Lake Simco ice report ?

[AKRISONER]

Cant save these cheap morons from themselves lmaooo

youd have to be nuts to even take a skidoo on simcoe never mind a car. 
 

Parry sound just got safe for snowmobiles, never mind a bloody car lmao.

as my buddy jake says, the fishing regulations say perch season starts on simcoe when some moron puts their minivan through the ice! Lmaooo

[akaShag]

1 hour ago, Terry said:

Yeah I was out fishing from there and couldn’t believe they were parking on the ice there I could only get out to 14 ft depth with my side by side

But did you catch any fish?

Doug

[LefroyFisherman]

Ya especially when most guys are spudding their way out like I will tomorrow or later during the week. 

[Terry]

2 hours ago, akaShag said:

But did you catch any fish?

Doug

There were a few dinks around but nothing worth catching 

 

and the dinks  parked their cars on the ice 

[LefroyFisherman]

There is a video going around that the ice is breaking up into large football sized chunks around brechin area up that way. 

[BillM]

On 1/31/2021 at 9:03 AM, AKRISONER said:

Parry sound just got safe for snowmobiles, never mind a bloody car lmao.

 

Salt dock had open water 3 days ago.  PS isn't even going to freeze over this year me thinks.  

[AKRISONER]

33 minutes ago, BillM said:

Salt dock had open water 3 days ago.  PS isn't even going to freeze over this year me thinks.  

Oh god don’t try to access the sound from parry sound side, if there is ice it only showed up two days ago. Where I was fishing you could see open water Saturday 

[PUMP KNOWS]

I’m itchin to go ice fishin.  Prepping my ice stuff now.  Hoping for some whities, lakers and burbot 🤞

[Tjames09]

On 1/31/2021 at 3:49 PM, LefroyFisherman said:

There is a video going around that the ice is breaking up into large football sized chunks around brechin area up that way. 

Brechin is a long ways from cooks bay though.

 

I went out of PB and the ice was good 8-10” good black ice. Lots of huts out.

 

caught zero fish though. First time ever being skunked on simcoe . 
 

I wasn’t brave enough to venture to far from the travelled areas though. 
 

i felt the ice move below me and almost knocked me over. It was the weirdest feeling. I’ve never had that ever happen before. It was actually kind of scary. Because you know somewhere there’s now a pressure crack that wasn’t there. 

[LefroyFisherman]

5 minutes ago, Tjames09 said:

Brechin is a long ways from cooks bay though.

 

I went out of PB and the ice was good 8-10” good black ice. Lots of huts out.

 

caught zero fish though. First time ever being skunked on simcoe . 
 

I wasn’t brave enough to venture to far from the travelled areas though. 
 

i felt the ice move below me and almost knocked me over. It was the weirdest feeling. I’ve never had that ever happen before. It was actually kind of scary. Because you know somewhere there’s now a pressure crack that wasn’t there. 

Ya I know brechin is a long way from cooks, I didn’t say it was close. This is a Simcoe ice post lol. However being a weird weather year there is sketchy ice everywhere. Looks like I have about 3-4 inches in the bay I’m in around 7th line of Innisfil. 

[Dara]

do people really go out there on4 inches of ice?

[LefroyFisherman]

3 minutes ago, Dara said:

do people really go out there on4 inches of ice?

Yes, I’m comfortable on 3-4 inches of ice, but I have a float suit on and picks, that’s the bare minimum for me. A lot of guys go out on 1-2 ish. That’s nuts to me. Was out today, man it was insanely windy had to hold down the hut whilst fishing. Caught a bunch of perch. 

[misfish]

5 hours ago, LefroyFisherman said:

A lot of guys go out on 1-2 ish. That’s nuts to me.

I am a newfie. LOL

Nice on the perch catching .

[Rizzo]

ya I tested ice strength earlier this year...went 30 feet out (about 3 feet of water). Ice was around 1.5 inches and I could hit through it with one hit of spud bar. I did walk around for a bit (5 minutes) and never went through...which actually surprised me. I expect it was only a matter of time...but since I did not want a wet boot I kept my stay short. This was possibly the first time I have used my 25 year old spud bar....every other year I have just waited until I knew it was safe. But for those who venture out early, a spud bar would be a very valuable tool. Not sure how many hits before you would consider the ice safe...but it isn't one! 

[lovetofish]

Went out of Virginia Beach yesterday, got a bunch of the kids out for a day on the hard water. Drilled through mostly 11” of black ice, one spot had 8”. First time ever getting skunked perch fish on Simcoe. Was really hoping for a good day with the kids. This was the third time I have taken my little guy out and the third time we have been skunked, not good

[AKRISONER]

lol you would be shocked at what you can walk around on when it comes to ice. Last year when i rescued my dog i was walking on <1" and it was shattering underneath my boots as i walked. When i finally went through i was basically on "puddle ice" like im talking less than a quarter of an inch. So little that I dont specifically remember there even being ice chunks from me falling through.

