Gray's Bay Ice Report (12/8/2011 11:30AM)

Managed to skip out on my lunch break, grab the auger, and hit Gray's to see if we've had any change in the ice lately. Mostly good news follows:

Looks like I was for the most part the first person out there. There was one other hole drilled, but it was only about 10' from shore, and looked like it had been long since it re-froze over. Stupid me forgot to bring out a ruler for official measurements, but I'd say we moved from 2-4" since the last time I checked to 3-4.5", depending on the spot. With that being said, I wouldn't doubt there are a few spots that are still under 3", and aren't safe yet. Can't stress this enough: BE SAFE. Drill holes and check thickness often, and bring ice picks. Better safe then sorry. Now, onto some pictures!

Got about 6 holes drilled in total, and it was pretty consistent all around. Luckily there was a guy on lunch break sitting in his car at the ramp who was nice enough to tell me "Don't worry! If you fall in, I'll call the ambulance!" - Gee, thanks for putting that in my head.

The depths in the holes that I was drilling was probably only about from 2-3' deep, to 10' deep at the max. I haven't made my way onto the deeper hole in the middle yet, so take some extra caution there. Aside from the guy at the landing, I was alone, so I wanted to make sure if I took a wrong step I'd hopefully be able to touch bottom. Not a thing you want to have to plan for, but them's the breaks on early ice.

BUT, some good news is that I was seeing fish down there. I was paying more attention to the ice then the fish, but I did see one smaller crappie swim by and a few even smaller sunnies.

I did notice a lot of people checking out what I was up to out there, and a good handful of them looked like ice fisherman. Had one guy ask me how the ice was as I was leaving, so I can definitely tell I'm not the only one who's itching to get out there.

You probably won't see me out there tonight like I had originally hoped. But with single digits tonight and tomorrow night in the forecast, you can be sure I'll be out Friday and Saturday.

Again, I can't repeat it enough, be safe, be smart. Don't go out alone, and definitely don't stay out past dark alone. If you need a fishing buddy, check out one of the many links on the sidebar. Most forums have "Open Seat" opportunities where you can tag along with another fisherman. Keeps you both safer, and helps you meet some great new people.