DOOR COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A large crack in the ice has opened up on Green Bay just off the Door County shoreline.
Professional guide JJ Malvitz spoke to WLUK. He says the crack opened up Wednesday night. As of early Thursday afternoon, the crack was about 120 feet wide.
Malvitz says the crack runs from Little Sturgeon Bay in the Town of Gardner north to Sherwood Point in the Town of Nasewaupee, about two and a half miles off shore.
He estimates the crack could be four to five miles long.
“If you look at this pocket of water here, it’s about the width of a Great Lakes freighter. So you can kind of correlate this crack because of the ice breaking.”
Malvitz says the ice shanties on the wrong side of the crack should be fine. In fact, he thinks the shanties will be back where they belong in a day or two.
“A little west wind will help and once that west wind comes, a little cold weather, the combination of those two, those shanties will all be back where they need to be and they’ll be out there fishing and catching fish”
If you are thinking about coming out on the ice this weekend, it’s recommended you know where you are going or go out with someone who knows where they are going.
Most of all, Malvitz says it’s important to remember to use common sense.
“If you see a crack that is a foot wide, just know that crack could grow into 10, 15, 20 feet or like here, a couple hundred feet”
“If you’re going with a guide, a guide is not going to risk anyone’s life going out there,” said Mike Richard, the owner of Howie’s Tackle in Sturgeon Bay.
Malvitz says the ice thickness right now is between eight and 14 inches across the bay.
