John Hageman

After a week of above average temperatures that also led to storm force winds and water level fluctuations in the days following Christmas, Lake Erie’s ice cover that was not fishable yet was set back to near zero.
After temperatures reached 60 degrees on Dec. 27, they plunged into the 20s in the days that followed and allowed ice to begin re-forming once the wind calmed.

As of mid-December, there were some locations where anxious ice anglers were walking on Ohio water and pulling fish through their augured or chipped holes.
Near Ohio’s north coast, the Kelleys Island ferry was pushing floes of pancake ice aside as they ran their route in the channel from there and Marblehead.