Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! > Ice Fishing Safety

Ice Support

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five fathoms:
 My ice season is underway here is Mass, and as I went about my fishing on my last trip, fishing on the bare minimum, I began to wonder: Is it the buoyancy of the ice that supports my weight, or its rigidity? I'm pretty sure I've heard stories off people drifting off on ice floes when the shelf they were standing on detached from shore, so I can assume ice floats well enough to remain on the surface even when burdened by body weight. Is that all that is keeping me topside, or is there more to it? For that matter, how did the benchmark of 4" of clear ice come about?

kpd145:
It's both. The ice is thick enough to support weight on top but the buoyancy helps it if it comes to that. Its pretty much your weight spread over the ice. If ice is one huge piece,ok, if ice breaks off to a small chunk. Well your weight in now spread across that small chunk now.

Not sure where the thickness to weight amount comes from. Clear ice is best ice because there is no air in it to compromise its strength. Its solid more or less.

Ice flexes. If you are on thin ice and near a hole, bouncing up and down flexes ice.

That said if it floods, then freezes your gonna have a gap between ice and waterline, think any river cove that is tidal or gets alot of run off. That can be a dicey situation.

Monticatgeek:
here is a little  chart that talks about load capacity of ice and how much forms at different temps.

Chris338378:
That's interesting, thanks for sharing it.

cajuntony:
Wow dats an awesome chart i screenshot it fer future reference thanks

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