horseshoe ice

[woodview]

I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea where the meth hole is located? I remember reading last year about it and just want to know where it was located. Is the ice in that area unreliable all winter? Any other areas that I should be leary about? Fished there last year but not until later in the winter when there seemed to be pretty solid ice everywhere I went. Probably should have asked someone while on the lake this summer but I'm usually occupied with things like making certain none of the three boys set the hook on their brothers, deciding that "being a fish would be fun" - splash, etc.

Haven't fished this lake much in the winter so I'm not really planning on hitting it until I'm sure there's good ice out there but was really wondering just how much that hole affects the ice - I've gotta believe it could ruin your day if you didn't know where to look for it.

[only-eyes]

woodview, the meth hole is located in pretty much the main basin of horseshoe. If you access the lake from the part of 22 where you can either hit cedar or horseshoe, this is how you would get there. Go strait out from 22 and to the right of the big island, keep going right and past the point on the right hand side. you will then go north a ways until you see the main part of the lake. You will have a point on your left, and the road usually winds back to the left around the point going to the west. The meth hole area is strait north from that big point. I say area, because while the major deep hole stays the same, the open spot, sometimes spots, change from year to year depending on the water levels and current dumping into the area. If you fish this area during early ice, you can see tons of spots where the methane is trapped in the ice all over the general area. Most freeze solid enough for vehicle travel but there is usually one spot that stays open or quite thin. You can have a foot of ice 10 ft from the open water, but it thins as you get closer. As a general rule follow the vehicle tracks until you spot exactly where its at if your exploring this area for the first time. The meth hole can be great for eyes, cats and crappies throughout the winter. Hope this helps.

[The Chemist]

Woodview: onlyeyes has it pegged on everything. Sometimes it is hard to see. Snow cover can play a huge factor. My first year out there it was staked of but hasn't been since due to from what I had heard was a liability aspect. Don't know if that is true or not. But the hole does move. My guess is that last year the hole was about 50yds north of where it was the year before. Every year that I go out by vehicle I stop before I get to where the houses are set up and then walk to find where it is. Send me an e-mail and if I can find it I have a map that I created last year for someone that shows the "roads" on the lake and the approximate location of the hole. There are however other places to hit cats for early and late ice.

[tisch008]

Hey Chemist,

do you have this map on electronic format? I'm fishing Horseshoe for the first time this year any any navigational help would be great. My email is jtischner at earthlink dot net.

Thanks!

[Mykal]

Hey Chemist. Please keep us posted on the ice conditions out there. The wind today was nasty.

See you out there soon.

[The Chemist]

Tisch: you have mail.

Mykal: I am getting a little on edge right now to get out. Have both augers home to get them ready although I think I may sell at least one of them off. Although I would much rather have a new one. But I think this years wish list for x-mas/birthday is going to be an Aquaview. I do think that I'm gonna be taking some days off during the week to get out there.

[IceHawk]

I just took a drive around the chain checking the ice conditions from the recent windstorms we have had. Alot of the ice broke loose wich was suspected. Cedar island is almost all wide open except for few smaller bays being locked up. Horseshoe has some ice in the middle around hammers point and the rest is still open. Krons bay the area that is usally hot at early ice still is open, this suprises me but with these winds and temps it just hasn't had time to lock up. I hope these winds let down soon so we can get a crust formed.

Looks like the only fishable ice will be North for a while. Looks like I'll be heading up searching some small backwater lakes for some bull gills.

Pray for COLD weather and limited winds or it may be some time before there's safe ice around here!!!!

[so haaad]

IceHawk,

Thanks for the ice update. We've all got the itch to get out.

[Mykal]

Man, I should have kept the boat out of storage a bit longer. I figured we would finally get a normal winter. This is worse than last year.

[IceHawk]

The chain is totally locked up. All areas that were open yesterday locked up overnight. I was glad to see Krons bay also froze totally over as this is one of my early walleye spots. If the weather holds and the wind stays down we should be fishing sometime later next week in this area, I guess time will tell.

[IceBuzzard]

Try Shackman lake just south west of the chain, it is locked up also! Hey Ice Hawk, 500+ geese waiting to be hunted!

[Mykal]

Icehawk, my new email address is {Edit} Shoot me an email when you get a chance.

[so haaad]

Icehawk,

How's the ice on the Shoe looking? Looks like the next few days are calling for more cold weather.

[jimBo]

Was out on Sun and froze about 4" off 22 bay.

