Lakes of Šiauliai · log kept since 2020
Measure the ice, then fish.
An ice-fishing log from Rėkyva, Talša and Ginkūnai pond: ice thickness checked first, then augers, small jigs, perch and roach, cold dawns and warm feet.
Written in Lieporiai, Šiauliai, Lithuania. Every thickness on these pages was measured with a tape through a drilled hole, at the spot where I stood, on that morning and no other.
- Under 10 cm
- Stay on the shore.
- 10 to 15 cm
- One person on foot, spud in hand, testing every step or two.
- 15 cm and more
- A few people, still spread well apart. No engines, ever.
Reeds, inflows, springs and dark patches: walk round them, whatever the tape said elsewhere.
Three waters
Talša
- Where
- In the city, a walk from home
- First ice
- After Ginkūnai, before Rėkyva
- Watch for
- Storm drains, reeds, rings of old holes
Rėkyva
- Where
- Southern side of the city
- First ice
- Usually last; big and open to wind
- Watch for
- Reed margins, brown bog water, March rot
Ginkūnai pond
- Where
- North-east, a bus and a walk
- First ice
- Often the first safe ice
- Watch for
- Springs and the inflow
From the log
Newest entry first. The figures are copied from the pencil notebook that lives in the sled.
| Date | Water | Ice | Air | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Jan 2026 | Ginkūnai pond | 24 cm, clear | −15 °C | Dawn at Ginkūnai pond: augers, a sled and dressing for minus fifteen A January morning from the dark walk in to first light: keeping a hand auger sharp and safe, pulling a sled, and the layers that keep hands and feet working. Fished · Kit · 5 min |
| 19 Jan 2025 | Talša | 22 cm, clear | −7 °C | Perch and roach under Talša's ice, from first freeze to late winter Where perch and roach sit through a winter on a small city lake, what changes as the ice thickens and the light fades, and the small jigs I use for each fish. Fished · Fish · 5 min |
| 24 Nov 2024 | Talša, first skim | 3 cm, clear | −4 °C | Before first ice: my thickness rules and the kit by the door The numbers I will not go below, how I test new ice from the shore out with a spud and a drill, and the safety kit that goes on the sled before any rod. Stayed ashore · Ice safety · 6 min |
| 10 Mar 2024 | Rėkyva, south bay | 18 cm, candled | +2 °C | March ice on Rėkyva and the morning I turned round at the shore Why late-season ice lies about its thickness: candled ice, soft water along the reeds, meltwater on top, and the checks that sent me home from Rėkyva in March. Stayed ashore · Ice safety · 5 min |
Before stepping off the shore
- Measure the ice before trusting it, every trip and every few steps.
- Picks round the neck, a rope on the sled, and someone who knows where I am.
- White ice counts as half; reeds, inflows and dark patches get a wide berth.
- Keep what will be eaten, release the rest quickly, and take every scrap of line home.
Why the log exists
I keep this log so that every winter on the ice around Šiauliai starts with the ice itself, and so that the little I have learned about perch, roach and staying warm is written down before I forget it again.
Who keeps the log, and why the first page is a list of days on the shore