CHAMPLAIN ICE IS FADING FAST............. STAY OFF THE ICE!

The ice on Lake Champlain is fading fast.  With the current weather forecast, I wouldn't recommend anyone venture out onto the ice. Period.  The ice is beginning to pull away from the shoreline everywhere, especially in areas where there are concrete sea-walls or rip-rap that absorb heat from the sun and then conducts heat into the surrounding ice and water.

The ice itself is getting very weak.  The latest report of someone going through is an ATV at Tabor Point. Fortunately, nobody was hurt and everyone got off the ice safely.  The ice has become very soft and honeycombed.  I drilled a couple dozen holes through the ice yesterday and found the ice very wet and mealy all the way through.  The ice brought up by the auger was wet, the consistency of a "snow-cone".
All the red-flags and danger signs are there! 

STAY OFF THE ICE!

It's unfortunate the ice has begun to get unsafe so early.  The bigger fish (yellow perch) haven't yet moved into the shallows for their annual spawning ritual.  We tried to find them yesterday and couldn't get into any larger fish consistently.  We found a few mature adults which we returned to the water.  I'll miss pulling the big slab perch through the ice this spring but it's not worth risking my life over!

There's always next year...I think I'll hold off for safer ice!

Fish on, fish H8 me.

CHAMPLAIN ICE IS FADING FAST............. STAY OFF THE ICE!