THE MOST ICE!!!

[A- bomb]

just sitting here dreaming of more ice and got to thinking ......how much is to much? (okay, so i got the cart before the horse)

Whats the most ice you remember IN INDIANA and when.

back around 87 i remember drilling two holes up to the top of the blue on my morra at simington lk by elkhart!! 23 inches or so id have to guess.

[hardysf]

last year we had 18 and that was more than enough for me and the hand powered auger

[slabgill]

I remember 1 year when an old timer and I drove his truck on Wawasee. That year is was insanely cold...I started drilling a hole and it took the whole auger,I couldn't turn anymore and Iwas not through yet.It was over 30" and I am not kidding.I had to be around 20 so about 16 years ago.

[ChapstickCharlie]

One time, as memory serves me it might have been aught 5,  I drilled down so far down, when I pulled my auger out there was a set of chopsticks stuck in the blades.   No really.   Reminds me of the time Big Bob wolflawn let a bobcat loose in the pipercub airplane while we was on a flight into the backwoods of Idaho for rainbows.  I'll tell ya that was one cold winter, well there we was.............

[turbo 42]

 so far down, when I pulled my auger out there was a set of chopsticks stuck in the blades................ ...................... ..................... wow chapstick charlie that must have been intense

[Fish_Tko]

I think we have had two years between 98 and this year that we have had 15-18". That is plenty of ice, get much more than that and you loose the ability to be very mobile. If we could just maintain 12" of good clear ice with 2" of packed snow on top from Thanksgiving thru Easter that would be great. Not asking for too much for Indiana

[Turkeyhunter10ga]

dont remember just how thick they ice was, back in '82 or '83, but do remember going out to the slough at the tail end of a blizzard. Couldn't even get thru going down State Line rd, there were a couple of pickups stuck in the road and just buried in snow, all you could see was the cab roof. Anyway the temp was around -25 and the windchills were at -83 or near that. Anyway after back tracking back up state line rd and going all the way around the property to get to the headquarters we walked inside and asked where the " hot spot" was. Good ol' Dick laughed and said the whole lake was ours and nobody else would venture out in this cold to get here. Then he looked at us as if we were nuts, till he saw the arctic gear my buddy had shipped back from Iceland when he was stationed there in the PX, that we were putting on. We fished all over the lake that day and didn't catch a single thing  .  But i do remember sweating my tail off walking around pulling the old kids sled ( red rider )with my equipment on board.
This was back before we had all this newer high tech stuff we have now, portable shanties, Buddy heaters, Arctic or Under Armour, flashers etc.

[teardrop]

1977-78 we had ice from just after turkeyday till middle of march. Ice on my dads pond was 20''s plus. Several ponds froze out that year because of the heavy snows and no oxygen. Having all that Ice can be a blessing, however, when the snow comes with it as it did then especially with the sub zero temps its hard on the fish, wildlife, and the guy who has to drag the darn sled and drill the thick holes. I can't remember, but seems that there were multiple heart attacks experienced by fisherman those years. I wish for a lot of Ice every year, but as I get older I wonder if I need that much?   jeff(teardrop)
 

[Jigmup]

A couple of years ago I drove my 1/2 ton pickup out to Ogden island on Wawasee. The 19 inches of ice were cumbersome enough but I can remember around '79 or 80 when there was soo much ice on Prairie Creek that it literally heaved 6 foot piles on top of the ice from groing so fast. We must have drilled through 20 plus inches. I tire easily when drilling lots of holes past the 10" mark.

[pearcheyes]

I remember my auger bottoming out and then finishing the holes with a spud bar.I liked that we had all that ice,but that was a real workout that year!

[fishingmachine]

I'm thinking in 86 or 87 I drilled through 24" at Lasalle only drilled the one hole to tried after that.

[lakehopper]

around 1980 manitau had around 28"
what a blast that was drilling with a dull spoon auger

[turbo 42]

whats the best way to get those blades sharpened up without having to go out and pay some one. do you use a stone or what

[abishop]

I tried that and made it duller. I think you need to send them off to have them turned on a lathe. Forgot where I shipped mine off to but, they came back as sharp as new blades, and only cost about 1/2 price as new. I suggest keeping a extra set so when 1 gets dull you can put the other set on while it takes sometimes a few weeks to get your old ones re-sharpened. good luck.

[musky8it]

back in the 60's when my grandpa took me, he would drive his HEAVY Oldsmobile out onto the ice, and that was before xmas. Always seemed to have at least 3-4 months of good icefishing back then. And during bowseason for deer, we had snow in late OCT sometimes....

then in the 70-80's we would be lucky to get 2-3 months of icefishing
the 90's it got even less with finally getting ice to stay from mid jan on.
Now days, seems we're lucky if we get a full month of ice fishing without loosen it in the middle

Makes you wonder in an other 10-20yrs if any lakes in Ind will get ice...Global warming is what's happening I guess.

