Is there any ice on the lakes at Bluegrass?

[Moveon]

I have not been out to Bluegrass since the last big snow fall we had so I'm curious if the water's frozen out there since we have had all this cold weather lately.

I saw a picture of someone ice fishing on the Friends of Bluegrass Facebook page. It looked like that might be fun to try if the ice is thick enough.

I won't go on any ice unless it's at least 4" thick on a small pond and at least 8" thick on bigger bodies of water.

Water that has a current can have thin spots so I avoid those types of waters and don't got out on them if they have ice on them.

I was hunting ducks with some friends back in the 1970's down at Hovey Lake and one of the guys with us was pushing his boat across the thin ice and fell though and got wet. The ice was only about 3" thick and it warmed up before we finished hunting and had a hard time getting back to the launch ramp. Everyone was holding onto the side of the boat while walking along the ice and pushing the boat across the ice. The things we do to go hunting huh?

[Moveon]

I went out today and did some scouting. I saw where there is open spots on Otter Pit and also on Loon and Bluegrass Pit. There is still some ice covering parts of these lakes but it's too thin to walk on.

Some one picked up some of the big rip rap rocks at the new launch ramp on Bluegrass Pit and tossed them out onto the ice to check it's thickness. They are still sitting on the ice. There are about 10 of these things out there on the ice. Now when the ice melts they will fall through onto the launch ramps concrete and get a hazard when people try to launch their boats. I guess some people just don't care.


Someone else bashed in the only porta pottie out there and now the door to the porta pottie won't stay shut. Why are people so stupid? This happened a month or so ago and the IDNR or the company who takes care of the porta pottie has not fixed it or replaced it. I hope they fix it this spring when it gets crowded out there again.

[Moveon]

Most all the water out at the Bluegrass F&W area are covered with ice. It's not solid but I only saw a few areas of open water at the North End of Otter Pit. Most all the water is covered in Ice now. Sunday Jan 26th the temperatures got up to almost 50 deg F so there was some liquid water in spots on the top of the ice.

I would not get out on the ice the way it was on Sunday.


But it's predicted to be colder Sunday night and Monday. So the ice may start to freeze up thicker if it stays cold for a while longer.

Always be careful and measure the ice to make sure that it's at least 4" to 6" thick before you venture out onto the ice for any purpose.

And beware that water moves though these three big pits out at Bluegrass and moving water will not freeze as fast as water that's standing still. There is a definite current moving though Otter Pit as well as Loon Pit as the all are connected to Bluegrass Pit hydrologically via under the roadway culverts pipes. Water flows into the North End of Bluegrass Pit and when it gets full the water flows though a pipe under Boonville New Harmony Road and into the North end of Loon Pit. At the South end of Loon pit the water flows though a pipe under Kansas Rd. into the North end of Otter Pit. From Otter pit it flows to the West under Euler Rd via a huge culvert into the a big ditch in the corn field just to the West Euler Rd. Water goes into this ditch and flows to the West into Bluegrass Creeek and then into Pigeon Creek and then on down into the Ohio River.

This moving water will make the ice thinner in some areas where the water enter or leaves the Pits via these culverts. So beware of this fact and make sure that any ice is thick enough in all areas you plan to use if you do plan to go out onto the ice on these bodies of water.

That water is freezing cold and if you fall though the ice into the water you won't last more than a few mintues before you drown and die of hypothermia. So be very careful if you plan to go out on the ice for any reason at this time.

I would not go out on the ice on any of the larger bodies of water until it's at least 8" thick in most area.

The reason I'm so serious about this is that I use to be one of the guys that would be called to come get you out of the water after your drowned. And I still have old friends who do this job. You endanger their lives if you drown and they are required to come get your body out from the water though the ice. That's a very dangerous job and it's best to have those resources but not use them. They are there if they are needed but it's best to never have to use them. So please be very careful if you go out there.

When I was younger I took more chances and would venture out on small pond that I knew were not very deep. They usually froze sooner than the larger lakes but they also thaw out much faster as there is less water in them. It takes mush less cold an heat to make these ponds from from water to ice and back again.