Author Topic: what makes those holes  (Read 5286 times)

Offline river_scum

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what makes those holes
« on: Feb 08, 2019, 08:04 AM »
I know we all see them.  a (non man made)hole in the otherwise thick ice with open water.  some as big as u head others golf ball size.  still others that are not open but are very clear and thinly iced.  anyone know what causes this?
real fishermen don't ask "where you catch those"

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Offline 3300

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #1 on: Feb 08, 2019, 08:09 AM »
drain holes.

Offline Huntindave

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #2 on: Feb 08, 2019, 08:23 AM »
I know we all see them.  a (non man made)hole in the otherwise thick ice with open water.  some as big as u head others golf ball size.  still others that are not open but are very clear and thinly iced.  anyone know what causes this?

This happens when folks drop or throw their wax worms onto the surface of the ice.  The wax worms will melt into the surface.  Later the ice embedded wax worm, will be spotted by a passing woodpecker and the rest is self explanatory.
take care,
Dave  :>)

Offline Chris338378

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #3 on: Feb 08, 2019, 08:26 AM »
Drain holes and springs.

Offline river_scum

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #4 on: Feb 08, 2019, 08:28 AM »
but its not draining anything, its 10*.  all the other ice is 8+inch thick.  there are several of them around the area. 8-10 fow under that.  I have seen things, like rocks and leaves, melt into/threw the ice but these don't look like that. you could be rite still.  we had a major warm up last week.
real fishermen don't ask "where you catch those"

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Offline Philip

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #5 on: Feb 08, 2019, 08:45 AM »
This happens when folks drop or throw their wax worms onto the surface of the ice.  The wax worms will melt into the surface.  Later the ice embedded wax worm, will be spotted by a passing woodpecker and the rest is self explanatory.

 :unsure:
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Offline PoleJerker

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #6 on: Feb 08, 2019, 09:35 AM »
 :unsure:
This happens when folks drop or throw their wax worms onto the surface of the ice.  The wax worms will melt into the surface.  Later the ice embedded wax worm, will be spotted by a passing woodpecker and the rest is self explanatory.

Offline POk3s

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #7 on: Feb 08, 2019, 09:40 AM »
Warm springs, gas pockets, etc. we have a bunch of them out west here where most of our fishable lakes are reservoirs.

We have lots of warm springs around here being close to Yellowstone and having the mountainous terrain that we do. Besides that, methane leaks from the earth are constantly being released. I’m sure this still happens on natural lakes as well.

As for the woodpecker theory.....that certainly is interesting.
Trent Williams
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Offline JonPerry

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #8 on: Feb 08, 2019, 09:54 AM »
It's the winter version of crop circles.  ;)

Offline Huntindave

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #9 on: Feb 08, 2019, 09:57 AM »

As for the woodpecker theory.....that certainly is interesting.

I was hoping it would be entertaining as well.   ;) ;)
take care,
Dave  :>)

Offline slipperybob

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #10 on: Feb 08, 2019, 01:22 PM »
Hopefully it's not one of those holes where you can see the water bubbling or the water flowing in there.

That's the one thing I don't like about fresh cold hard snow.  It often covers up those holes.
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Offline Kevin23

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #11 on: Feb 08, 2019, 01:24 PM »
Just drains. Stars as a little tiny hole where two cracks meet, and as water is draining down it from melt or rain it gets bigger and bigger and bigger.
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Offline mrjohnny

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #12 on: Feb 08, 2019, 03:51 PM »
that explains why those peckers were out there yesterday..same spot where two guys were fishing..
too cold ....aint going out there..

Offline perch chacer

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #13 on: Feb 08, 2019, 05:49 PM »
Just drains. Stars as a little tiny hole where two cracks meet, and as water is draining down it from melt or rain it gets bigger and bigger and bigger.
2X drain holes.  You said you had a week of warm weather.

Offline marmooskapaul

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #14 on: Feb 08, 2019, 07:15 PM »
but its not draining anything, its 10*.  all the other ice is 8+inch thick.  there are several of them around the area. 8-10 fow under that.  I have seen things, like rocks and leaves, melt into/threw the ice but these don't look like that. you could be rite still.  we had a major warm up last week.

Wait a minute!!! You still got that much ice a little north of me...lol.

Offline iceman10

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #15 on: Feb 08, 2019, 08:51 PM »
I know we all see them.  a (non man made)hole in the otherwise thick ice with open water.  some as big as u head others golf ball size.  still others that are not open but are very clear and thinly iced.  anyone know what causes this?

