Ice fishers are holding out in Simcoe County amid near-record-low ice levels

While fishing huts are a common sight this time of year along Lake Simcoe, the nearly record-low ice levels have some winter anglers asking when they might see any.

Most of Lake Simcoe is still open water, keeping anglers who want to avoid testing the waters with their boats out of the region's lakes.

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Luke Ledlie with Fish Simcoe Hard Waters Outfitters is still waiting patiently for the ice to arrive.

"As this trend has been going on, it's basically a February season," he said. "We're looking for February. We're looking for those first two weeks in March; if we get one or two in January, it's great."

Ledlie said his huts hit the ice on January 23 last year and figures with some luck that they may only be a week behind.

But the trend of near-record low ice levels is being seen across Ontario.

The Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research at the University of Windsor is reporting the lowest levels of ice coverage on the Great Lakes in 50 years.

"The lack of ice cover this year, the lack of ice cover last year may actually provide us a window to a future ice-free state of the lakes," said Mike McKay, director at the institute. "In fact, some of the climate models suggest that Lake Erie may be totally ice-free by 2080 or 2090."

However, the lack of ice hasn't kept everyone off the waters.

Eugene Coveazm decided to fish with a friend this weekend on Lake Simcoe.

It's nice, the weather is great, there is no ice yet, so we just got to do what we can right," he told CTV News.

Meanwhile, the OPP is warning people to stay clear of the waters, with the lack of ice creating possibly dangerous situations for boaters and responding emergency personnel.