I'm new to ice fishing and the message board... sorry if this information is available elsewhere....
I was fishing on a lake in PA (Beltzville) this past weekend. We had about 6-7 inches of ice and the air temps were slightly above freezing. This was my first time fishing this lake. The ice was cracking and booming so much that it was making us very unsettled about being on the ice over top of 20 feet of water and 200 yards away from shore. What made it worse was that there was no snow on the ice, so the ice would "BOOM" and we could see the fractures running through the ice under our feet. It made us nervous enough to call it quits for the day. I've heard that these noises are normal (and usually safe) and that it means that the ice is either expanding or contracting, depending on time of year/ air temps, but its still very unsettling.
Does anyone know of any good resources that confirms how safe it is to be on the ice in a situation like this?
Thanks in advance.