to fish the ice house you need a decent cast around 100 + yds, the ground is ok here, the reason your losing all your tackle is there is a large chain that runs paralell to the quay the full length, around midwater, when you retrieve your gear, hopefully with a fish on, wind in as quick as you can and dont stop, thats the only way to get ot past the chain.
ive seen lots of fish caught here, with a chuck around 20 yds out, further up past the ice house is the old ferry landing, its quite productive there too, up river.