Saturday, March 14, 2015

Ice Jams and Flooding

The river is letting loose! The jam at 475 is clearing out. Down river, the Buttonwood/Schroeder's side is open and flowing, but the area between Bluegrass and Sidecut is jammed. The entire field on the left side when driving down to Buttonwood is flooded with major ice chunks sitting there. River Road is still flooded out on the Maumee side. At the Maumee Bridge, tons of pedestrians were watching the flow. It's flowing fast there. But at the corner by White Street the river is jammed up at the island. In front of Orleans, it is flowing fast in the middle but then slows at another jam. I stood on an iceberg in the Orleans lower parking area and watched for 10 minutes. The river rose about 2 inches in that time. The ice cannot escape! By the Perrysburg Boat Club, ice is jammed out front and piling up. Look for more ice breaking loose tomorrow. Rossford, here it comes! Use your brain out there when walking around. I saw a low profile car pull into the Orleans lot and drive through water until he realized his wheels were about covered. Dumb. And if you have a canoe at Orleans, it's screwed. The racks are knocked over and twisted by the ice. I pulled one canoe out of the water and onto shore higher. (DBLDIP, it wasn't yours). Once this ice clears, then we will see more trees and debris flowing down. I can't imagine the devastation to Ft. Meigs Island and Bluegrass Island. But, I am surprised (and pleased) at how fast this ice is clearing out. Just a few days ago the river was basically all frozen over still.

15 comments:

Unknown said...

I would love for fish to be in there the 21st. But I got a feeling it will be the 28th before the water has warmed up enough.

Dr. Walleye said...

Same here Cory. I will keep you posted.

Dr. Walleye said...

The ice at Orleans is mostly gone today...Sunday

Unknown said...

At least the water temp is finally moving up. & the forecast looks Beautiful! With ice moving out, temp should continue to rise every day. If its 40deg by Sat I'm going to give it a try I think.

wdk said...

Rivers in decent shape with water temp coming up ice piled along banks.people trying to fish BEWARE maumees and perrysburg boat launches are unaccessible and any accidents there's no way to put rescue boats in to save you.be safe and good luck.

Dr. Walleye said...

So Cory, should I call you Cory or Gatlin? That was you with the new handle, right? WDK: Great advice.

Unknown said...

Either one Doc! On my phone I'm Cory, at work my computer uses Gatlin &,I'm not messing with it only because I'm not sure I remember either of the passwords! Lol!! Sorry.

Unknown said...

I'm so ignorant on here I can't even figure out how to add a photo. Hahaha. I answer to Cory or Gatlin anywhere. I've been called Gatlin for 20 years. It started when I unloaded on a rabbit when I was 15. I got him tho. Lol. Dad thought it should have only taken me one shot. Fun times.

wdk said...

Thanks doc I'm also a local guy who's been fishing the run for 20 plus years love your site if you ever want to go out in the boat I launch out of Corey st. Daily

Unknown said...

Went and gave Orleans a try yesterday, hooked into a few fish. Pretty sure they were all carp/suckers. About 6pm, somewhere up river busted loose, ice came pouring past us. Hoping to be catching some eyes soon. Water temp hot nearly 40 yesterday. Getting closer.

Dr. Walleye said...

Great story Gatlin! And wdk, thanks a lot for the offer. That's huge! Austin, be careful out there. It's a little early. Formerly, we would fish the first week of March, but that has not happened in a few years!

wdk said...

There's a pic of a walleye on MBT website this could be the start or maybe its a resident fish???? Hopefully its the start so we all can go have some fun.

Dr. Walleye said...

I saw that.

Unknown said...

We will be doing our very best to get Schroeders up and running by next week! From what I have heard, Buttonwood is closed indefinitely. The road down has been washed away.

Unknown said...

We got 5 the other day.