A great day to be out on Oneida Lake for ice fishing. We have a high in the upper 20s today with light winds. We continue to get reports of ice thickness between 10-13 inches with more reported in shove conditions. The consensus seems to be that we lost about an inch from the warmup so not too bad. We are seeing increased gas hole activity so keep a keen eye open along with refreezed and new pressure cracks. Wheelers are moving about the lake nicely and we have pretty slick conditions on the surface with the refreeze. The shoreline is holding fairly well with some pockets of water here and there but very manageable. That said there was a report of a wheeler going through near the islands yesterday in shallow water and it looks like everybody is okay.
We have some snow coming in early tomorrow–just after midnight. That snow will taper off tomorrow night but we are expecting 6-12 inches of snow, more as you move north and east of the lake. Oneida Lake’s north shore is located just on the edge of the heavy stuff so lets hope it stays north. Either way, sleds are going to be back in business for the weekend. A winter storm warning is in effect tonight into Friday.
Reports have been a bit slower coming in this week, but those that have come in recently are pretty solid with some great perch bites across the lake. Chapman continues to be a hot spot. Walleye biting on spoons (2-3″) and jigging raps (mostly 5’s) tipped with a minnow head. Look for structure in 30 FOW, but we are getting a good number of the perch reports from 10-15 FOW. Color patterns remain the same, but we are seeing an uptick in patterns with metallics (gold/silver). See above for Chapman, but we are getting solid reports across the lake. Remember, the walleye limit remains at three and you might expect some enforcement on that over the weekend.
That is the Lake Apparel t-shirt that we are giving away each month. To enter, just leave a report and you are automatically in the drawing. Each report you leave gives you an entry. Right now, you can leave a report by clicking the send voicemail button on the site. We will expand that next month by entering those who leave a report in the comments as well.
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