No Ice on Erie this year?

[Dbars19]

Ive heard from multiple old timers that if Erie doesnt freeze over, the next year is usually tough fishing. Has anyone heard this or experienced this? Kinda worried since it is 55 outside at the end of December. Or did i just buy into the none sense?

[Misdirection]

Ice in the springtime helps the hatch out on the reefs. But I don't buy into it affecting the fishing the following year.

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[Juls]

I was told by some old timers that a good ice kills a lot of shad, and if the shad population explodes, it makes it little tougher to catch fish that have full bellies. Last year we didn’t get ice until February, and it only lasted a month, but the bite was good this past season. We haven’t had a really good ice cover since the freeze of 2014 and 2015, and the bite has been good over the the years since, so who knows?

I wouldn’t worry about it too much, there’s a ton of fish in the system, and they’re hungry!

[K Gonefishin]

No ice can affect the hatch IMO and data seems to back that up but to say the following year will have tough fishing isn't true whatsoever again IMO.

[bbheli]

Originally Posted by Dbars19

Ive heard from multiple old timers that if Erie doesnt freeze over, the next year is usually tough fishing. Has anyone heard this or experienced this? Kinda worried since it is 55 outside at the end of December. Or did i just buy into the none sense?

If there is no ice on Erie and its 55 out what are you doing here

[Dbars19]

Originally Posted by bbheli

If there is no ice on Erie and its 55 out what are you doing here

valid point lol.... Wind has been insane tho..

[REW]

Low ice levels are predicted on all of the great lakes this year:

https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/ice/...20is%2063.9%25)

[FishManDan]

Hmmm what part of Erie are you talking about? I know there has been talk that when there little to no ice, the netters in CA waters can get out more and get the fish as they migrate to the spawning areas. This hits the big spawn fish 🐟. But as Juls said the system seems to be at all time levels. Also no safe ice means less loss to ice fishing. Last year was limited ice year on the western basin where I fish 🐟. The problem was finding the fish early in my boat. Went out March 7th and broke skim ice on thee way out into Brest Bay. Took 5 hrs to find them and it was game on. Limited in 1.5 hrs and they were fatties. Funny though when we went to clean them only tiny eggs inside they were stuffed with shad.