Orchard lake ice conditions?

[normy]

Anyone know anything about the condition of the ice on Orchard? Any shacks out yet? I think I might put mine out there cause it's close and the kidlet enjoys catching the dinks. There has been that weird hole in the middle that a couple of the last years had froze really late or never froze.

[buzzsaw]

There are portables out there and it is said to have springs which would explain the soft area in the lake.

[normy]

Thanks for the info buzzsaw. Awesome pics in your gallery!

[jwhjr]

Is the beach side or the launch side the best place to walk out from?

[jwhjr]

Hit the lake this morning for about 3.5 hours. A lot of lookers on the Vex, a number of bites, but no takers. 1 flag on the tipup, the sucker was pretty chewed up but didn't land the fish. We walked out from the launch and stayed away from the portables on the beach side and stuck to the NE side. The wind was really bad so we packed it in around 11:15.

[reelemin]

Hows the ice?

[jwhjr]

There was about 12" where we were. The first inch or so was cloudy (from the slush before it got cold again I assume) and the rest was nice and clear.

[Maximum12]

jwhjr, how'd you do? It wasn't bad where I was Sunday.

[jwhjr]

Max - look a couple of posts up on this thread. Were you out on Orchard yesterday too?

[Maximum12]

My reading is good, comprehension not so much...nope, I stayed close to home, decided I didn't want to hit the freeways with the snow & drifting.

[jwhjr]

I figured you skimmed over it, no $$ signs in it... It was a windy one that's for sure. We quit right when the snow started coming and the drive home wasn't too bad. When's our next outing?