Ice Conditions at Long Point (2023-24)

T

Tundra Swan

Well-Known Member
Hello Guys,

I guess that it is time to post my annual thread regarding "Ice Conditions at Long Point" for this year since we had a little bit of ice forming along the calm portions of our shoreline on Saturday morning.

I will try to keep you up to date regarding the westerly portion of the management unit, Big Creek (including the boat launch) and the Port Rowan area (including the boat launch) as often as required. Please feel free to add your observations regarding other areas of interest such as the boat launches at the Provincial Park, Howey Avenue and the many marinas in our area.

I want to post an update regarding the significant progress that occurred earlier this year regarding some potential new hunting opportunities for us in the near future but do not want to say too much at this time.

Jerome
 
For someone who travels about 2 hours to hunt these waters, I wanted to say thank you!

Your efforts and time to provide these snap shots of conditions are appreciated.

Bugzy
 
Hello Guys,

The temperature dropped to - 7 C over Monday night and by Tuesday morning there was a thin layer of ice covering most of Coletta Bay and the western edge of Zone A ... especially that area with Blinds 38, 39 and 40.

Approximately 240 Tundra Swans (along with some ducks) kept three (3) fairly large areas free of ice behind my house as I could hear them constantly overnight providing a very pleasant sight to see in the morning.

The temperature rose to - 3 C by mid afternoon on Tuesday with the sun melting a lot of the ice that had formed ... however that area with Blinds 38, 39 and 40 remained covered with ice at sundown.

The temperature dropped to - 3 C over Tuesday night and by Wednesday morning (- 1 C at 0700 hours) there was some extension to the ice that had remained from Tuesday ... will check conditions again later today.

More ice has now formed (0 C at 1300 hours) since this morning (overcast sky) covering most of Coletta Bay (center portion is open) and the western edge of Zone A (Blinds 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 and 43) appeared all iced in.

The northern edge of Zone A (Blinds 30 and 31) has some ice extending out from the marsh for short distance. I can not see much past that. I suspect that the most of the inside portion of the marsh has ice at this point.

The Big Creek and the Big Creek boat launch is wide open but the Port Rowan marina is iced in to the open lake ... a boat has cut a path out to the lake.

Jerome

PS I would have posted this report sooner but I stayed home all day yesterday without internet service.
 
Hello Bugzy,

As somebody who once lived in Mississauga (from 1975 to 2004) it used to take me 2 1/4 hours to drive to Long Point so I know how you must feel ... do I go or do I stay home?

Feel free to call me (519-586-9825) any evening after 1900 hours to have a final check on the conditions. I live on the causeway so I check out the view several times a day.

Jerome
 
Hello Guys,

The temperature dropped to - 2 C over Wednesday night but by Thursday morning the temperature had risen to + 6 C at 0700 hours and to + 7 C at 0900 hours. I saw that there was still a thin layer of ice covering most of Coletta Bay (center portion was more open than yesterday) and the western edge of Zone A but not as much as of sundown yesterday afternoon.

I just returned from some target shooting at 1530 hours this afternoon and I looked out over the inner bay expecting most of the ice to have melted with the sun shine and the warm temperatures. Most of Coletta Bay and the western edge of Zone A (Blinds 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 and 40) appeared to be ice free ... not sure about Blind 41 and 43.

The Big Creek and the Big Creek boat launch is wide open but the Port Rowan marina still has some very thin ice remaining in some areas. The north shore is ice free.

Jerome
 
Hello Guys,

The temperature was + 7 C this morning and there was no ice to be seen anywhere. The temperature then rose to + 8 C and remained there until mid afternoon falling back to + 7 C ... balmy weather!

Jerome
 
Hello Guys,

I went out to Blind 1 on Wednesday morning (December 13) with my neighbour and his dog ... the pond was essentially "ice free" except for a residual amount of ice (half a foot) around the edge of the pond. The channel leading out to Blind 2 however was frozen over.

