Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Ice thickness

This is our first winter with a pond. I would love to be able to do a little ice skating but have a paranoid wife who envisions anyone stepping on ice less than a foot thick immediately falling through into the deepest part of the water. This year's northern Indiana winter is not going to stay cold enough to get to a foot thick.

So, the question is what is generally an acceptable thickness of ice to be "safe".

4 inches to walk (or skate) on. I have been on thinner ice fishing, but it is sort of creepy. Ice can vary in thickness too so avoid any areas with moving water. Tell your sweetie we drive on a foot with pickup trucks around here.

I agree about 4 inches. Some people go ice fishing even on 2 inch thinck ice but it's not so safe and your weight is an option then. But 4 should be good.

If you feel that ice is strong enough but your wife doesn't believe in that then you can show her that it really is that strong - simply enjoy skating

Another thing to consider is that ice won't be the same thickness throughout the whole pond. If there is any moving water (even so slight that you don't see it moving) you will have thinner ice.

The only way to know for sure is to drill test holes and measure the ice.

A buddy last year called me over 'cause he was chopping thru the ice and said that it was 4" thick. I came over during the evening of the next day, bringing my ice auger. We scattered like a covy of quail for shore when I cut thru the ice with only 3-4 turns of the auger........

The only thing that we can figure is that due to some slow water movement in his pond, the ice was thinned out in a day in that area. Since we were in a bout 8' of water at the time, we would have been in trouble if we had gone thru.

Lesson learned: Don't take anybody's word on how thick the ice is, test it for yourself!

Right Mike??

When I first started ice fishing I didn't own an auger. That first winter I used a splitting maul to chop/bust out a hole. I never got wet, but I learned the value of having an acceptable safety margin.

4" is usually quoted as the minimum required for a single person. I have fished on thinner, but I was uncomfortable doing so. This has been a crazy winter, and I would be extremely leery of venturing out, especially since this is your first winter on your pond. There can be weak areas caused by springs, or water movement, or even decaying vegetation on the bottom of the pond. If you do go, I would stick close to shore this winter, don't go alone, and have some safety gear in place. Maybe you should allow yourself some time to become familiar with your new pond's demeanor, and you'll be better prepared for next, hopefully colder, winter.

Right Scott!

I had drilled a hole the day before and the ice was 4-5 inches think. I figured it had to be thicker because the weather was really cold.

Nope. Maybe 2" Scott? I was only a month or so post shoulder surgery at the time. I would have been in big trouble!

I have no idea why the ice actually got thinner. My pond has never gotten ice as thick as surrounding ponds or lakes in the 3 winters it has seen. I always have open water 1 - 2 weeks earlier than other surrounding ponds. I know there are some slow springs that feed the pond. I have water constantly exiting the overflow from fall until early summer.

I now drill a few test holes in shallow water before I venture out over deeper water. Don't take any chances. If you have any doubts, back away and live to fish another day. Hey, that rhymes.

Taking a bath in water that cold is a major shock to the system.

Right Scott????

Here is one thing to remember 4 inches of ice can hold about 200 pounds, but 5 inches of ice can hold up to 800 pounds. Yeah you heard it right from 200 to 800 over one more inch. So if you can get 5 inches your good. 4 or less kind of taking a chance for sure!!

Another thing to consider is quality of ice. First ice, or new ice, is significantly stronger than ice which has thawed, refroze, thawed, etc and developed honeycomb weak spots. Springs are very important to learn to locate on your BOW, as they are always to be avoided.

I fished on just under 2" of first/new ice just yesterday. It was a new personal best on the idiocy meter. I would not have even considered it had I known the thickness, or lack thereof. If you have a buddy, rope and some experience falling through and getting out [like me] you can stand to take more chances on thin ice. Best bet - look for 3" and up on first ice. 4" and up on old ice. If you are fishing solo - never risk anything unless you know the pond well [spring location, currents, etc], always have ice safety picks, and I wouldn't fish on anything less than 4". Just my take.

Drogo,

I'm also in northern Indiana. My ponds haven't been safe all winter. I can't imagine any of our lakes either.

I haven't checked but I may have 2 inches on my ponds if I'm lucky.

This is our fifth year with our pond and whenever we have safe ice, it is about 9". I have never seen it get any thicker, which seems strange to me. Lakes near by could have 2 feet, but we still only get 9"!
I always thought it was because we have 46 degree water entering year round. I drilled a bunch of holes last week because we have some bridge repairs to do this coming weekend and the ice will make the job easier. The kids were all skating on it last week-end.
I look for "black" ice as it is the strongest. We have about 5" of it with about 4' of "white" ice on top.

RT2 - awesome to hear from you! Where the heck have you been hiding? Only 9" ice in CA...amazing. You must have lots of moving water and springs, eh?

I've been swimming thru the ice (well, actually swimming once), wet up past my belt 2x and played a Cecil - although I kept my boot once. I slipped on the bank of a pond last week and got wet up to my pants pockets.

Being cold and wet is one thing, having to try and haul yourself out of the water up onto the ice is another. Yes, it is quite a shock to the system!

I've been fishing on ice that was glass clear, and at the most 2" thick. No snow whatsoever on the lake. I didn't try to walk out to the center of the lake (1/4 mile across) but I was out in 7' of water about 200' from shore, and the pucker factor never wore off all day long. It was more interesting to slowly walk along and see the whole bottom of the lake. Visibility was probably 10'.

You can walk on thin ice by sliding your feet along and keeping some weight on both feet at all times. Thinner ice can be walked on that way than if you took normal steps. I found out that tidbit of information the hard way..........

And I think 2" of ice can hold more than 200# or both Mike and myself would have been swimming that night.

When the auger went thru, we both looked at each other with wide open eyes and withotu speaking a word to each other we both moved apart and to shore. I don't know who was scared more, me or him. Neither of us had picks or any safety devices with us, the ice was thick enough, right Mike?

I won't personally venture out on 2" ever again. 2.5" minimum for me. Was ALMOST not worth the fishing hearing those creaks and groans and pops knowing we could get dunked at any moment.

TJ, I've been ice fishing where when you break the hole thru the water seeps onto the ice in a 10' diameter around you......

I've also shoved a boat out on top of the ice with me in it just so I could fish thru ice that was too honeycombed to walk on, even tho it was 5"-6" thick.

IMHO the rule is 4" for walking, 8" for ATV and snowzers, 12" for vehicles. Bremer Pond has a 14" rule about driving on, that is a good one. I have been on foot at 2", and in a pickup on 8". Young and stupid.

Yeah sure 2 inches of ice can hold more maybe??? Sometimes?? Maybe even 99 out of 100 times, but not worth that 1 time it doesn't that's for sure.

Believe me, I'm older and smarter now. (fatter too! )

This is a good read, from the Army Corps:

http://www.crrel.usace.army.mil/ierd/ice_safety/safety.html

If you don't like to read, like me, look at this one:

http://www.mvp-wc.usace.army.mil/ice/ice_load.html

We had a place on a lake where two areas about 100 feet in dia. usually didn't freeze in the winter because of springs but did freeze when it was exceptionally cold. So I would suspect there are many lakes with thin sections because of springs.

When I was a kid we had a creek not deep enough to drown in that ran through our town and we could ice skate from one side of town to the other. While skating one foot broke through the ice and tangled through a tree root. I couldn't get my foot out and finally had to reach underwater to unlace my skate to escape. A little scary at the time.