The first stop today was right before boat launch 1 and I found the shore line to be solid. I then went out and punched a hole about 15ft off shore and found the ice to be 1 in. All my measurements are with a gauge so you know I am not guessing. The depth of water is never above my knees when I check the ice unless I have drilled holes and know I can move out farther. I drilled the hole short of the ice that has remained on since last week. I did not trust it. I then went to an area about a mile before boat launch 2 (Triple Posts) I drilled a hole about 20ft off shore and found the ice to be 2 inches thick. I went to boat launch 3 and drilled a hole on the ice at the boat ramp it was 1 inch but what shocked me is that I could reach the ice area that remained from last week and found the ice to be a little better than slush. That surprised me a lot. The snow must have insulated it and not allowed it to harden up. The last stop was at the stump area and I took one step out and went straight threw the slush without hesitation. The ice there is very deceiving. Well the ice is not ready yet but it looked a lot better than yesterday. I had a friend tell me that he saw some guys on the ice at pyme across the road from the carp feeding area. I am sending a friend that lives close by there to check it out.

I checked the ice today at just 2 spots. The first was between the dam and boat launch 1 the ice was between 2 and 3 inches about 30 ft out. The other was between boat launch 1 and 2 (TRIPLE POSTS). The ice was thicker between 3 and 3 1/2. Getting better. Cross your fingures

thanks sarge....i really appreciate the updates, but man its killing me....i just cant wait anymore

Yes Sarge, thank you for keeping us posted. Maybe I'll see you up there soon!

I was very reluctant to check the ice. I was hoping for a miracle. The lake was up over a foot and there were large spaces of open water. I was crushed and knew this would at least take 3 days to recover the loss if the weather stays cold. I’m a true die hard and will continue to check and pray. Good luck and keep your hopes up.

Today around 11:00 am. I checked the lake and found it completely iced up again and the water level starting to go down. A very good start. I will keep an eye on it. We have a very good chance of fishing on Sunday.

thats some good news....still might wait another week though. i dont mind falling in, i just dont want to lose any gear...lol!

do you guys fish wilhelm often? i fish the stumps alot from my kayak in the fall but have never went out on the ice... any tips? good spots? gonna head over tommorrow evening to an old road bed ive trolled for walleye a couple times... if the ice is thick enough of course gonna give it a go

Today’s check of the lake showed improvement once again. I checked the ice at three different locations between boat launch 1 and the causeway the ice was between 2 and 2 ½ inches and felt really good under the feet. I went to boat launch 3 and was amazed there was human tracks heading out onto the lake and I could see places that holes were drill almost half way across. Somebody was fishing !!!!!! I went out about 30 yds and checked the ice thickness was 3 inches of good ice. I drilled about 4 more holes going towards the middle straight out from the launch and found that each time I checked the ice was 3 inches. I then proceeded to the parking area right before I-79 and busted through the edge ice. I got on top of the ice about 3 ft out and drilled a hole and the ice there was 2 ½ inches. I drove over to the stump area but did not walk down to check the ice. I talked to a gentlemen that told me there was 3 Dutchmen shanties on the stumps the night before but they could only get on the ice by walking over the hill from the dirt road south of the lake at the closed gate. Ok I’m getting excited now!!!!!!!!!

Steelhead 1994

I lived beside Wilhelm pretty much my whole life and caught a lot of fish out of it. Besides ice fishing I love to troll for eyes. Wilhelm is not my first choice for eyes. I prefer Erie, Pyme and shanango. I have seen some really nice eyes taken out of Wilhelm in the last few years including a 30 inch. I do plan spending more time chasing them at Wilhelm in the future. I just need to find a consistent pattern. All the spots I would recommend to try ice fishing are not fishable right now due to ice thickness. But that road bed you are thinking about should be real good especially on the edge of it.