The temperature was a chilly - 2 C that morning but rosed to + 2 C by noon ... we were already back home by then with our limit of mallards ... just joking ... not a bird came by our way. There was some thin ice extending out from my seawall for about twenty feet due to the sheltered nature of the area.

The temperature dropped to - 2 C over Wednesday night and by Thursday morning (December 14) there was a thin layer of ice covering most of Coletta Bay (center portion was still open), the western portion of Zone A and a fair bit of the inner bay. However most of this iced had melted with + 5 C temperatures by noon

The temperature was steady + 6.5 C at 1400 hours with still some thin ice remaining in the sheltered portions of Coletta Bay. The Big Creek and the Big Creek boat launch were wide open but the Port Rowan marina still has some very thin ice remaining in some areas. The north shore was essentially ice free.

I was not impressed with the positioning of Blind 1 since it faced south (with the sun in our faces) forcing us to look back towards the north to view what was happening (if anything) over the marsh behind us as we did see a few birds far off in the distance.

Jerome
 
Hello Guys,

Just a quick update to my above post from yesterday afternoon ... by 1700 hours with the temperature still at + 5 C nearly all of the ice had melted.

The temperature remained above freezing overnight and there was no ice to be seen anywhere by this morning ... so enjoy the current opportunity.

Jerome

PS I saw that somebody was hunting in Coletta Bay with a layout boat yesterday afternoon when I checked the ice conditions at 1650 hours. The layout boat and decoys were definitely outside of Zone B so that would mean that they (boat and decoys) were in Zone A on a Thursday ... definitely a "no no" for sure!
 
Hello Guys,

I have seen that we are in for some additional mild weather this weekend with even higher temperatures for next week ... up to 10 C for the middle of the week.

Jerome
 
Hello Guys,

There was only a minimal amount of ice along the shoreline in a few areas where the water was relatively calm overnight ... nothing to speak about.

Jerome
 
Hello Guys,

I had some trouble seeing any ice around here this afternoon ... just some very thin ice in the calm shallow areas ... nothing to be concern about.

There could be more ice by tomorrow morning but the temperature of the water is still fairly warm ... 42 F across the lake at Erie last night.

Jerome
 
I was out today at shooting point #24, there was no ice when we got out around 10am. When we picked up at 3pm the marsh behind us was froze over and the open water was getting slushy. The old cut channel had approximately 1” of ice.
It’s currently -1°C here in long point and the wind is next to nothing. I would assume the internals of the marsh will be froze over and there may be some ice around the edges of the marsh.
I have pulled my boat and called the season done. Good luck to the die hards heading out over the weekend. Dress warm and be safe.
 
Hello Brandon,

My neighbour and two of his friends tried B Zone on Saturday morning with his two-man layout boat ... one gave up after a few hours but my neighbour and the other friend continued afterwards with his one-man layout boat and had a "blast" of a time out there.

Jerome

PS I had been invited to join them but I "wimped out" worried about the cold temperature ... as it turned out it was not that bad ... +3 C by noon!
 
Hello Guys,

I thought that it would be interesting to note that I saw a Great Blue Heron feeding along the causeway in "ice free" water on Thursday afternoon (January 11) and a Pied-Billed Grebe feeding behind my seawall in "ice free" water later that same day.

The storm arrived Friday evening (January 12) with just some ice pellets ... on Saturday morning there was just some snow flurries and strong wind ... no ice. I noticed that the ice was starting to form along the shoreline (my seawall) on Sunday morning.

I saw hundreds of Canvasbacks pouring in to feed later Sunday afternoon as the ice expanded quickly into the bay ... they were then quickly joined by Redheads, Buffleheads, Common Mergansers and a few other species ... quite the site to see!

The ice covered all of Coletta Bay by this morning (January 15) and no ducks could be seen as the visibilty was rather poor beyond about 500 yards.

Jerome
 
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