Shallow bays and small lakes in Madison had ~2” of ice for a few days, some people went out and fished. Some went through the ice. Most of that that ice is gone now with the warm snap. 

Hopefully this cold will get us some solid ice before the potential big snow next week. 

Looks like yet another short season here in Southeast WI. Two days ago, today's forecast high was 40. It's 54 right now and will probably approach 60. The ice won't get going down here until the 2nd half of January now. 

I'll be up at our cabin in presqueisle this weekend can't wait to get out on some ice ??

With today's snow storm pushing south and a cold snap next week with no snow cover, our ice forecast is actually looking pretty good. I would imagine by next weekend most lakes in NW WI will have 8-10" which should handle whatever snow mother nature decides to throw after that! 

You should be fine Tzeilstra! Ice held through the warmer weather and will continue to get thicker each day now. 5-6 inches is not uncommon and an ATV was on the ice today on a lake in Conover. This is great!! No snow on the ice! Love it. Great for getting around and a solid base will be made this year.

pike - That is awesome! i'm jealous. I'm heading up to the Pickerel area in 2 weeks. Hopefully this week's heatwave won't wreck the ice. 

Yes. The forecast continues to climb. Crazy. Wimpy winter so far after that extremely cold October. Got on the ice today with Pike  Junior. Four, maybe 5 inches of ice. Great times. I have not caught a fish probably since early October. Pike Jr same thing. The trend continues. Granted, we don’t get out every weekend, but it’s My worst streak of fishing probably ever. Sometimes it’s good to be humbled! 

Well, now that the forecast has highs in the upper 30's to mid 40's all the way to the end of the year, and no significant cooldowns after that, we probably won't be on the ice in SE WI until the end of January. Looks like a repeat of the past couple years, minus the bonus early teaser ice we had in those years. 

2 inches? Heck early ice is almost over by that time!   

I don't know whether guys are ice fishing in Madison or not...but I will say that from my experience, guys in SE Wisconsin are onto the ice in a much thinner manner than up north. 2 inches is go time in SE Wisconsin for quite a few.