Author Topic: Have any pics of what "bad ice" looks like? (please no pics of open water)  (Read 2389 times)

Offline AyrshireBoy

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I know I am probably kicking a dead horse to most of you on this subject, but i am still fairly new to hard water fishing and I am wanting to start hitting some of the bigger bodies of water in the future.  the weather changes as of late have me thinking more of safety.
I know if temps are well below freezing for several days with little wind and sun that the chances of having good ice is pretty good, and I think that this would be considerd high quality clear/dark ice.  usually this ice is harder to drill and comes off the auger in shavings (no large chunks).  The cloudy ice is usually not as strong and quality is poor.  I have always been concerned about clear ice that had a large amount of bubbles in it.  I have seen some guys talk about "honeycomb" ice and have been told to stay away from ice that looks like a bunch of needles stacked up veritcal thru the ice.
Any pics of different types of ice and info would be a huge help. I have some friends wanting to get into ice fishing and I don't want to mislead them or anyone for that matter.

Thanks guys!
Take a kid fishing!

Offline wax_worm

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I don't have any pics, but the needle thing is on nearly every lake right now due to the recent rain and warm temps.  It just like honeycombed ice but on a smaller scale.  I showed my son the 'needle' ice yesterday and could have got a great pic of it.   A bubble or 2 in clear ice does not bother me.  If there a alot of bubbles the ice will not be clear and will look like snow ice.  

Check out the 2nd and 3rd pic in this thead and you can see the 'needle' effect if you look close at the 2nd pic and can really see in the pic down the hole.

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=169428.0

Offline MONSTERQUEST

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Go to the thin ice link at top of I.S home page lots of good info on ice safty and how ice forms.

Offline AyrshireBoy

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so what do you think is the cut off point to fishing on "needle" ice,  the amount of needles or thickness play the bigger factor?
Take a kid fishing!

Offline wax_worm

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so what do you think is the cut off point to fishing on "needle" ice,  the amount of needles or thickness play the bigger factor?

I would say it depends on how thick the ice is and how close the 'needles' are to one another.  If you are on 3-4 inches of ice, I wuold be leary of needled ice.  If you are on more than that, but the 'needles' are so dense the ice is no longer clear ice, I would stay off it also.  Best advice is get a spud bar and whack it hard a few times.  If it takes more than 3 good whacks to go through you should be OK.  Always check the ice yourself and never take someone else's word for it.

Offline AyrshireBoy

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good advice, thanks!!
Take a kid fishing!

Offline river_scum

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pic from this morning.

happening all over like that, after the sun rose in the sky a bit.
real fishermen don't ask "where you catch those"

OANN the real story

- member here since -2003- IN.

Offline Steuben1

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Got a little windy!!




Steuben1

Offline gillcommander

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dumb question but is the pic riverscum posted something you should be worried about...

sorry ahead of time if it is an obvious answer!!!

It's a fine line between fishing & sitting on the ice like an idiot

Offline fshnbudy01

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Thats a big crack, but if you look close it seems to be  around 4 inches thick.  As long as all the ice is that thick, I would feel ok about walking on it.  When we get warm weather and the ice is sketchy, I always just drill a a hole every few feet to make sure im always on safe ice. 
"Quit lookin at my Marmooska."

Offline Steuben1

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Thats a big crack, but if you look close it seems to be  around 4 inches thick.  As long as all the ice is that thick, I would feel ok about walking on it.  When we get warm weather and the ice is sketchy, I always just drill a a hole every few feet to make sure im always on safe ice. 

If those guys were fishing up north like I think they are, that ice is atleast 7.5" - 8" thick!


Steuben1

Offline fshnbudy01

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I just noticed his other post said it was 8 inches thick.  No worries there.
"Quit lookin at my Marmooska."

Offline AyrshireBoy

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Steuben 1,     that is an awesome pic,  thanks for sharing!!!!



Take a kid fishing!

Offline AyrshireBoy

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I hate to say it, but the only ice i am seeing right now is in these pics,  all of my spots have open water!!!
it looks like it will be awhile (if at all)before i have hardwater to fish on down here.  I guess i am going to have to take my frustration out on some wild hogs!

thanks for the pics guys!
Take a kid fishing!

Offline wax_worm

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dumb question but is the pic riverscum posted something you should be worried about...

sorry ahead of time if it is an obvious answer!!!

Pressure cracks like that don't worry me, even if they come right beside me.  It means it is making ice.  Unless the crack did a small circle right around you where your weight was more than the peice of ice that cracked free, you are not going to sink.  Sometimes they do open up a few inches across, but only one time did I see one open enough you could put a boot thru it.  In small lakes where there is no expanse of open water you don't have to worry about a pressure crack breaking a huge chunk of ice off and it floationg out to open water like they do in erie or st. clair.

Offline qoperator

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Good info here. Thanks for the posts.

Offline john t.

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this is the best i could find

Offline crappie66

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The Good and the Bad
 
The ice on the left is Great solid ice, the ice on the right is Bad ice.  Although the ice was still 8-10 inches thick it was honeycombed and spongy.  The very next day I took a swim, just thinking about it several years later kicks in the shrinkage factor.
 
Safe ice and bad ice is a subjective thing, some of us will venture out on 2 inches of ice and consider it safe, others think we are crazy and call it unsafe; some people call the ice unsafe after a day of above freezing temps, while others have no problems fishing on it.






Real fisherman don't yield to the weather.

Offline gillcommander

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sorry i don't have pics but i was checking this afternoon and my lake had 6 inches of ice...it was needling like wax worm said all lakes are right now but it was clearly obvious that they were very far apart. there was also lots of big cracks everywhere and relatively few bubbles. i drilled a few holes and almost the entire inside of the hole was white ice - hardly any clear. i didn't fish but i was by myself too...on the brightside the lake was very noisy so i guess it was doing something positive. think i will just wait a few more days cold temps are on the way.

 ???

It's a fine line between fishing & sitting on the ice like an idiot

Offline gillcommander

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here's a pic but it was taken with my cell phone so the quality may render it useless!!!   :cookoo:



It's a fine line between fishing & sitting on the ice like an idiot

Offline gumpy2

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Wow, this is a rather tame discussion.  I saw the title of this thread and expected to get a good dose of laughter with some smart arse photos of vehicles and shanties in the drink.... :(  Maybe I'll post one... ;D


"Porkers??  You talkin' about porkers Mr. Hoopa?"

Offline AyrshireBoy

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i have gotten some good responses out of this post(which is what i was looking for), and i agree with you that i thought there would of been a few "creative" pics
Take a kid fishing!

Offline Flattop

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i have gotten some good responses out of this post(which is what i was looking for), and i agree with you that i thought there would of been a few "creative" pics
I think people on here know when someone is genuinely curious about something they may not know about.  Not to say someone doesn't chime in later with some "creative pics" now that you saw some real bad ice pics.

Joe
In life "The day you quit learning, better be the day you quit"
"I learn something new every day, even if it's how not to do something"

 



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