6 inch saftey rule

[HeyNow]

Over the last ten years, on 3 different occasions, we have been "asked" by nys police helicopter crews to leave the ice. In each instance there was a number of anglers on the ice and no one had any problems getting back to shore. We were told that some people several miles down the lake had problems getting back into shore and this was why we were told to leave. All of these incidents took place on Oneida Lake. While a lot of people b***hed about leaving, no one risked an expensive ticket by staying. When we got into shore we noticed that a trooper car was parked in the parking area, apparently to take down license plate numbers of vehicles that did not leave.

[Icenutter]

A few small lakes here in PA will not open the entrance gates until they feel it is safe.

[knotreelly]

massachusetts rules
(clear, blue, lake ice)
2 One person on foot
3 Group, in single file
5 Group (6-8 people) together
7½ Passenger car (2 ton gross)
8 Light truck (2½ ton gross)
10 Medium truck (3½ ton gross)
12 Heavy truck (7 to 8 ton gross)
15 10 tons
20 25 tons
25 45 tons
30 70 tons

[archbishop]

massachusetts rules
(clear, blue, lake ice)
2 One person on foot
3 Group, in single file
5 Group (6-8 people) together
7½ Passenger car (2 ton gross)
8 Light truck (2½ ton gross)
10 Medium truck (3½ ton gross)
12 Heavy truck (7 to 8 ton gross)
15 10 tons
20 25 tons
25 45 tons
30 70 tons

same as the NY version, i believe they are all pretty standard and come from the army corp. of engineers

Ice Thickness Table Ice Thickness Permissible Load
2 inches one person on foot
3 inches group in single file
7.5 inches one car (2 tons)
8 inches light truck (2.5 tons)
10 inches truck (3.5 tons)
12 inches heavy truck (7-8 tons)
15 inches 10 tons
20 inches 25 tons

Note: This guide is based on clear, blue, hard ice on non-running waters. Slush ice is about 50 percent weaker. Clear, blue ice over running water is about 20 percent weaker. Many ice anglers do not like to fish on less than five inches of ice, and do not like to drive a pick-up truck on less than 15 inches of ice. Use common sense!

Be cautious in areas where "bubblers" are used to protect docks. They can produce thin, unsafe ice some distance away. Be especially alert in areas near shore, over moving bodies of water and on lakes and ponds where streams enter or exit.

Remember, use the buddy system while ice fishing — it saves lives.

[knotreelly]

i was 300' from shore fishing 2' of ice on this lake called south pond in mass. when i left the ice i was 15' from shore and the ice gave way, i stopped myself from going under in 10' of water by throwing my arms out, cold ride home. BE SAFE and CAREFUL at all times, you never know.

[hunters08]

Of course you have to be careful the closer you get to shore i cant count the numner of times being on 12 inces of ice and going threw the ice at shore.

[SPARKYICE]

the caretaker at Park Station in Erin, N.Y.-Chemung Co.- won't open the gate until there is about 10" of ice or so, long after we've been fishing other, bigger, lakes. there is one whole section of the lake roped-off with no access at all. i don't agree, but he's THE BOSS. i don't fish there much, for that reason, but there are some very nice fish in there.

[JigAwhopper]

Good luck arguing with a cop that tells you to get off the ice,  you can not fight it, and in either case, your trip is ruined.  They either don't know the law, overstep their jurisdiction or enforce come township reg.  And if you tick 'em off,  they'll find something to give you a ticket for.I'm sick of the government babysitting me,  like they know what is better for.  But u just got to go with the flow  I guess.    I don't understand that on the website 2 inches is safe for walking and some parks won't open unil ice is like 8 or 10.  Seems like they're contradicting themselves.   Everybody should ice at their own risk and if they fall in, then it's their cold bath so who cares

[ice boy19]

yes jiga whopper i agree with u all they are doin with the thickness rule is protecting their own A** !!!

[ronwhtgmc]

Hey Sparky,
a bunch of us pitched a fit about 2 years ago about park station.
we callled the county exec. and got him involved. we were fishing on 9-11 inches of ice everywhere in the area but park station was closed.
I went up there and drilled a few holes and measured 10-12 inches of good ice. when I got home I called him to ask when he was going to allow ice fishing and he proceeded to tell me that there was 20 feet of open water around the entire lake! of course I said "dude don't lie to me, I was just there!!"  I think the reason in this case is that he just plain didn't want us there for some reason and it was obviously not for our safety. pretty selfish of him since my tax money is supporting that place and his salary. Hopefully thing will go better this year because the fishing is usually good.

[helf]

I know a great little municipal lake in Bergen Cty, NJ which is closed for the winter due to safety concerns.  Has a dam w/ a box-inlet spillway, so that doesn't help perceived safety matters.     

Sadly we live in a world where some people will sue the pants off ANY potentially responsible party when they do something stupid or something bad happens to them.  The cost just to defend oneself from these suits is enormous, actually having to settle or pay some penalty is obscene.     Municipalities/etc. and getting pretty wary I'm afraid, and I'm not sure you can blame them........

Even more frustrating, we're not likely talking about hardwater anglers as the cause, and I'm not sure I jump on the "they're punishing us" bandwagon....  More likely scenario is a few naive kids that go on the ice, somebody falls through and drowns, and then the parents look to sue anybody they feel might be responsible.  ALL hardwater users suffer.  One bad experience and some agencies may get spooked into playing it way too cautious, just to cover their A$$.   Doesn't make it right to punish us, and they may well be bluffing or overstepping their jurisdictions. 

Perhaps you could get a Shanty member who is an attorney (do they fish?!? ) to draft some sort of waiver which both parties could agree satisfactorily relieves them of liability.  Then perhaps instead of consenting to leave the ice, you could instead sign the waiver in front of the CO/police.  Not likely, but perhap worth a try.  Yikes, now I sound like an attorney.....

[ice boy19]

yes....... now all we have t odo is find and attorney whos not in greenpeace or P.E.T.A 

[bshirtd]

You guys alot of people do not realize how quickly ice can change i mean they feel its been in the forties alll week must mean similar ice conditions to last week. But as most of you know at night when that temp is in the teens u could have a net gain of 2 inches in one night. now if someone checked the lake two days ago monday night there could be 5 inches of more ice wensday morning but the park just checked it. just an idea although ive never been told i couldnt fish ..... which would surely change my point of view

[Mr.Esox]

Some of the state parks down here enforce this otherwise your at your own risk.