IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Connecticut => Ice Fishing Connecticut => Topic started by: Tmac1969 on Mar 14, 2019, 08:07 AM
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New to ice fishing this year and am loving it. Been lurking on shanty and like seeing the help given to others with question - so here is my question to all you "veterans" out there - What would you guys call safe ice with the warm-up? Been going out still and not hard to notice that the ice is obviously softer from all the melting. Is 9"-11" of "soft" ice with slush on top still considered safe provided you can get on? Any input would be great thanks.
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This time of year the ice is inconsistent. You can have 10” of ice in one spot and fall through a few feet away. If there are weeds, logs or rocks under the ice the sun can melt the ice from underneath. Also, 4” of honeycomb ice isn’t safe, you can fall through 6”+ of honeycomb. Always bring a spud bar and wear a set of ice picks around your neck and have a set of dry clothes in the car this time of year.
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I second the spud bar. I went years without having one but definitely won't leave home without it now. To the experienced eye you can get an idea how solid the ice is by looking at how many bubbles are in it or how white it is but it still varies a lot so it's best to check with the spud as you go
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Stay off late ice until you get more experience on it. Honeycomb ice that held you in the morning can be unsafe as soon as the sun hits it. I fell through 8in of honeycomb ice that took 5+ hits of the spud bar at 6am and I was swimming by 2pm. I've been icefishing for 20-30yrs and won't go on late ice alone if its under 10in make sure you have plenty of safety equipment. I carry 200-300ft of rope with 2 heavy metal Carabiner clips on the end to get the distance that you need to throw it to the guy in the water wear a float suit wear safety picks and always fish with a friend that I trust to get me out of the water if I go in
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Everyone in front of me is correct.
Even 14 inches of well thawed ice might not hold a person on foot.
Read the articles on this website: http://lakeice.squarespace.com/thawed-ice/
They explain the stages of thawing and when you shouldn't chance it.
I hate to say it but I think we are rapidly getting there. :tipup:
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The slush, snow, and water on top doesn't help matters. That's a lot of weight on top of not-so-great ice to begin with. March ice fishing in CT is taking a risk any way you slice it. I personally would rather take my chances on early black ice that's thin than late white ice that's thick. Ice thickness can be an illusion of safety this time of year.
A few years ago I fished a small pond on 5" of black. After two warmish days I figured the same pond would be fine. When I spudded a hole to check, there was still 5" of ice, but it peeled away in vertical crystals with little to no effort. I was alone so I skidded my arse off the ice as quickly as possible, but I'm lucky I didn't take a swim with how brittle the ice was. That changed my perspective on fishing late ice after a warm spell, especially solo. Now I either go north or get out the john boat.
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Neither does time of day now. I was getting water temps of up to 42 under the ice in the southern berks. Ice melting from the top and the bottom in smaller lakes. Sunday on Lake George the water temp 1ft below the ice was 31.
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with the warm up here and rain coming..mmmm we already turn the clocks that tell us that march sun is around a bit longer too rot the ice.I had a great year with a bunch of great guys.Be careful if anybody is extending their season around here.
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Neither does time of day now. I was getting water temps of up to 42 under the ice in the southern berks. Ice melting from the top and the bottom in smaller lakes. Sunday on Lake George the water temp 1ft below the ice was 31.
Spot on bud one lake in ct had 16in over the weekend was fished Wednesday it was down to 10-11in with no ice loss on top all melting was the bottom of the ice sheet!! Now its warm so the honeycombing is starting. Sad to say but the big girl is starting to sing on ct ice
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this past wed. l hit honeycomb but not in every hole
figured this wk/end was out for this spot
there's always next yr
yrs ago l bought a spoon auger late in the season, sharpened it up, took it to a spot to try and it cut a sweet core of candlestick ice, only fished that pond a few more times that season
l'll try to locate the picture it was very cool to see first hand
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(https://i.postimg.cc/4njXsfTp/009.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/4njXsfTp)
(https://i.postimg.cc/RJ5ppbjJ/010.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/RJ5ppbjJ)
l hope this works :tipup:
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Thanks for the pictures niceout, that's some bad ice.
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Spot on bud one lake in ct had 16in over the weekend was fished Wednesday it was down to 10-11in with no ice loss on top all melting was the bottom of the ice sheet!! Now its warm so the honeycombing is starting. Sad to say but the big girl is starting to sing on ct ice
Pike in VT sunday if you wanna join.
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Niceout that's exactly the kid of ice I was referring to. It looked fine until I touched it and it fell apart. Scary stuff.
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On 9" of nice ice on Highland. About 20 people fishing. Slow 1 flag. Holes skimming over.