[musky8it]

whats the best way to get those blades sharpened up without having to go out and pay some one. do you use a stone or what

Don't think it can be done, at least I have never heard of anyone being able to sharpen their own. Takes a special sharpening lathe.

Cheapest way to go is buy new ones in the summer. This summer I found some cheap on ebay. Not to many bidders bidding on ice blades in the summer time. took me a while. but I won bid on 2 NEW sets from same seller in same week(7" for $6.76, 6" for $5.50, and S&H @ $5.95). Cost me $18.21 for both NEW sets....

Right now this same seller is getting $15-17 per set(not including S&H) for the same blades...

And in the summer of 2k5, I won bid on 2 New Strikemaster augers from a seller on ebay. Got the 6" for $5.15 and the 7" for $8.02. S&H was $13.98 for both. The 6" had no blades, but both for $27.55 total. You can't beat that.

So shop when the season is not in...get those summer clearance buys...

[jayswimmer09]

last year in pa i was on 17 inches that was the most i can remember in my lifetime but then again i am only 17

[icewagon]

Just a few years ago there was 26in. on Hamilton in Tioga CO. PA , Beachwood   had 28in. and my one friend fished a lake in the Poconos that had 39in on it, I think it was Twin Lakes. Back in the late 70's and early 80's.
there was 23 to 25 in.on the Montour preserve a couple times I never had to go north back then. One last thing in that bad winter of 1979 I worked at a wire rope place in Sunbury, PA right next to the Susquehanna river when the ice broke that year I watched cakes of solid clear blue ice that were close to 5 feet thick floating down the river these cakes were on top other ice so I could see that they were solid.
Icewagon

[Candiru]

back in the 60's when my grandpa took me, he would drive his HEAVY Oldsmobile out onto the ice, and that was before Xmas. Always seemed to have at least 3-4 months of good icefishing back then. And during bowseason for deer, we had snow in late OCT sometimes....

then in the 70-80's we would be lucky to get 2-3 months of icefishing
the 90's it got even less with finally getting ice to stay from mid Jan on.
Now days, seems we're lucky if we get a full month of ice fishing without loosen it in the middle

Makes you wonder in an other 10-20yrs if any lakes in Ind will get ice...Global warming is what's happening I guess.

I think 10 yrs may be it ( for safe ice). As a kid in the 80's and early 90's we always had safe ice on ponds and such in Central Indiana during (sometimes before) Christmas break. Already waiting too long and then we'll get warm weather in February like clockwork.

[Jack Ryan]

Don't think it can be done, at least I have never heard of anyone being able to sharpen their own. Takes a special sharpening lathe.

Cheapest way to go is buy new ones in the summer. This summer I found some cheap on ebay. Not to many bidders bidding on ice blades in the summer time. took me a while. but I won bid on 2 NEW sets from same seller in same week(7" for $6.76, 6" for $5.50, and S&H @ $5.95). Cost me $18.21 for both NEW sets....

Naw, it don't take that. I've sharpen my own right there on the ice with the file on my Leatherman if it needs it. I've done it a couple times in the past ten years and it cuts like brand new blades.

If you are going to buy new ones any way, what have you got to loose trying it? Might as well learn something since they are good as ruined if you are going to toss 'em and buy new ones any way. If you can sharpen a knife, you can sharpen those auger bits.

[BassBoss]

It must have been mid to late 80's when I watched a guy drive a 3/4 ton pickup from Moores creek to Paynetown on Monroe lake. I was just a kid but I remember us kids taking a few hours to break through the ice with a hatchet and it must have been 20+ inches thick, and that is southern Indiana.

[BSUBASS]

I remember a one year there was over 22" of Ice on Wawasee.  We had our truck out on Johnson's Bay.  Also got to watch a snow plow plow out a nice big square and watched two cars go at a demo derby.  It was pretty intense but funny as all get out.  Wish we had 22" right now.

[musicmanmobiledj]

20 inches early 90's shriner lake north of columbia city took my dads new bonneville out on the ice woohooo that was fun, 24 inches this past week at devils lake north dakota and -18 degrees according to truck thermo

[scuba268]

In 79 or 80 we went out on Eagle Creek. We fished north of 56th street at the mouth of the  cove on the west side. We buried out auger then had to use our spud to punch the rest of the way through. The ice was around 35". I drilled 3 holes and my friend drilled 3. We were worn out and didn't feel like drilling any more.
As for not being able to sharpen your auger blades, I do it all the time. Dicks Sporting goods sells a hand sharpener just for augers. It has 1 side that is flat and the other side is beveled. So the flat side goes on your bottom side and the beveled side puts a real sharp blade back on. I carry 1 with me in my ice fishing gear. It only cost $7.99. It is well worth the money and works great.