Weak ice Or not?

[tightliner812]

A buddie of mine tried a couple of lakes today and had a butt puckering moments that led him to leave the lakes.  First he tried Skinner lake just out form the beach, walked out around 75 yards and decided to drill a hole. He was using a 5 inch auger, before he finished drilling the hole he said it cracked and dropped a couple of inches   He estimated that he had drill about 6 to 8 inches before he stopped.   He then tried Adams lake, on the walk out he said he could hear the ice making its usual noise.  Upon drilling the first hole he said the ice cracked and poped before he had the hole fully drilled again.  This time he finished drilling the hole, he said thier was about 10 inches of ice, but the ice noise on the lake picked up, he then decided to move to a different location and on the way there, had ice cracks following him as he walked.

What do you think would cause this?

[esoxmaster]

I've seen this same thing, It happens when you've had a warm day or some rain or anything that might cause a little ice to melt. then the top refreezes but it hasn't been cold enough for long enough for the melted ice on top to totally refreeze. so it leaves the ice layered: ice on bottom, then a layer of water, then more ice on top. It's still safe.

[river_scum]

thats what we had today. mite have something to do with the rain we had and the lake levels dropping a bit. no worries though we had 10-12in good clear ice. still has a bit of "pucker" factor though. lol

[Jigmup]

I fished Monday after Sunday's rain and the ice cracked every step I made. It spiderwebbed 1" down all over but hey on 10" of ice you could probably land a Lear Jet without a problem. I wouldn't let it scare you. Use caution as always but Northern Indiana ice is good. An added plus is that they are not getting the snow that central indiana is getting right now.!!

[A- bomb]

Aadms had open water in some spots last wk over by the lazy susan and a east side creek but its just real simple.....DON'T ICE FISH BY SWIMMING GEESE!!!! (and 1 swan)....

[fshnbudy01]

I grew up in WI and have seen just a lot of weird ice. ( and accidents)   I can say that 10 inches of uniform ice, even if its a bit sloppy is tremendously strong.  I was up in WI for Christmas fishing 8 inches and we had 5 cars and a truck come park by our shanty.  I wasnt very happy about that and the ice sounded like it was July 4th with all the popping and snapping.  We were really on the fish and I decided to stay.   Water even came up through our holes due to the weight of the vehicles, but it held.  (Ps.  I wouldnt recommend trying that even if you have 6 vehicles you dont mind sinking)

I also remember a few years back when the ice was about a foot thick and the sun got so warm that the edges melted.  I have a picture showing 30-40 cars out on a lake and a foot of water between the shore and the ice. 

Even on very safe ice, the noise the ice makes when a vehicle goes by makes your butt pucker...every time.

However, i'm much more afraid of non-uniform ice.  where you are on 5 inches in one place and 2 inches a few feet away due to Current, Springs, wind not allowing the ice to form well on one side of a lake,  etc.    One thing I like to do is see that the cracks in the ice go down at least a few inches.  If the ice is only a few inches thick and there are no visible cracks to follow, I stay away.  I also never go on unfamiliar ice covered by snow.

[Ice_Fly]

That is wild. I've had it crack out and drop a little drilling it too. Didn't bother me none really. As long as I know the lake I'd be okay. I'm always leary of unfamiliar places until I've had a chance to check it out....I went through the dam side of a pond where the runoff tile was covered by deep snow. Just a little trickle from the springs enough to keep that open. It was over my head but I brushed bottom with my feet. Could have slid down the slope of the deep end of the pond, and been trapped under 8" of ice. Ever since the reality of that sank in, I now check it every few feet if no ones been on it. or I don't know the waters. keep a good eye out for anything visible like tiles. inlets... the common sense things, and be wary of springs, or currents under the ice. Especially when there's snow on it and I can't see the cracks to gauge the thickness.

Pretty much the same as Fishnbudy!     


chris

[Adam Cameron]

It sounded like a bowling alley yesterday on Long Lake around
noon when the sun was kickin' in.

Adam C.

[troutaddict33]

im in new york but last thursday the ice scared me and ive been on it since i was 3yrs old... 21 now. i have one farily wide crack run right between my legs where i was standing. i fish with two jig poles it 2 close holes right next to each other and twice i heard cracks coming and they went from one hole to another... i though i was goin under haha. the thing is though i forgot to wear creepers and every time i got scared and tried to back away for a sec i did it a little too quick and went ass over tea kettle.

[jerknperch]

Was out on Wawasee on Friday and didn't get a bite but the ice was a good ten inches and making a lot of noise all over the lake.  We noticed that when the sun was out, it made a lot more noise.  When the clouds moved over it stopped.  I know the sun wasn't melting anything but it did seem to cause the noise.  Maybe just a coincidence.  Went to Chapman on Saturday and same thing.  Sun out lots of noise.  We did get a mess of Crappies and one pike though in the cannels about 4 foot of water.  All crappies between 9 and 14 inches.  All real nice.  Couldn't believe they were up in those channels but they were.  Not full of eggs either.

