On Fri, 27 Feb 2004 06:55:55 -0500, "Al Kubeluis"
wrote:

Hi Boaters (or Landlubbers),
A bay waterman who had just come into St. Michaels harbor breaking
through ice in his Kinnamon 44' workboat told me that he has lost more work
days due to ice this year than any year in his 17 years on the bay.
On Harris Creek off the Choptank, we've had more ice than I've seen in
the 6 years I've been here. Going over the Bay Bridge by Annapolis I've seen
more ice than I have ever seen there before.
Have you had more than normal ice in your areas?
Al Kubeluis

Define normal.

The past few years, the ice season on the local lakes has been short
and frankly, this year it looks to be about the same in terms of
length. Looking over actual records of ice, it would appear that this
winter has been about "normal".

The amount of ice is higher than it's been for the past four/five
years - average ice depth on Webster lake was around 8/10 inches.
Normal is about 6/8 inches when it's there.

Our local lakes average 12/15 feet of depth with the bigger lakes
averaging 17/20 feet which means they warm up quickly once the air
temp gets to the 40s during the days and the sun starts to set past
5:30 PM. Usually by the end of the first week of March, we see open
water and by the second week of March, we can actually get out and
fish. This year looks to be delayed about a week/week and a half.

Later,

Tom
S. Woodstock, CT
----------

Basic Fishing Program:

10 - Fish
20 - Eat
30 - Sleep
40 - Goto 10