Warm Temperatures Chill the Ice Fishing Season

[n2doc]

An ice fishing shanty in Escanaba, Mich., had to be dragged to shore last week because the ice beneath it had begun to melt.




By MATT HIGGINS
Published: January 10, 2007
BUFFALO, Jan. 9 — For 20 years, Capt. Kevin Caffery traced Lake Erie’s frozen shoreline in the gathering twilight of late winter afternoons. From his helicopter, he scanned for parked cars belonging to ice fishermen. If the cars had not been retrieved, it could mean men were stranded miles offshore on shifting ice floes.

In this way, Caffery, of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, rescued numerous fishermen. Then came last winter, when, for the first time, Caffery made no rescues. The reason was simple. “The ice didn’t freeze,” he said.

Unseasonably warm weather in recent winters has Buffalo, a frequent target of jibes about snow and cold, bucking its Arctic reputation. But without freezing temperatures, there has been no ice fishing, sending a chill through those whose livelihoods depend on it.

“Guys that ice fish spend more than your average fisherman per person,” said Bill Van Camp, the owner of Big Catch Bait & Tackle on Niagara Street. “An average guy will spend $10, an ice fisherman $20 to $30 on bait and little jigs and light rods.”

Other than some specialty rods, Van Camp has not replenished his fishing inventory because he had so much remaining from last year. With a warm weather pattern holding, sales have slumped this season, too, leaving Van Camp concerned.

“A guy skips ice fishing this year, he may forget about it,” he said.

Van Camp has watched warming weather affect his business. Twenty-five years ago he sold extensions for augurs because the ice was so thick, but in recent years no one has needed extensions because the ice is so much thinner.

Cold, hard facts back his observations. Eighty years of records show that Lake Erie, the shallowest of the Great Lakes, could be counted on to freeze over nearly every winter. The lake froze every year between 1953 and 1998. But in the last nine years, it has failed to freeze completely three times, according to the local Army Corps of Engineers office.

Odds are poor the lake will freeze over in 2007. On Jan. 9, Lake Erie was a record 41 degrees, 7 above normal.

“This year we had the second-warmest November and December in history,” said Alan Blackburn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Buffalo. “We’re seeing more warm years in the recent decade. There’s something happening here.”

more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/sports/othersports/10outdoors.html

[luckyleftyme2]

1. BUT ITS NOT GLOBAL WARMING

If your a staunch conservative it cannot be global warming. The fact that glaciers are losing chunks up to 25square miles at a time is merely an adjusting of weather patterns and could be replaced by a cold spell next year or the year after that.
I MEAN AFTER ALL LOOK AT COLORADO, the fact that the middle of the country is going on its 30th day of above average temp is just a blip in time.
the fact that the state of maine issued a state wide warning that no lake or pond had ice safe enough to walk on let alone fish on january 9th is just another blip in time.
And if you don't believe me ask aka: "DUBYA" AKA: "THE CHIMP" OTHERWISE KNOWN AS"THE PRESIDENT ON VACATION" GE bush jr.
For those of you who don't buy into this look up how much forrest and icepacks have receded
since 1980! It'll scare the britches off ya!

[gasperc]

2. the CNN news radio update on AirAmerica says

that 2006 was the warmest year on record but, and you know they had to throw that fucking but in, "some" still claim that this is just a cyclical warm period and we may just as likely experience a mini-age soon.

oh ... brother

I'm sadly convinced until huge chunks of greenland melt off and start seriously flooding major cities will enough of these blowhard people that spew stupid shit like this stop and say wait maybe global warming is real?

[TZ]

4. Katrina didn't convince them

If these nut jobs aren't convinced about the dangers of global warming by what Katrina did, then they will still be spitting out how it doesn't exist even as they drown in a flood somewhere. Even if you don't believe that hurricane strength is linked to global warming (which I do) it SHOULD at least have been a wake up call to these ninnies about the vulnerbility of our coastlines and developments to flooding. But since it was only poor black people it seems nothing was learned from these horrible events.

[Ezlivin]

6. Nothing will convince them because they simply "believe" it isn't happening

You can't argue rationally with these people.

Let's say that Greenland melts and all the coastal cities of the world flood.

Surely they would then admit it was global warming, right?

Wrong. They can never, ever admit they were wrong despite the mountain of evidence.

Just check out how long it took the Catholic Church to admit Galileo was correct. These people are just as sold on their belief system.

[Truthy Nessy]

3. Up in Northern Ontario,

where the rivers run south to the Artic . My backyard river is not frozen. This year first time know by those alive we didn't have snow.

[nealmhughes]

5. Is ice fishing real, or a giant hoax perpetrated on those in warmer climes

by bluenoses with cabin fever? I've always wondered....
I thought fishing was an excuse for catching some rays and drinking beer, am I wrong here?
:sarcasm: