Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Slave Dog

Thanks Dwight, I saw that. After you mentioned the 11" thick ice, I wondered how much ice must build up overnight and then what the circulator could do starting fresh in the morning.

Sunil - The circulator only runs at night when the temp is below 30 degrees. During the day is is idle and that is when the ice forms around it.

I don't believe the ice ever gets over an inch or so thick during a very cold day.

OK, got it. Have you tried fishing in the open area yet?? Some yummy live bait??

Sunil - One nice warm day I was out there casting a 1/4oz spinnerbait up on to the ice, letting it drop straight down and then winding it back - oh so slow. Nothng happened.

Live bait may be the way to go. I will give it a try one of these days.

We had an overnight low of -21, yes that would be 21 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. That is our coldest temp in a couple years. Take that, inconvenient Al! :p

The circulator is still set to run only from 1800 hours in the evening to 0800 in the morning. These photos were taken shortly before 0800 this morning. It is doing a very nice job!

I don’t know if it is because I walked down there to take the photos, but I think the photos depict the cold pretty well. :rolleyes:

I know I was cold while taking photos with that combo of clear skies, ice, snow and pale, thin sunlight. Brrrr!

Theo Gallus - The sun does have some power. 3 hours later it a balmy -9!

With the 5-6” of snow on the pond, you can see the wide ranging effects of the circulator. I outlined the “soft ice” areas on the photos.

Ice is 12-13” thick away from the areas affected by the circulator. Within 20’ of the affected areas it dwindles to 4-5” inches. That was as closed as any holes were drilled, figuring a dip in that cold water would be ill-advised!

dwight, so after my first little experience with ice on the pond, i have a couple questions....

what is the thickest it gets on yer pond away from the ciculator (or in years past with no circulator)?

how long does over a foot of ice take to thaw in the spring.....seems like you'd have ice into June?

dave in el dorado ca – Ice generally gets to 15 or 16 inches. Some years it has been over 20 inches and some years only 12" or so.

Once the day temps are in the 40s and the night temperatures don't dip below freezing the ice slowly becomes water logged and doesn’t take long to disappear.

We have been ice free as early as the end of February; though it is usually late March and into April. A lot of wind speeds up the process considerably.

Now the test really begins...



very global warming.....

Ice is 10". Add more as week progresses to the weekend.

This is the first winter I've owned my pond. I know the ice should be 4 inches deep before walking or skating on it. How do I know when its safe to go on the ice with my drill to measure the depth of the ice. Do I just go out with a rope attached to my belt (and someone on shore) until I learn to tell by sight?

Test the shallow parts with your half of your weight first, then full weight, and after that, if it does holds up, then see how thick it is.

Schroeder - Go to a shallow area jump up and down a couple times. If you don't fall through then walk out furthur and drill some test holes. Very scientific!

If and when you go through ice in the shallows, don't panic. You're standing on the bottom and breathing air, right? The water you're in is warmer than you will be once you get out of the pond. I suggest trying to break the ice to make a path to shore, rather than trying to climb out - that was much easier for me.

Anyone else have good bad experience to share on this?

Theo Gallus - Good tips, though I usually wait until the pond has been frozen a week or two. Doing the test the day after it freezes over, is inviting damp boots! :p

Thanks to all for the good advice. I now have a plan of attack.

After last nights low temp of -15 degrees and today’s high of -5 degrees, the circulator open area has frozen over solid. The ten hour run time during the night isn’t enough under these temperature conditions.

Since both lows and highs are both forecast to be below zero for the next couple days, I will be putting the circulator on full time until it has recovered. As the cold snap fades, it will be returned back to 10 hours per day run time.

Brrrr!

The Badgers say CRANK THAT CIRCULATOR UP a notch.

Badgers know circulator settings, snakes and weather. This photo is 2.5 hours after I set the circulator for 24 hour running. I have revised the plan (again) and set the timer/temperature controller to run from 6PM until 8AM and then again from 11AM to 1:30PM, at total of 12.5 hours per day.

that is brutal , man!!

burgermeister - What do you mean?

I mean the weather. It's nice and toasty up here in St. John"s, N.L. Up here since last weekend. Not much below freezing, but windy and snow. Nothing like the upper midwest, northern central states area.

I called it a day outside this afternoon when it was 15 deg with 40 mph winds. I could stay warm, but visibility was lousy and I kept getting facefulls of blown snow.