Ottawa River Ice

[Yannick Loranger]

Hi folks,
For those of you who had started fishing the bays of the Ottawa River, be very careful! The water has come up and shores are slushy and spots that were iced over last week now have either open water, or very poor ice. Even a relatively well sheltered bay in Rockland that had decent ice last week had seams of open water this morning. We're still hoping to have our huts out by February, but our plan to start building ice this week is postponed until safer conditions arise.

Yannick

[nighttroller]

Thanks for the words of caution, I was thinking the same thing. I was on walleye bay at Petrie Island on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning and there was 5" of clear ice. I drove by Monday morning and it was almost wide open. It froze over again last night but I don't think it will be safe for while yet.

[SeanGilmour]

Thanks for your advise. I am new to ice fishing and will be in the Constance Bay Area visiting a friend this weekend, from what I am reading it seems a good bet that getting out in a protected bay with a portable hut should be possible if the weather stays cold, from what I am told his bay ( close to Constance) didn't lose its ice over last weekend, by shore was water but with the weekend weather it's to be expected. Naturally I will still bring my trusty spud, I have asked my friend to try to get out and start spuding for me but he is busy working. Gonna go pack my gear just in case.

[Yannick Loranger]

Just an update. The water has continued to rise. For those familiar with the Rockland boat launch, the water is now flush with the top of the cement docks. Water levels are expected to start dropping back down to normal levels sometime towards the end of the week.

Here's the word from Yves at Ozile's at Petrie:

Here is the latest. Due to a ice dam near Plantagenest the river has come up about 3.5 feet since Sunday. Most of this happened since yesterday. The water level is still coming up. The road after the bridge is presently flooded and is now closed until further notice. The shoreline will be an issue as not only has it moved with the water coming inland, it is hidden under the snow received yesterday. Once the ice dam is cleared we are told water levels will go down about 6" per day. There is a big risk that water levels will go down and the ice surface particularly along the shore might not follow leaving an air gap between the two. This creates a very dangerous set of parameters so please be very careful when out there

Yannick

[SeanGilmour]

Thanks based on that info I am going to postpone my trip for a week.

[highlander]

Here is the latest. Due to a ice dam near Plantagenest the river has come up about 3.5 feet since Sunday.

Crazy. Thanks for the update Yan.

I wonder if the water level in west ottawa (constance bay and/or shirley's) is experiencing the same fluctuation. Anyone been out there to check it out?

Ian

[CCLad]

Here is the latest. Due to a ice dam near Plantagenest the river has come up about 3.5 feet since Sunday.

Crazy. Thanks for the update Yan.

I wonder if the water level in west ottawa (constance bay and/or shirley's) is experiencing the same fluctuation. Anyone been out there to check it out?

Ian

[Peron]

Here is the measured Ottawa river flows and levels. http://ottawariver.ca/river-levels-flows.php A bit hard to interpret but because of the current conditions and the flow constriction at Chaudiere falls you can see a one metre measured change in less than a week (Gatineau depths). The western areas above the Deschenes Rapids are pretty stable HOWEVER human flow control could change that.

In summary as already mentioned... Shorelines may be sketchy for a while.

Rod

[highlander]

Here is the measured Ottawa river flows and levels. http://ottawariver.ca/river-levels-flows.php

Really interesting, thanks. I figured there was quite a drop between shirley's and gatineau (again, the rapids and all near parliament). This is good info.

Ian

[Yannick Loranger]

Another update. Conditions are changing fast on the Lower Ottawa. The shoreline slush has subsided considerably since yesterday. I was able to walk out and the bay I was on had 7-9" of the clearest ice I've ever seen on the Ottawa. For about 50' near shore there's an air pocket between the ice and land that makes things a little shady still for a quad or sled. Barring a disaster, our huts will be out by next weekend.

Yannick

[nighttroller]

The road to Petrie is still closed, for about 75' by Walleye Bay the road is completely covered with 3 - 4" of water under 2" of ice (as of yesterday Thursday). I am not sure how safe the ice is on the Bay but it is a long walk from where the road is closed. Hopefully with the water going down the road will reopen soon.

[Tip-up]

The road to Petrie is still closed, for about 75' by Walleye Bay the road is completely covered with 3 - 4" of water under 2" of ice (as of yesterday Thursday). I am not sure how safe the ice is on the Bay but it is a long walk from where the road is closed. Hopefully with the water going down the road will reopen soon.

They closed the road so you cant go catch all the walleye Rich! Nice to here from ya! Message if ya want to get out sometime

ITCHIN' for some river eyes too!

[Wallyboss]

Nice to hear from nightroller, hopefully I will do a bit more icefishing this year and have a chance to see you out there.

[Yannick Loranger]

Grrrrr....watee came up again but slush is relatively shallow. Hope to get our huts out Thursday.

[nighttroller]

Petrie is still a mess. There were a couple permanent shacks going on baitshop bay but you can't drive out due to the shoreline. The road is still closed before the bridge and walleye bay and crappie bay are inaccessible. Andrew, Dan, once the ice is safe I will let you guys know, it would be great to get on the ice together again. I will be hitting up alternate waters this weekend.