. 2-3 weeks we will be fishing.
CC Lad

First ice, is first ice even if is later than usal. I agree be paitent, be safe.

You still think 2-3 weeks CCLad? We are getting a 4 day cold snap starting friday, I am hoping this helps alot but then it goes right back into the mild stuff starting next week. At the very least I will be checking it out boxing day or the day after for thickness and quality.

Hey T-bone, I haven't been out to punch any holes as of yet so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt so to speak. The snow will insulate the ice and the ice just formed before the snow dumped on us. That being said if one was to walk out 40 yards in front of the ramp the water is maybe 3 feet deep. You can punch a hole and go from there. If you or anyone else does venture out, where a floatation device (a life jacket helps keep u warm and in the very least make for a good seat) and bring a friend and a rope. Just make sure all that comes of anything going south is you get your balls wet with ice cold water... Too close to Christmas for anything else

Be safe and have fun,
CCLad

Is there still alot of snow in the bay right now? I was hoping the rain we had a few days ago would have melted alot of it.

Weather network says 30-40mm of rain Christmas eve so that should clear away all of the snow...

Me my uncle and cousin went down to shirley's to look around. We walked to the ramp and seen snow mobile tracks on the ice! We walked out and found a couple of holes, ice seems fairly thick not far out from the launch. We also seen the "dark spot" posted about earlier...stayed far away from that for sure There wasn't as much snow as I thought either, the rain on tuesday or wednesday should melt it up and maybe give us a more solid layer of ice to work with. I don't think it's going to be much longer but that warm spell has me worried will be checking it again soon posting the recap ;)hope to be fishing soon lol!!!

Well I decided to go to Shirley's bay tonight and find out what we are dealing with before we get this rain and warm couple of days. So the ice update is that 900 feet straight out from shore there is 7 inches of ice. I have fished the bay for a few years and I was actually surprised to see 7 inches with the weather that we have had so far. There is about 1 inch of snow on top of the ice so suspect that the snow will melt with the warm weather and rain coming in days ahead. I believe that even if we get some rain that we won't lose any thickness of the ice and that it will only sit on top and then freeze when it gets colder. I hope that people will now stay off after the rain and wait until it refreezes so we have a nice service of ice to start the year and not have a bunch of ruts. See you out there soon.

Thanks for the updates guy's, looks like it wont be too much longer

7-8 inches! Weather permitting I think Ill venture out on the weekend and auger my way out - It could be time
Based on clear black/blue ice not white.
Safe Ice Thickness*
Ice Thickness Permissible Load
3 inches ...................... Single person on foot
4 inches ......................... Group in single file
71?2 inches ......... Passenger car (2-ton gross)
8 inches .............. Light truck (21?2-ton gross)
10 inches ....... Medium truck (31?2-ton gross)
Ice Thickness Permissible Load
12 inches ............ Heavy truck (8-ton gross)
15 inches ........................................... 10 tons
20 inches ........................................... 25 tons
30 inches ........................................... 70 tons
36 inches ......................................... 110 tons

how far out did you go CC? man Ithought it would be about new years before we had a chance to get out, hopefully your right