After monitoring the weather stations for daily hi and lo temperatures, and watching the web cameras, and getting 3rd and 4th hand reports from friends, we decided it was time to try the ice. There is a reasonable amount of ice, but I would still use caution everywhere, especially where the big crack is along "channel". We covered a lot of lake and drilled a lot of holes, and had only 4 perch to show for our efforts. Most folks we talked to were having about the same results. But, my friend's boys had a grand time ripping around on the ice and sledding down the bank a little. Not much help for the vegetable soup this time around.