Ice Boom

[John Jarosz]

Found this on Time/Warner Cable News posted 10 hrs ago:

Assuming the weather allows for it, the Lake Erie ice boom should begin coming out Tuesday. Army Corps of Engineers crews flew over the lake Monday and say there's only 240 square miles of ice coverage left. They say the only solid ice cover is around the boom.

[Capt. Larry D. Jones]

I would bet it will not come out today with the high winds predicted to 60 mph.We are going to have colder water temps way below normal for the 3rd Saturday in June Opener.In my eyes this will not be good for the Harbor Fishery,there will still be Big Girl's around finishing up from a late spawn and maybe even some that have not spawned yet.Last time I seen a simular late water warming period was 1998 and the Harbor Rampage! I sure wish we would have came to the July 1st to Dec 15th vote earlier,possibly the season this year would have started two weeks later on July 1st!

[Capt. Larry D. Jones]

By the way recorded Lake Erie water Temprature was 33 degrees today! Only about 50 days till the musky opener,might still be in the high 50's on the opener!

[John Jarosz]

What's the temperature range that muskies spawn in?

[Capt. Larry D. Jones]

52 degrees to 58 degrees, just remember the growth rate of the eggs being ready to drop is also slowed down by colder water temps, this alone could push the spawn to the end of May to the first weekbof June.Then the big girls stay around a couple weeks after spawning as well.1998 the water temp was 56 degrees and most fish had not spawn that were caught.

[John Jarosz]

Cap'n...do you have a link to Harbor water temp & Niag River temp history that would go back to the 80's or 90's and when did the coke ovens shut down?  What would be interesting to look at is a chart of air temp & water temp over the years.

[Capt. Larry D. Jones]

John, Go to www.erh.noaa.gov/buf/laketemps.php

[Capt. Larry D. Jones]

www.erh.noaa.gov/buf/laketemps/laketemps.php

[John Jarosz]

Cap'n..thanks much.  I bookmarked it & I'm going to poke around with the historical data.  I didn't make it to the State of LE meeting a few weeks ago but my neighbor went.  Don Einhouse said (according to my neighbr) it should be a good year for walleyes this year because of the ice cover.  I heard years ago that was because, by the time they spawned, the spring storms were over with.  Don E said that is no longer the thinking.  When there is heavy ice cover, the air temps get much warmer than the water & when the H2O reaches the spawning temps, the air will be quite warm.  With the warm air temps, it's the rise in water temp that makes a good spawn..  If the air & creeks are warm, then LE temps might go from 52 to 58 in one week  (for example).  If there is no ice cover, the lake warms up slowly, along with the air & it might take three weeks for the water to go from 52 to 58.  That's not good for spawning.  My neighbor said that what he heard was that the best spawns happen when the fish can get in & get out quickly & that happens when there is a lot of ice because once it melts, the rise in temp is much faster.

If all that is true, then the coke ovens might have kept the H2O temps fairly constant making for a long spawn.  Without the ovens & with a lot of ice cover, maybe there will be a fast rise in Harbor water temps making for a short spawn.(we can only hope)

I wonder if the data supports that & it might be a good question to ask the  SUNY ESF & Buff State guys.

[Capt. Larry D. Jones]

Yes the water temps may rise fast from 52 to 58 degrees, but it will all depend on how long it takes to rise from 33 degrees to 52 degrees, hopefully before the end of May and we will be ok!

[John Jarosz]

Cap'n...yes, that's exactly what I was hoping for.  The water is so cold now relative to the air temp, that it might climb quickly.  By the time it gets to the end of May, hopefully, it will fly thru 58 real quick.  It's been so darn cold outside though (in case you haven't noticed) that the H2O rise could be slow.  I'm going to play around with the past numbers & see if they mean anything.  It's all very interesting, though.

Back to fly tying.  Got a couple of patterns on synthetics I want to tie.

[Capt. Larry D. Jones]

Nights in the high 30's still ahead,that will not help the water temprature rise quickly!

[Capt. Larry D. Jones]

The last time we had 32 degree water temp at the end of April was 1996 and this was what happened on the Buffalo Harbor Musky Opener then.

1. FRANK DIMARCANTONIO 51" JUNE 17th

2. MARK ELLWOOD 51" JUNE 16 th

3. BOB CORBIN 51" JUNE 15 th

4. MIKE BORDANARO 50" JUNE 15th

5. JON MACSWAN JR. 50" JUNE 16 th

6. GEOFF HETRICK 50" JUNE 16 th

7. CAD BEYERS 49 3/4" JUNE 15 th