Could the Chesapeake Bay Freeze Over?
 

Bored all day in the house , all over the net . Found this article about the cold temps in the bay and the possibility of freezing over. What effect if any do these freezes have on a spring spawn in the bay?

AccuWeather.com - WeatherMatrix | Could the Chesapeake Bay Freeze Over?

It's happened in the past, all the chesapeake light house's have jetties to make sure the ice is diverted around the light houses. the Susquehanna also dumps its ice into the bay.

Chef do you remember back in 93 when the west passage was frozen solid all the way down to plum island lighthouse? When you drove over the bridge, you could see the seals that usually live on the rock pile off of Rome point hanging on the ice at the edge of the water
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I broke 4-6 inches of ice in the winter of 80/81 with an old steel 40-foot Coast Guard Boat in the Chesapeake. It freezes over quite often although not as much as I can remember in my youth. The state has a boat that breaks ice for the oystermen.

The spring spawn success has less to do with the freezing of the bay then it has to do with the spring rains. The bay salinity levels are the real concern but someone more scientific than me will need to provide the details.

I did think about picking up some spot for the crabpots but I still have plenty of bluefish and peanut bunker to cover. They we all over the shore. Although when I finally pulled the empty crabpots in December (I was late due to shear laziness) I had perch and spot in them. Apparently they didn't migrate as much as they usually do.

It could happen and this brings back some memories :tooth: . I remember late 70s me (77 or 78 moved to Boston summer 78) and a friend almost died rowing ice blows (Ice bergs to us) in some of the waters we live on mid bay (creeks). We got out a little far and started flipping them.

Ahhh, the days without parental supervision.

We were able to ice skate on Bodkin creek a LOT. 'Cept we had to buy figure skates, couldn't get hockey skates in MD at the time :smash:.

My wife remembered skating the length of Rockhold Creek out to the bay in the early seventies. I just remember really cold goose pits during those days...

Yep, think I remember at least 2 years that happened. Even a little south of the jamestown bridge if I remember right. One of the owners I worked for was telling me about back in the 70's. He was telling me about having a dinner date , way out in newport harbor on the ice!

i HATE saltwater ICE
 

i hate saltwater ICE (did i mention that)
its extra slippery

one day i walk down to the beach
just like i did every morning to see what's up

the ice had frozen on the shore and the tide had gone out
and we had ice to about 60 feet out....in the cove

i stupidly stepped onto the slanting ice thinking i could walk on it
and at this point theres just beach sand beneath it...

Out go my feet from under me and i go sliding out on to
the ICE lickedy split and no matter how many times i stood up
i immediately fell down time after time after time.

i was slowly getting hypothermia and nobody but nobody
could hear me shouting for help.

Finally i realized after about forty minutes
that i could pull myself to shore inch by inch
with my fingernails but it took over an hour.

i had never felt so cold in my life.

Chesapeke Bill - where are you from? I spent 12 years off and on in Pasadena between the ass end of the Bodkin creek to Rivera Beach.

dam , almost neighbors .. earliegh heights ..
skated from round bay down to the navel academy one winter ...

Deale. I was in Rivera Beach last weekend...hasn't changed much. Did quite a bit of fishing in that area. Now the price of gas forces me to stick to mid-bay and south.