Damn it I thought she moved away 😁

Offline river_scum

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #16 on: Feb 09, 2019, 06:00 AM »
Wait a minute!!! You still got that much ice a little north of me...lol.

angola area did a  week ago. now its 5-6 paul.  watch the edges they were open.
real fishermen don't ask "where you catch those"

OANN the real story

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Offline FishGut

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #17 on: Feb 09, 2019, 08:31 PM »
This happens when folks drop or throw their wax worms onto the surface of the ice.  The wax worms will melt into the surface.  Later the ice embedded wax worm, will be spotted by a passing woodpecker and the rest is self explanatory.

  ;D

Yer my kinda liar. Opa taught me to convince folks to eat live lightning bugs *you glow when you go! I SWEAR*
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Offline HardIce32

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #18 on: Feb 09, 2019, 11:26 PM »
😂😂😂👍

Offline flagup!

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #19 on: Feb 10, 2019, 09:33 AM »
yup definitely ice peckers.       :roflmao:
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Offline ice dawg

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #20 on: Feb 10, 2019, 10:18 AM »
This happens when folks drop or throw their wax worms onto the surface of the ice.  The wax worms will melt into the surface.  Later the ice embedded wax worm, will be spotted by a passing woodpecker and the rest is self explanatory.
WOW, that blows my theory about warm fish farts.  :o ;D
It seems to go from zero to hero all some have to do is lie.

Offline bigwheelrn

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #21 on: Feb 10, 2019, 11:00 AM »
The wax worm woodpecker thing seems plausible, although I have not seen a woodpecker all winter!

Offline Huntindave

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #22 on: Feb 10, 2019, 02:26 PM »
The wax worm woodpecker thing seems plausible, although I have not seen a woodpecker all winter!

Well then you are obviously not throwing enough wax worms onto the ice.  Think; one for the hook, one for the ice; one for the hook, one for the ice; one for the hook, one for the ice; etc.   See of that helps and then report back to us.  @) @)
take care,
Dave  :>)

Offline Gorilla

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #23 on: Feb 11, 2019, 07:22 AM »

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Offline Noon

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #24 on: Feb 13, 2019, 09:30 AM »
Next time you see these holes please take a picture. My curiosity has spiked and I've done a little digging and a bunch of different possible explanations came up (none of them include ice digging woodpeckers ;D) There are some articles about how the pressure and temperature changes under the ice due to solar radiant heat warming water and causing a convection causes drain holes. But these sound a little different than what you described. The other plausible explanation would be dust holes also known as cryoconites. These are caused by small particles of dust landing on the ice and the sun warming them up and melting ice around them then having enough water and the right combination of sunlight and shade (the shade allows it to be darker in the hole thus absorbing more heat from the sunlight) to continue to grow. However, most of the research I can find on the cryoconites is in glaciers. Not sure if this is because researchers arent funded to inspect such conditions in lakes and ponds or if it doesnt happen the same there.
I have also seen lots of images where different gases have caused holes in the ice but I would expect you would see frozen pockets of these gases near and around the other holes.

The holes you are asking about could be caused by some of the things I mentioned above or it could be something totally different.

Regardless of what I found, my nerd instincts have kicked in and I would love to get more information from all of you.  ;D
It doesn't sound that appealing to most people I talk to, but going out onto a frozen lake and staring into a hole for the day is my favorite thing to do.

Offline fishermantim

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #25 on: Feb 13, 2019, 10:09 AM »
How do you know they were not man-made? (That would imply that you saw the holes form right in front of your eyes.)

Sounds more like old auger holes that were partially melted. If there was no draining going on, then the holes would remain circular, but draining will erode the hole edges making them irregular.

Smaller holes could be from dark objects that melted thru the ice due to sun light heating the object.
Could be a rock, a leaf or something another angler dropped (dark weight, rubber stopper. etc...).
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Offline RuralMT

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #26 on: Mar 15, 2019, 10:08 PM »
Quote
How do you know they were not man-made?

If he's describing the same thing I've seen here in NW Montana, they're definitely not the result of an auger.  Again, if he and I are on the same page, he's describing what I call "spider holes" which (in my case anyway) have cracks radiating out from them.  I've also wondered what caused them and, not knowing, definitely avoid them.

Offline hunts2long

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #27 on: Mar 16, 2019, 06:28 AM »
You guys do know "that the FISH GODS" only fish when we are NOT fishing.
How many of us have asked, "God where are the fish?"...h2l
Northville, NY

Offline bullpine

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #28 on: Mar 16, 2019, 01:24 PM »
They are caused by the galactic overlord Xenu.  Ask any scientologist.  They also invented the flasher on one of their 76 home ice planets a long time ago.  If you fall into one of these holes your soul is captured forever in the deep.

Offline Longshoremen

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Re: what makes those holes
« Reply #29 on: Mar 22, 2019, 07:11 AM »
that explains why those peckers were out there yesterday..same spot where two guys were fishing..


 



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