EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After a year when safe ice was harder to find on Reeds Lake, local anglers are celebrating several solid days of ice fishing conditions this season.
Multiple fishermen were set up across the lake, taking advantage of what they say is the first reliable ice in quite some time.
David Cantrell, who has been ice fishing for 34 years, was heading out to his favorite spot that was unusable last year.
"I guess these freezing temperatures, the pipes in your house are frozen so everything's going on," Cantrell said.
Cantrell had been out the night before to check conditions and caught crappie during his outing.
Fellow angler Ian Stek said the timing is much better than last season.
"It froze up for a little bit in December, only about half the lake was frozen, but it was eh, it was iffy but you could do it. And then it's been frozen here for 2 weeks or so," Stek said.
Stek noted that last year, ice didn't form until mid-January. During his fishing session, he had caught three small fish in just 10 minutes on the ice.
"I forgot to bring bait, so I'm gonna use this guy as bait," Stek said.
Allan Nolan, who was fishing from a tent while waiting to catch pike, said current conditions are significantly improved.
"The ice conditions right now are really good! Last year was a bit sketchy but now I think we've got 8 inches of good ice. And this is really the first good day to be out because it's been so cold and so windy it's kept people off from the ice," Nolan said.
Despite limited success so far, Nolan remained optimistic about the fishing prospects.
"The barometric pressure's rising today, hopefully again tomorrow and hopefully that'll make the fish bite!" Nolan said.
With freezing temperatures expected to continue through the week, local anglers are hoping the safe ice conditions will hold for an extended fishing season.
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