Ice fishermen and others

[Robby Moser]

What's the thinnest ice you've ever drilled through and fished? Not trying to get someone killed.

Back in 1987 I worked for my uncle in Illinois,he and his BIL co-owned a business.The BIL loved to fish,and I got to go out on the ice quite a few times.One time we went,when the holes were drilled,the ice was only 3" thick.BIL said that was plenty,and we fished,but I was very nervous sitting in that homemade 3-man shanty on 4x4 skids.I just knew we were going to be recovered by divers.

[HobeyBaker]

1.5 inches

[billspence]

3" of good ice is plenty. 10" of bad ice isn't enough. The picture in this link is pretty much the standard.

http://lakeice.squarespace.com/beari...E821.v5-web018

[ECobb91]

Varied in spots from 2-2.5”. I prefer 4” under my feet, a spud is your best friend for thin ice

[cubswin]

We used to fish 2" of ice every year when I was young.

Worse ice was on was pond, that had about 4 1/2" of bad ice. I took my boot toe, and managed to dig thru the ice, water was coming up thru the holes from the ice being pushed down from our weight. Wasn't deep enough to care if we went thru, but went to a different pond that had better ice.

On new clear ice, 2" was enough to get us fishing in shallow areas.

I fell thru once stepping off a dock, was a cold ass day and the truck was stuck. Wasn't any fun. I also did something really stupid over 30' of water. Had holes drilled, at the times using a 8" auger. Stepped back and stuck my foot thru a hole, doing a odd splits on the ice. It was 4" thick, melting, and we were over deep water. I wasn't really wanting my buddy to help me, but my boot swelled up and I couldn't get my foot out of the damn hole. He laid down on the ice on the other side, got ahold of my boot, and was able to get my foot out. It was about 40 degrees, so I went up and put my boot liner on the truck heater for awhile and then went down and fished. As I remember we caught some really nice gills that day.

[posmallie]

3" of good ice is plenty. 10" of bad ice isn't enough. The picture in this link is pretty much the standard.

http://lakeice.squarespace.com/beari...E821.v5-web018

This. It's not about how much, it's about quality. Three inches of good clear ice is plenty to make me feel safe. I have a floating suit, so I've definitely pushed it in the past and gotten lucky, but I doubt I've ever fished on less than two inches. I've definitely walked on less, but determined it wasn't safe to fish.

[Dave75]

When I was young and dumb it was 2 inches.

[getfished]

Been quite a while since I iced fished. I loved it. I've fell through the ice plenty. The most unpleasant was one day it was melting. As I got closer to the shore I could see it was melted away from the shore a good ways. I walked a good ways looking for the narrowest slice of open water. when I found my spot I walked up to the edge as close as I dared and stopped. I had a sled and plenty of equipment. I gathered it all up under my arms and stepped forward . That next step the ice caved and I was thigh deep in water. I had to lift my legs very high for each successive step only to have it cave again as I made my way to the shore. Needless to say when I made it to the truck I sat there for a while warming up. LOL.

[geodebasser]

My boss from Minnesota used to talk about ice fishing all the time. At a sales meeting someone asked if if he had ever been kicked in the ice hole?

[MI bassassassin]

There’s a difference between clear ice and white ice. Clear ice I like 3” minimum, white ice I like 5”.

[JTN]

Early ice everybody spuds there way out…One wack of a good sharp ice chisel… if it goes through its about 2 1/2 or less,if it doesn’t it’s 3” or better.

[BP in ME]

There’s a difference between clear ice and white ice. Clear ice I like 3” minimum, white ice I like 5”.

Walked all the way across the lake first week of January on white ice last year carrying a 10' pole in case I found a thin spot. It was barely 3". And never got a bleeping flag all morning!

[Perchpro]

I've done 2.5. It was and is stupid to go out on that amount. 3 is marginal. 4 is safe. We're talking fresh clear ice here. Allways carry ice picks and a chisel when on the ice.

[MI bassassassin]

Walked all the way across the lake first week of January on white ice last year carrying a 10' pole in case I found a thin spot. It was barely 3". And never got a bleeping flag all morning!

My heart would have been racing, it’s sucked for us the last couple years with only a week of “safe” ice.

[BillsFan]

Zero ice around here in the Pocono Region.

[BP in ME]

My heart would have been racing, it’s sucked for us the last couple years with only a week of “safe” ice.

I was at camp last week and noticed the guy who lives at the other end of the lake had made a loop around the lake on his big SxS. I also saw where he drilled a test hole the day before to check thickness and I drilled a fishing hole close to it. It looked like 8"-9" to me. Talked to him the next day and he'd been telling everyone there's a foot of ice. True fisherman right there! Measure and add 50%. The interesting thing was I chiseled a 12"x18" hole next to his tracks in front of camp to get water and it was really easy since there was only about 4" there. He's lucky he didn't go through. We've had several warm rainstorms that opened up areas and made thin spots

[MI bassassassin]

I was at camp last week and noticed the guy who lives at the other end of the lake had made a loop around the lake on his big SxS. I also saw where he drilled a test hole the day before to check thickness and I drilled a fishing hole close to it. It looked like 8"-9" to me. Talked to him the next day and he'd been telling everyone there's a foot of ice. True fisherman right there! Measure and add 50%. The interesting thing was I chiseled a 12"x18" hole next to his tracks in front of camp to get water and it was really easy since there was only about 4" there. He's lucky he didn't go through. We've had several warm rainstorms that opened up areas and made thin spots

No doubt, that’s a huge risk I had an acquaintance that was plowing a lake with his truck for snowmobile races and went through. Luckily his window was down and he’s able to exit before it went completely under.

[Marmooskapaul]

I've fished on 2" of good ice quite a few times. I knew the water and area though. Big difference between good, new ice and crappy ice. I've got a spud I've used for years and know what it means when I hit the ice.

[RangerTim619]

Done the 2 inch ice thing many times. But never without a SPUD bar in my hand testing as I walked forward.