Thick ice does not always mean safe ice

[claymore6]

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but lots of new ice fisherman are on IceShanty.  Spring ice is not like new/winter ice. It may be composed of layers of black ice that freezes from the bottom during the real cold weather and/or layers of snow and slush that have frozen and refrozen over the last few weeks and months. Late season ice should not be judged on thickness alone. Rather it must be looked at from bottom to top.  If it has lots of bubbles and other cracks and fissures it is subject to "candling". Ice candles when it forms long hexagonal or octagonal crystals that can go all the way from top to bottom or just sometimes in just one or more layers. Chances of Candling is more likely due to increased sunshine, but is also caused by warmer water melting the ice from the underside. Even ice 12-15 inches thick can candle in a few hours under the right conditions and becomes extremely unstable. It can crumble without notice.  Lots of talk about using spuds and although an experienced person can use one to detect rotten ice, an inexperienced person can also cause a collapse with one good whack. So, to finish up my point, if you are not an experienced ice fisherman, you might want to be extra careful and if possible go with someone who understands how ice reacts to this time of year.  This is the time to wear a float suit of flotation vest and never go alone.

[marknpanfish]

Good advice. Like a friend of mine said be careful he likes ice fishing so much he wants to be able to do it next year too.

[Gills-only]

A spud is normally your best friend, however on severely honeycombed or “candled” ice it is almost worthless. It’s better than nothing but hitting on ice like that u can throw thru 10” if really bad on almost one whack. Spuds are great on first ice or hard ice but when going off in my opinion they are not a good measure to go by. Have fished over 50 yrs by the way , so I speak with lot of experience .

[perch chacer]

For the inexperienced this is candled ice and it is usually weak and un-safe.

[missoulafish]

Solid advice. You can fall through two feet of candled ice just as easy as two inches of new ice..

[Gills-only]

Here is another candled ice photo, notice vertical lines!

[Chuck Enwinde]

A timely reminder.  If you go back and look through the "Have you ever fallen through?" threads, you'll see that late ice is when it usually happens.  Be safe.

[Light liner]

Yup. Good reminder. That white shale ice is week.

[fishermantim]

"When the ice goes gray it's time to stay away"

Of course you can check for yourself, but it usually means that the surface crust is saturated and rotting.
There could still be solid ice underneath, but the only way to tell is to take the risk to go out and check.

Fished LSF Pond in Westford on Sat and the crust rotted and turned to slush in a couple of hours.
The 3-5" of ice underneath was not going to last long after that.

Then add in the old holes that open up under the slush, and you WILL be going home wet....

[catskills]

thanks for the reminder and thanks to the guys sharing photos. 

[Oldbear]

This was a very worthwhile post & reminder Thanks.

[Gamalot]

Now is the time to have your ice pics around your neck if you are venturing out on unknown ice. Around this part of southern NY it takes a long time for the ice to become safe but only a day or two for safe ice to go bad.
Another good gauge if you have been fishing through the winter is paying attention to how your auger drills through. If it blasts through much easier than it did the last few times your blades are Not getting sharper but the ice is getting weaker. Add to this if there is a lot of snow or slush cover on top of a few inches of good solid ice that is dead weight and dangerous because it also acts as an insulator that eats at the black ice from above. I usually call it a season when I see water on the top flowing into the holes.

Gam

[missoulafish]

Only problem is picks are worthless on candled ice....

[Gills-only]

Only problem is picks are worthless on candled ice....

.    That is true, like a spud is of little value on it also

[Gamalot]

"Worthless" I think not! I do get where you are coming from but I bet the pics will work better than clawing my way out with bare finger nails. If the ice is so weak and "Candled" that a pair of 1 inch spikes will do you no good then clearly you shouldn't have been out on it at all. I along with many others here would rather have them with me and ready than not because anything that can help in a life saving situation and only weighs a fraction of a pound could be worth it's weight in gold. This comes from a guy who has been through twice right up to my neck and is lucky to still be fishing 50 years later. Even the Eskimos carry sharp antlers around their necks just in case.

Gam

[Longshoremen]

Here is example of candled ice do to under water springs and gas pockets under mining the ice.

[IceFishFreak]

I've fallen through 8 inches of honey combed ice.  Once snow has melted and the water is gone,  it's junk.  only thing that keeps you on that ice is below freezing temps at night.  The integrity is gone though,  it's about as weak as it gets.  I'll walk on 2.25 inches of early hard ice,  I won't walk on 6-7 inches of honey combed ice.  If I can't use a 20 ft plank to get on the ice,  it's over for me.  We usually have 24+ inches of ice in the middle of the ice season,  once that shoreline is past 20 feet,  that ice is not safe for me.  IF you fall through, those shards of ice are sharp,  your hands will get cut to pieces.  I've been there several times when i was younger,  it's not fun.  Fall through and keep breaking through because you are 100 lbs heavier with wet clothing.  it's not a picnic and not safe at all.  That is unless it's 60 degrees out,  then it's not too bad.