There are plenty of good pike still left in Conesus. The north end does get pounded but most of the lake is unfished on the ice. The number of small pike does seem up. I'm glad to see that. I started fishing Conesus in 2004 and we would never catch small pike. The last couple seasons, there seem to be more around. I use an underwater camera on Conesus for gills and there are tons of pike swimming around.
One of the local weather guys made mention of possible a wet spring. So far this winter Redfield NY has received 310" of snow. There is no way the snow pack is gone yet.
I would be nervous about having a knick or fray in the cable with it stopping like that. I wouldn't want my ball swinging around out of the water either. Other than that, they look like well built riggers.
The internet has ruined spots on the ice. I can remember going to Canadice 15 years ago and not seeing another ice fisherman out there. If you go there on a weekend now, it is a zoo. I used to post reports on the ice but quit after seeing the crowds and the disrespectful "sportsmen" the reports were drawing. Sodus this season is a prime example. Reports drew huge crowds and people were parking like idiots, leaving garbage on the ice and trespassing to get on the ice. Fishing access is hard enough to get now a days. Incidents like the ones mentioned above are only making the access tougher and tougher.
Fish on the south side of the main point off the parking lot in the big pond for gills. If the ice is good, walk across the pond to the cove directly across the pond from the main point and search until you find gills. Bass are everywhere. The ponds used to have great numbers of big pickerel. I have a 28" pickerel on my wall from that pond.