Fishing Forum

I was searching to find a formula or something to predict ice thickness formation. I found an excellent site and came to understand that it is an extremely complex subject. The site includes links to many articles covering various related topics. I invite each of you to go to the site and study the subject if you plan to go out on the ice for any purpose. I have included one quotation that struck me as important for everyone to read. The various articles discuss calculating the breakthrough thickness of different kinds of ice plus how thick ice has to be to pull yourself out versus having the ice continue to break as you try to crawl out on top of it. These figures are quite low and I will not post them. Read the detailed scientific studies that lead the researchers to their conclusions if you want to know. One takeaway: there is no totally safe ice.

"1) The Minnesota DNR recommends 4" as the minimum ice thickness for any ice activity. Ice thinner than 4" is more likely to have thin spots or weak ice. It is especially important that people going out on ice between 2" and 4" thick be experienced with lake ice, be equipped for assessing the ice and be fully prepared to fall through and rescue themselves and each other if they misjudge the situation."

http://lakeice.squarespace.com/ice-growth/
[signature]

Wow that is an interesting read you found are you switching to math now j/k I found myself scared being on 8" I don't know how someone could be on 2-3" but I'm a noob. Very interesting that ice can form so quickly in that amount of thickness. Thanks for bringing that to my attention
[signature]

I definitely can't do that kind of math--it scares me. We have some engineers, etc. on here that would find it easy.
[signature]

I thought I understood ice growth.
I never realized the wind had that much effect on it though....
[signature]

A good deal of the standards from flat, wet states are modified quite a bit on waters that are man made like most of ours are. Some reservoirs have only been in their current state for less than 30 years, but even the ones that have been around for longer still have bottom structure that isn't typical for a lake that has been at a fairly constant level for thousands or hundreds of thousands of years. Not to mention the work that current from the rivers does and rising and falling water levels. On the other hand we have some reservoirs that are well situated to take a lot less direct sunlight than others and those freeze faster and better on average. Knowing the history of each of the reservoirs is somewhat important on early ice.
[signature]

The real secret is having a fishing partner who out weight you by a 100 pounds. Guess who gets on the ice first? Seriously, 2 inches of new, clear ice is better than six inches of soggy, rotten ice that's gone through several iterations of the freeze thaw cycle.
[signature]