Went out to Buckeye today and no good news here. Doug Stewart had a close call as he almost put his quad in the drink on a bad spot between the marsh and harbor hills. I rode by the spot and sure enough, there was a 4-5 ft hole about 20 yds left of the trail even though ice on trail was 10 in. He started to break through but the speed of the quad helped him across and to pop out but it was close to hear him tell it. Then he went popping a few holes toward the marsh on foot and actually broke through the ice in 13 ft of water. He threw himself on his stomach as he was falling and stopped himself from going entirely in but still got wet up to his waist. Wow! I got there not too long afterward and he was in his shanty wet and cold trying to dry out in front of the heater. I tried 1 spot and didn't catch a thing but there was no way I was gonna go chase em' after what Doug went through so I opted to leave early. I did see some gills and a few crappie being caught but bite has slowed up considerably.
Normally Buckeye freezes up pretty well but the ice is still pretty sketchy in spots so please exercise extreme caution if you venture out, especially on a quad. There were quads running around all over but the bad spots are there and it's just a matter of time before someone is not as lucky. Please keep in mind that Doug is a very experienced and knowledgable ice fisherman so if it could happen to him it could happen to you. There is a road plowed on the ice from Fairfield out to the marsh which ice seems to be good although I wouldn't venture too far off the beaten path without a spud bar. The ice out of harbor hills park seems decent as I had about 8 inches there. Please be careful and CHECK YOUR OWN ICE as conditions at Buckeye seem to be less than ideal right now.
« Last Edit: January 30, 2011, 12:44:27 AM by hardwateraddiction »
"Trust me honey, with the price of fish what it is, all this equipment will pay for itself in no time at all!"
