Lake Como

I drove by the lake at 2pm today nobody on the lake and they had the little shed on wheels that's says register fish here parked down there and there were a couple guys close to shore with an ice bar checking the ice.
Every spot i went past that had a little water coming out of the drain pipe had open water I don't think an ice fishing derby this weekend is a good idea but I didn't go out there with an ice bar and check.

Drilled holes about 50 yards off shore and got 4-5 inches of honeycombed ice.  When it’s in the 40s and 50s next week that is NOT safe ice.  Honeycombed ice is half as strong as clear solid ice so you can think of that as more like 2” and weakening daily.  Just cause guys are out doesn’t mean a thing it just means their tolerance for swimming in ice water on their walk out at the end of the day is higher than most.

That being said,  use YOUR ​judgement ​not “there were guys out so must be safe”.  I mean, who are the guys who fall in every year on area lakes?  Sure aren’t the guys who fish safe ice.

Good luck if you choose to go out and risk it.

As I got no good info on ice, I took the misses to Winterfesr. This after looking at Webcams this morning on Geneva and Delevan and not seeing any fiahermen or people at all. Made the mistake of leaving gear home. Needless to say, whwn we got to winterfest around 1pm, many people on ice at Geneva just walking around. Went to Como to grab lunch and saw many people fishing from middle on down the lake towards GC. 2 groups reported 8 inches solid under 3 inches of slush. All reported catching pike and bass all day. Group also reported needing boards to get off the lake around 4pm as shore ice deterioted in 43 degree weather. Be safe...probably missed last opportunity of the winter. Are there any Webcam on Como? 

I drove by the lake at 3pm and didn't see anyone out there.

Thinking of coming up tomorrow with the misses. Was told there were people on the ice today. Can anyone report on ice conditions? 

Thanks

Got out twice in the last 5 days. Thursday we got 8 flags and landed 4 pike, one keeper 27". Today we had one flag and no fish. On the bright side, somehow there was 12" of ice everywhere I drilled. Even the shorelines were solid. I'm guessing that won't last long. We went out off of the SW launch both days.

Note:  Do not assume that the ice is safe. Things will change quickly. Always check the ice thickness as you go out. Be safe. Stay dry.

Fished today from 9 to 1 with my teenage son.  6 Beaver Dams out. Launched from NW boat landing and walked west.  10 flags total— two drops and two fish landed. Pretty slow.

Drilled probably 20 holes between launch and end of golf course and had 10” of ice in all holes but top 3” is slush.  Lots of standing water in spots. 

Was out yesterday from 7am to noon.  Jigging one hole (various lures) and autofisherman (minnows) on the other two.  Saw three pan fish on camera and that was it. Was 150 yards NE of south side boat launch in 5-6 feet of water; 5-6 inches of ice.  No weeds; muck bottom that quickly stirred up a sediment cloud if you banged off of it a couple of times. Water viisibility very low.

Thanks Doug! Really appreciate it.

We were out today everyone was snowmobile or 4 wheeler. No vehicles on west end of lake.