lets talk pressure cracks

[countryice24]

well my wife wont go fishin with me cause of the pressure cracks i told her they were safe ........... please give me some facts about pressure cracks  ty and lots of fish to everyone




fish-on

[skidplate]

What kind of facts are you looking for?  I could tell you I jump over little ones all the time.

[mike304]

its pretty easy to avoid them,  unless one is in the way of where you eant to fish. Its like everything else on the ice, you just have to be careful and use your head. If it doesn't look good to you, don't try to cross it. if its cold they freeze up, but later in the year they will open and close as the ice moves around. Are you walking or do you have a 4wheeler?

[rgfixit]

Your wife won't let you go fishing? You need more information than just about pressure cracks

RG

[oldman50]

From what I understand, pressure cracks are from new ice being made underneath but not always. You just have to be careful. Use your head and be safe. It's realy easy to get over confident on the ice.

[prchslyr]

well my wife wont go fishin with me cause of the pressure cracks i told her they were safe ........... please give me some facts about pressure cracks  ty and lots of fish to everyone




fish-on

I say, let her think it's unsafe and keep your hobbie to yourself. Kidding.
All jokes aside. If you really want to get her to go out. Try bringing her to an area that get's hit hard. One of those spots that you can drive on and looks like a city. A ton of other people around will help dispell her opinion that it is an unsafe and hardcore hoobie. That is if you can get her THAT far. I bug my girlfriend all the time to go to no avail. If I ever get that far, this will be my route. Let me know if you try that out...and how you got her in the truck lol.

[marcus]

I told my wife the shanty is very warm and private...she was all over the idea    at this time of year pressure cracks are no biggie (usually). I say usually because ice is different lake to lake and day to day, but most of the time it may be spooky looking but they normally are no more than the ice under pressure (contracting and expanding) and needing somewhere to go. I have done this for a while and still find big cracks to be a bit spooky even under 12"+ of ice but I have no problem crossing them.

[Ron Plocek]

I guy I know what walking near a pressure crack (on Oneida recently) and decided to cross it, it was covered with snow and he fell into the water up to his neck. He was in 20 fow!!! Scary. He got out fine but was scared. On another post someone said the pressure crack on the North side has open water also... Be careful around pressure cracks.... Even if the look frozen.
Be safe out there!
Ron

[mtbusch]

well my wife wont go fishin with me cause of the pressure cracks i told her they were safe ........... please give me some facts about pressure cracks  ty and lots of fish to everyone


Interesting topic.. how about some good ole honest OPINIONS!!!//? .. starting from the most important about some of the facts..1) not all lakes and pressure cracks are the same, so use common sense and you learn through experience from the experienced. plenty of articles on the net pertaining to your inquiry for the mrs. to read. If you are not sure about the crack on the ice or fear the situation ..stay off or go a different way  3) generally , 6 inches or more of frozen solid ice and NO open water slush/water snow on top is safe, (when you feel the ice cracking under your feet it is a sign that the ice is freezing and therefore stronger than if it were not expanding and not making that cracking scarey noise. 4) stay away from any cracks that have open water between them.. this generally occurs when the ice has room to move apart to some area of the lake that has open water.. so if you are on the ice of a big lake with open water nearby, i would worry more about cracking.. and this wouldn't be expanding (pressure)cracking.. more like a current or wind shifting what would be pack ice or shelf ice breaking away!! And this is likely ..due to a combination of factors related to everything from sun wind thawing temps and stream currents( should their be such an inflows or outflows in the lk) understand lakes that are frozen SOLID can only experience PRESSURE cracks.. which  is expanding ice , the ice is getting thicker and harder. The only time for concern of pressure cracking is if there is enough open water on any portion of a lake to allow a crack in the ice to shift and create an opening. I am sure many here jigged through openings in old pressure cracks  that thaw and eventually shift open on thinner *less than 6" thick ice but that is not safe.. any fractures showing open water should be avoided and those big pressure cracks ..ones with upheaves that look like they just formed and therefore (unfrozen) they too
should be avoided but should not pose to much concern as long as you are a few feet away and the ice is still hard and thick like around 6 "  on the lk.. ,,just my own facts and  my honest opinions based on my own experience being an ice fishermen some three decades.
fish-on

[iceplank]

that is awsome advice, you cant be too educated in staying safe. only thing i would add is that if you hear the damn ice boat comin a screaming down lake george get on the right freakin side (parking lot side) of that crack cause those boys will split  the thing wide open and your gonna have to do a little heart stopping leap to get back to the truck. seriously. prchslyr are you telling me to mislead my wife...ha. if she only knew the shanty i needed to work on in the garage thursday night was brandspankin new...stay on top fellas!