[Ice_Fly]

It sounded like a bowling alley yesterday on Long Lake around
noon when the sun was kickin' in.

Adam C.

I've seen the ice creak and crack when it was loosening from the sun, or loosing ice also. That is fairly common. I just don't understand why it doesn't always do it all the time....     

chris

[thepitts]

sunday on the oliver chain the noise was scary as all get out. but the trout were pretty cooperative and we stayed anyways. you could often feel the cracking under your feet.

[Webguy]

Ice noise is a good thing, its growing!

[Ice_Fly]

Yes that's true. But I've heard it "booming" was the ice was getting thinner by the hour as we stood on it. But it usually doesn't happen for some reason, or is not as pronounced.

chris

[tightliner812]

Thanks guys for all the good replies . I think it was freeze pops that he was hearing and the dropping was just the stress relief . But he will not be going back to skinner for a long time

[crappie rob]

The ice in Porter Co. is not weak, that was yesterday though!!

[Ice_Fly]

Just got back from Round LK in Kendallville.... the ice is plenty good, but the open water in the channel and wet erea is getting closer & closer to where we walk on. If we get all that snow that is expected, it could screw up getting on the "regular" spot there. I marked alot of fish, but only caught a half dozen or so. They were in the shallows.... 5-8 FOW. They're moving in.... usually do that around last ice so who knows.... we prolly have at least a couple weeks left for alot of places if the rain & wind stays away, so that's good. Bite should be picking up around this neck of the woods.


chris

[abishop]

I think it is safe to say the ice will be good 4 another week. Than, after Sunday when the temps are suppose to be in the upper 40's its going to be day by day. That temps can rot some 8 inch ice in a few days. SO BE CAREFUL.

[Ice_Fly]

I think it is safe to say the ice will be good 4 another week. Than, after Sunday when the temps are suppose to be in the upper 40's its going to be day by day. That temps can rot some 8 inch ice in a few days. SO BE CAREFUL.

Yea I know.... I been on the ice one day and fishing the same exact spot in a boat 2 days later.... no chit!!!!    

It was really windy with warm rain. Took it off over night. That's prolly the fastes I've seen it totally gone.


chris

[bgriffis17]

was on to lakes sunday maxi had 8-11' good hard ice even seen someone drive a small car from the ramp to long point and back ? went to crystal lake west of warsaw and the ice was 8-4" dont know why we sure dont need a lot of hevay wet snow ?

[Piggyn]

Just got back from Round LK in Kendallville...

I was out there yesterday evening in the same general area.  I was fishing a little deeper, though.  I finally found several active fish, caught 4 keepers right away, and then they shut off... still marked plenty, but they had the dreaded lock jaw.  I brought home 7 gills, only 1 of which was a nice one.  That's the first time I've ever been out there.  Hopefully I can make it back again before the ice goes away.

[Ice_Fly]

I was out there yesterday evening in the same general area.  I was fishing a little deeper, though.  I finally found several active fish, caught 4 keepers right away, and then they shut off... still marked plenty, but they had the dreaded lock jaw.  I brought home 7 gills, only 1 of which was a nice one.  That's the first time I've ever been out there.  Hopefully I can make it back again before the ice goes away.

Yea, that's usually pretty good at round. But this year it has been kinda hit or miss..... Several places I normally do well at, have been slower this winter. Must be the lakes I been fshing.

chris

[danb2285]

Was out on summit saturday...Walked on our usual spot and got about 40 feet out and noticed the ice start  cracking and there were no holes drilled so we figured we should check the ice....3 1/2 cranks and you were through...about an inch and a half of ice so we tried it a little further and started cracking pretty good so we got off and went with the crowd..DIdnt do all that well seems the fish are gettin smaller every year haha. Went back to our first spot and risked it again..Found another way to get on. there were about 4 other guys there. Ended up with 45 in 3 hours. stepped through up to my ankle when we were gettin off though. so if you go down to summit i would reccomend stayin with the crowd. Ice went anywhere from an inch and a half up to about 6

[Ice_Fly]

wow... I'm glad to be a little farther north anyways. I think I am NE of that. I know 100-150 miles south is so much different on average sometimes as far as temps and everything. You are maybe not that far south. I'm in NE corner of the state. Just curious, I follow your posts about those lakes you been talking about , but I don't much about them...and have never been there to check it out.

 Be safe out there. I know most people will. But it happens to be one of those strange instances where the sport that seems fairly tranquil and relaxing could turn out to  be alot more dangerous than most if your not careful. I'm not "paranoid" about going through, but we can never be too careful. I've read & heard too many tragic stories and most of those people surely believed they were relatively "safe". Just something I was thinking about and wanted to point out for safety's sake. I've been through, but only walking on or off the ice. Once through where a tile was under the snow and around the edges in shallows a few times from bad edges. Everytime really sucked....lol   

chris