Ive also walked on what I wouldnt even call ice..it was more like 8 inches of heavy snow that had piled up on a skim of ice. Im talking so bad that if you stood your spud up on it and went through never mind needed to hit or break anything. That time though I was specifically doing it to see if I would fall through. I was 40 yards from my house wearing a rope, floater and with picks in hand ready to fall in. Crazily i didnt. We then decided that we would fish it. We set tip ups and you couldnt run to them because your feet would go through, you had to shuffle your way to them. When you sat in you chair if you sat too hard the legs went through. Youd also slowly sink as you sat jigging.

Heres the point in all of this, the guys that fish two inches of ice on simcoe that are actually prepared with the right equipment are far safer than the guy that comes to the lake totally unprepared to fall in because he punches a hole and sees 6+ inches of ice. Ice is 100% unpredictable, it cracks, currents push water up, it does all sorts of stuff meaning that its totally unpredictable and inconsistent. The only way to be on it safely is assume you are going to fall through basically no matter what. To me the 250+lb 50+ year old guy that doesnt wear a floater or carry picks that goes out on 5-6 inches is way crazier than the 20 year old 180lb guy thats carrying a spud, wearing a floater and carrying picks.

Ill ask the 50+ crowd here, how many of you are confident that you can do a body weight pull up? 

Edited February 4, 2021 by AKRISONER

[porkpie]

Plenty of good ice, even on whitefish water, and yeah I’ve been.  If you don’t know don’t go.  It’s not the best ice year but there’s fishable ice.  Every section of the lake will make ice in varying degrees.  Some will be downright unsafe.  In other areas you can run a sled or wheeler.  But yeah, if this is your first rodeo, go with an operator and fish for perch!

[Rizzo]

4 hours ago, AKRISONER said:

 

Ill ask the 50+ crowd here, how many of you are confident that you can do a body weight pull up? 

I could...but I am only 51 and weigh 175. Not the biggest guy and not tooo old yet. Plus I bought a weight set a couple years ago for my 4 sons. Since they are too lazy to use it, and I am too Dutch to allow this purchase to be a waste of money, I do a few workouts myself each week. If i go through it would likely be the shock to my heart that gets me rather than the inability to get out!

[akaShag]

4 hours ago, AKRISONER said:

Ill ask the 50+ crowd here, how many of you are confident that you can do a body weight pull up? 

I wish I was 50 again!  I don't know how many chin-ups I can do any more, haven't tried in a long time.  But I do wear a floater suit and carry picks AND a spud bar.

BTW I am guessing there are a lot of 50 year old men who are fitter than 25 year old couch potatoes who spend their time playing with their phones and eating junk food.  Just sayin'.....😉

Doug

[AKRISONER]

I bring this up because I am conscious of the fact that if my 68 year old father with a bad shoulder goes in...I’m not certain he’d get out. 
 

Wasn’t there a guy a few years ago that was 300lbs and went in with a floater and just couldn’t manage to get himself out? Good god I couldn’t imagine going that way...wow

[LefroyFisherman]

1 minute ago, AKRISONER said:

I bring this up because I am conscious of the fact that if my 68 year old father with a bad shoulder goes in...I’m not certain he’d get out. 
 

Wasn’t there a guy a few years ago that was 300lbs and went in with a floater and just couldn’t manage to get himself out? Good god I couldn’t imagine going that way...wow

Very true, the float suits might give people a false sense of security, you still have to be able pull yourself out if you go in.

[porkpie]

Once you get to a certain age you tend to do stupid things in groups greater than one.  When we travel possibly suspect ice, its in a group, with throw lines, spuds and floatation gear.  The average age is 50, but we could still help a brother out.  There will come a time that I no longer do these things.

[Big Cliff]

I am 75, I don't even bother with a floater suit any more, I dont walk on 4" of ice, carry ice picks or a spud. When I want to go ice fishing now I  pay my $60.00, park on shore, get transported to and from a nice warm clean hut by knowledgable staff and just enjoy the day😊. Oh, and here is yesterday's catch and several nice jumbos were released to fight another day.

 

[crappieperchhunter]

1 hour ago, Big Cliff said:

I am 75, I don't even bother with a floater suit any more, I dont walk on 4" of ice, carry ice picks or a spud. When I want to go ice fishing now I  pay my $60.00, park on shore, get transported to and from a nice warm clean hut by knowledgable staff and just enjoy the day😊. Oh, and here is yesterday's catch and several nice jumbos were released to fight another day.

 

Nice haul Cliff. Did better then I. Two of us met on Scugog to chase gills and crappie, and neither of us brought fish home. Beauty day to be out though.

Edited February 5, 2021 by crappieperchhunter

[Big Cliff]

12 minutes ago, crappieperchhunter said:

Nice haul Cliff. Did better then I. Two of us met on Scugog to chase gills and crappie, and neither of us brought fish home. Beauty day to be out though.

Sorry to hear you didn't catch a mess of fish. The bite was slow but steady, we brought home 25 including one burbot and easly released that many. We did keep 5 smaller fish that were badly hooked and we figured they would probably die anyway. We were on 8-10" of ice in about 30 fow. We are going back out again tomorrow but with this cold front coming in I am thinking it might be a little slower.