[nightrider]

I was ice fishing Sunday on the east shore of winter harbor opposite the mouth of the bay to the broads. The wind was blowing strong from the west. I was on 4" of decent ice. The ice extended from where I was out to about 3/4of the way to the mouth of the bay and it was wide open from there about 6 miles to the other side of the lake. Early in the day, a very small area on water at the very edge of the shore where I was fishing was moving slightly as the energy from the waves a half mile away traveled under the ice and reached the shore. As the day progressed, and the wind strengthened, and the waves reached 3 or 4 feet as they crashed into the edge of the ice from the broads, the ice where I was fishing had to be moving up and down at least 3 or 4 inches (maybe more) from the wave energy traveling under the ice. Close to shore, the ice began to develop cracks from the undulating waves. My bait bucket in two feet of water, suspended from a line about 3 feet above the ice, was moving in the water about a foot back and forth in the water. Water would be pouring through the cracks as the underwater wave came in and it would just as quickly drain away as the wave receded. I never fished or went beyond 5' of water depth, by the way, just in case. I called it a day at half time of the first game. All in all it was an interesting day on the ice. As I found out Monday morning, the ice continued to crack into large ice floes well past where I was fishing, but amazingly enough, my bait bucket and the limb in the ice from which it was suspended, was intact in the center of one of the ice floes. Everything froze together hard Sunday night and Monday was another great day of fishing. Caught a nice rainbow in dark colors Sunday and another still in bright summer colors yesterday. The green Shanty launch will be done this Saturday. Stop by and say hello to the Nightrider if you're in the neighborhood. There may be a cold beverage in it for you.