2023 ice conditions Lanark Highlands in around Calabogie

[FishEyes]

Any word on the ice conditions up past Calabogie, into the highlands? Lakes like Battery, Gling, Belanger, Blithfield are usually safe by this time but, the season has been unusually warm up to now.

[Piscivore]

I was wondering about that myself. I am heading out to Lanark tomorrow. I'm going to check out Clayton lake
and Patterson lake. I'm not heading up to calabogie though. I will let you know what I find out.

[fishern00b]

I was on Clayton one day before (Dec 29th) the warm weather had arrived. There was 6-7" of ice (half black and half grey) on 10 FOW. I think right now it should be better than when I was there.

[SirCatfish]

We fished Belanger on Dec 27th before the big thaw and had 3-6 inches of good ice and a good 6 inches of white ice. Not sure what it looks like now, but I would assume you would be fine.

The road wasn't plowed past a certain point that left us with a decent hike in. I spoke with another angler who mentioned that Hydro weren't going to keep the road plowed this year. Makes it hard for those of us without snowmobiles...

[Fisherman89]

We fished Belanger on Dec 27th...

Were you fishing for specks? I might be mistaken, but I don't think Belanger opens until Jan 1st. It's not in the exception list for zone 15.

[SirCatfish]

Wow, I always assumed stocked lakes were open year round, didn't bother checking zone 15 before heading out.

I guess that bad karma is why we got skunked.

Lesson learned. Thanks for the head's up, will be sure to be more thorough in my research next time.

[Fisherman89]

No problem, glad it wasn't intentional!

Being used to the regs for zone 18, I almost made the same mistake a couple years ago, talking with the owner of a bait shop while purchasing minnows and told him I was heading to either Belanger or Battery, and he kindly reminded me that Belanger wasn't open yet.

A lot more rules for zone 15 compared to 18. Can't even bring bait from 18 into 15 anymore!

[FishEyes]

Access road is not plowed by hydro, eh? Harder to access so fewer people; a double-edged sword. I suppose I should pack my bike and smitty then.
I am also wondering if anyone might know if there is winter access from the far western side of Norcan heading down to Ompah? A number of newer cottages have sprouted up which usually translates to better access year-round. There are a number of smaller lakes accessible in summer that way. But, I can't say that I have had a chance to drive those roads in winter.

[Piscivore]

Well, there is definitely ice in Lanark. I drilled a series of holes last night at the narrows between Clayton and Taylor lakes. I measured a very consistent 9". There was a little white ice at the surface, but I was surprised and impressed with the majority being clear black ice underneath. There was hardly any snow past Carleton Place. The fields are brown and bare and the lakes only had a light dusting of snow which has probably helped ice formation. I only briefly stopped at Clayton lake road and walked onto the ice there. It was solid at the access point and looked good far out. At least to my eye from a distance. Patterson lake also looked completely frozen over, but I wasn't able to get down to the surface.

We'll have to see how much snow this storm brings tomorrow. That will probably slow ice formation and make walking a little more difficult. But, I'm definitely heading out fishing this weekend!

[FishEyes]

Well, there is definitely ice in Lanark. I drilled a series of holes last night at the narrows between Clayton and Taylor lakes. I measured a very consistent 9". There was a little white ice at the surface, but I was surprised and impressed with the majority being clear black ice underneath. [...]
We'll have to see how much snow this storm brings tomorrow. That will probably slow ice formation and make walking a little more difficult. But, I'm definitely heading out fishing this weekend!

That is good to news. Thank you for reporting back! I am sure there is more snow south of us this morning. The ice seems to be setting up nicely regardless. I think we'll try venturing into highlands to see what we can find there this weekend. I definitely have to scratch this itch!

[FishEyes]

I feel it is only fair to provide everyone interested with an update. We made our way up to the foothills today. Certainly, enough snow fell on Friday. As reported by SirCatfish, the hydro road leading around Norcan is not plowed. There was one truck that ventured too far off track and got stuck. We crossed the tow truck coming to pull them out on our way back. That being said; we still made it to our destination. The ice on the lake is 9-10 inches thick, 5-6 inches of it being black ice. The sun was out and the fish were biting. No complaints on a successful day fishing.