[IceHawk]

So-Haaad: As of Sunday I ventured all over the krons bay and into Horseshoe lake. I found 4-6 inches consistently, as of today I would expect there is around 7-8 inches.

Fishing has been tough out there only a few small eyes being iced right now, hopefully it picks up.

[so haaad]

Thanks. I'm busy through the holidays, but I'll be out there on Sunday. There might be a goot foot of ice out there by then.

[Mr. Pike1]

IceHawk, thank you for the report. I fish this body of water during the winter with Mykal. I love the mix of walleye, cats, and crappie all in one area. You can be fighting a cat on pole while finesing a crappie on another. I also actually enhoy the getting into the occassion school of rock bass as they put on a good show as well. Hope to be out there one of these weekends soon

[fins&feathers]

mr pike 1

could you tell me where horseshoe is and is that in the coldspring area? and is there any nearby bait stores?

from the post ive read, it sound like a great time, ive never iced a cat, would like very much to give her a try.

good luck to ya

[ATM]

Chemist or others i am planning on hitting horseshoe on sunday. Is there a good place to access the meth hole area its a long walk from the winter access and i dont have a wheeler. Also chemist have you figured out if your house will fit an explorer if you want i can stop by with mine and we can see how it fits . My explorer is a 94 but im sure they have comparible cargo space . Adam

[The Chemist]

fins: yes it is near cold spring. Actually it's in Richmond as for bait there are many places the SA in Cold Spring, and in Richmond there is the Marine and the gas station across from the marine.

ATM: drop me a line if you haven't already. I will send you the map if I can find it otherwise I will try and get one printed out. SUV is currently on hold as I haven't been out to look for one and the van is goin to be the first purchase.

[anyfishwilldo]

Just got off Horseshoe. Got 1 walleye, and 1 crappie before the sun came up, and no more takers after that.

[so haaad]

ATM, did you get out on Sunday? I was out there in the black Sno-boat Explorer and the red Jeep Cherokee.

[Dennis Steele]

Hit the 'Shoe yesterday for some cats and had a decent day, save for my snowmoblie breaking down. Its not much fun dragging a sled back to the access especially when your a heavy smoker!!

I also lost the travel cover to my Otter. I can't say if it blew away or I left it in the trailer and some one "borrowed" it. If any one sees a black Otter cover let me know.

I can't say we hammered them but the action was steady from about 10:00 untill 2:00. Small waves of cats would come through suspended at about 8 to 10 feet over 43 feet of water just of the bottom of the break.We would pick up one or two each time. I trolled around other depths and didn't see any activity anywhere else, save for some what I believe were crappies and rock bass.

We had luck on a few different lures. I gave a couple JR's baits a shot. I caught most of my cats on a 1/8oz Flasher.

The little willow leafs give the bait a lot of action when you shake it. I think this triggered a lot of fish.

I also had one hit a 1/8oz Crusher.

Towards the end of the day the cats became a little less active and my friend Dale noted that they were prefering smaller baits. He picked up fish on a small Forage Minnow, and I switched to a 1/16thoz Go Devil.

I also had a chance to use my new Midwest Rod and Reel custom ice rod that I got for cats. Its a great rod for cats. 32" medium light and great sensitivity. I could feel the light cat bites and you could see the slight movement on the rod tip. I think this rod is going to help me put a few more cats on the ice.

It was good to ice some cats again. With as busy as I will be with the ICE Series, it may be late February before I get back. Catch some for me guys!

[ATM]

so haad, I ended up going to a different lake. It was nice to try a lake i have never been to but now im ready for some cats. I will be there on new years eve day. I plan on leaving Crystal at 7am and fishing all day. If your going to be out there or want to hook up and head out there let me know. How did you do? I was on ann lake by zimmerman and there was 2 trucks on the ice I found as much as 12 inches but in one spot only had 7. adam

[so haaad]

ATM, I just got your message. I got out on Horseshoe on New Years Day for a few hours. Ice fishing during the thunderstorm was kind of crazy. The cats were biting very well during the storm, so it was hard to leave. I caught 7 or 8 fish, but only kept a couple for the frying pan. I also lost 3 fish right at the ice and one in the hole. Most of the more active fish were on the bottom or almost on the bottom. Most of the suspended fish were 6-10 feet off the bottom, but not the active biters. Haaad

[Crappeye]

Hey guys, how much ice do you think is out there now? Also, are people driving trucks out there yet? I want to go out there tomorrow but do not want to drag my portable and sled by myself. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[so haaad]

The ice is getting pretty thick. A good foot I would say. There were a few pickups buzzing around out there, but I still walked out.