Ice Thickness

[Agronomist_at_IA]

How thick does the ice need to be for a person to go out to ice fish?

[LaZyDayZ]

Your gonna get a lot of mixed feeling on this.

It all depends on ice quality and the lake itself.

As a general anwser I would say 4"

[hill7410]

I alway say at least a min. of 4" but dont push your luck, dont be afraid to wait until 5 or 6" because you never know where there is weak spots on the lake.

[Crappie_ Kid]

4 to 5 inches is the absolute thinest ice i will go on.

[efgh]

When ice fishing on thin ice, I like to follow a guy who weighs at least 40 lbs. more than I do.

[ice_it_06]

MN DNR GUIDELINES

Recommended minimum ice thickness

4" of new clear ice is the minimum thickness for travel on foot

5" is minimum for snowmobiles and ATVs

8"- 12" for cars or small trucks

(Remember that these thicknesses are merely guidelines for new, clear, solid ice. Many factors other than thickness can cause ice to be unsafe.)

[Tyler Holm]

3" Makes me nervous everytime.

If you give a sharp spub bar 2 solid wacks in the exact same spot and don't break through, the ice should hold you on that exact spot.

I'm a little on the risky side thou.

[harvey lee]

I fished on 3 once and not again.Four inches will get me in a shallow bay and no farther.

[Gissert]

It depends.....

New clear ice is the strongest ice there is. I've gone out on as little as three inches before and been fine. This is with a life jacket, picks, and a partner. The ice was tested every few feet. There is only a couple of spots I will try this on. Otherwise, I like to wait for a solid 3.5-4 inches.

The trouble with new ice is it can be much thinner just a few feet away.

White or bubbly ice should be given a good look over - it tends to be about half as strong as clear ice.

If you are out on foot fishing on new ice, and you start to get some flooding around your hole - get off. The ice is sagging underneath you.

I post this link every year, It is from the US Corps of Engineers, and is very interesting reading.

http://www.crrel.usace.army.mil/ierd/ice_safety/safety.html

[JP Z]

Best thing to do if planning to go out on thin ice is too bring a spud bar and thwack it in front of you as you move. Go to DaveGenz's site and watch his early ice video. He has some great first ice video adventures.......and shows smart things to do during early ice.

[McGurk]

That is some interesting stuff, Gissert. Looking at the chart, 200 lbs on 2" of ice at least 17' apart seems pretty thin, but I'd believe it. I'll be waiting for 3"+ and check as I'm walking. The distance between loads is a factor that most people don't take into account ala the trucks going in on Lower Prior last year. There were way to many big trucks way too close on way too thin of ice, but it held initially. The slow settling over the day pulled water up on top of the ice compounding the problem, too. Best wishes to all early venturers, and be safe!

[Gissert]

Good clear ice has strength that is amazing, but the conditions can cange so rapidly with big temp swings. Once it gets a snow load on it, things can really change for a long period of time. Last winter was an example of this. Great looking ice, 10-14 inches thick got a foot or more of snow on it right after xmas. The ice was never all that good after that, and I never drove my truck on Ottertail until mid to late February. My favorite small crappie lake never got good ice due to snow and current.

There were some hard lessons learned in DL a few years back when a bunch of heavy trucks and snomobile race trailers broke through after sitting static for a long period on the near shore ice.

[Guest]

I recommend anyone to wait until 4" of good ice. I started last year with about 3.5", 30' from shore and that was spooky enough.. occasionaly where you drilled a hole the water would start coming up(sagging), and that was enough to make me retreat.

I honestly prefer 6"+ for ice fishing and I check thickness frequently when I am venturing around. I usually find areas of 4" when the average is 6" on a lake... much better than finding 2" with an average of 4".

If you dont want to eventually take the plunge, use common sense and extreme caution.. for most of us when the conditions are *iffy*, its easy enough to jump in the truck and drive an hour *north* where better ice is usually found.

[Blaze]

Whatever you do, don't ask Duffman for advice on ice safety - that dude was out on 2" last weekend!

[Guest]

Quote:

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Whatever you do, don't ask Duffman for advice on ice safety - that dude was out on 2" last weekend!

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I know better than that!

But that wont stop me from inviting him fishing... someone has to be the 1st to walk out!

[dirtking]

I'll go out on 2", but have the proper equipment and expect to get wet the whole time I'm out there. 3" is great - with 4" I am thinking about getting the wheeler out of the shed - but usally wait for 5" before hitting the lake.

[Duffman]

I did plenty of experimenting with that ice before I ventured out to the point where I thought it started to get iffy. All safety precautions were used (lifevest, ice picks, other sets of eyes keeping an eye out), I even wore some neo waders until I got to a depth where I thought they might be a hinderence if I went thru. First ice like that can be suprisingly strong, I had nothing else to do but monkey around and see what it took crack that ice. I could score the ice with the spud bar just like a glass cutter, then stomp on it and send a crack out 10' in both directions.

Yes, I walked on a little over 2", but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they are fully prepared to take an ice bath. I pushed it until my intuition said that's far enough, and I was ready if my intuition was wrong.

Believe me, I'm all about doing things safe, you couldn't find me near the lake when 7 kids under the age of 10 came for supper last weekend, I didn't want to put any dumb ideas in those little minds.

[NWBuck]

If the temps for the next few days hold as predicted, we've got a shot to have that 4 inches sooner than most years. Hope so anyway. I see all the local ponds got a good start last night.

[sdstatekid]

I walked across a bay that was about 100 yards across out here two weeks ago while duckhunting. when i finally broke through by the shore on the other side the ice was about 2 inches thick, i busted a hole out about 40 yards out right were i walked across, it was 2 inches thick all the way out to where i busted the hole. When i was about in the middle of the bay which is only 2 feet deep i jumped up and the ice didn't even crack when i landed.