How to tell if ice is safe

[catchinon]

https://m.wikihow.com/Know-When-Ice-is-S...0the%20ice.
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[lakepowellnut]

I’ve learned that if you fall through the ice it’s not fishable...[bobhappy]

Seriously though, 4 inches a clear ice is my personal rule of thumb. I know others will venture out on less, but it’s risky. I’ve never fallen through and i hope I never do. I hope everyone is safe this ice season!
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[SkunkedAgain]

Craig, it's got some good points but it also really misses the boat on some of those question and answers... I don't think they grasp what was being asked when they talk about the water level dropping and the ice not touching the water level. They say it's safe, but I wouldn't trust that situation at all... Scary stuff... Heard of one time when the water level on Porcupine had been dropped during the winter and an ice sheet left a suspended slab about 10 feet above the water level so you had ice about 10' of air and then the water underneath that. Nothing more scary than drilling a hole and no water coming up in your hole... Can you imagine what would happen if that ice started cracking and dropped you through... Man they can't make horror stories that scary in my book... and without the water floating the ice it has totally different mechanical properties and becomes much weaker I suspect as the compression on the top surface and tension on the bottom surface layer instead of a more even stress level through out the layers... Ice is more a compressive strength and when you put it in tensile, it just doesn't do well... However, if it supports the big heavy ice sheet, your weight probably doesn't make a lot of difference, but there's no way in heck I'd get on it... unless I didn't know, and when I found out I'd race off of there carefully...

Back east where the wiki answers were given they probably don't have situations where the suspended slabs can occur like we do out here with our reservoirs.. and it is rare when it happens out here too, but still scares me to think of it... Later Jeff
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[Jedidiah]

Not to be too morbid but I'm finding that I basically end up never icefishing until the first "Fisherman falls through ice at Flaming Gorge" story pops up.

Fishing reservoirs here takes some practice and a lot of caution. Pineview I've set up my tent on 10 inches of ice and walked 30 feet over to a 4 inch hole in the ice gushing water onto the ice that has 3 inch ice in a 10 foot circle around it. Fish Lake will have 10 inches all over except for oblong 100 foot square patches, and sometimes just a big open water hole in the ice the same size. Strawberry has the springs under Big Hole that eat ATVs every other year or so. Rockport's wind makes it so the whole ice sheet disengages from the shore all around the lake and it floats 20 feet or more over from where you got on it. You get a sunny day that melts some snowpack, the rivers flow into the reservoirs and float the sheet up, edges get soft and dudes slip under the edge trying to get on the ice. Huntington has 4 feet of hard snow on top of three inches of absolutely terrifying candle ice in April.

Don't be the only guy on the ice and always test as you go if you have any doubt. Oh and here's some good examples of what not to do (click through the pages to see some articles on people going through the ice):

https://www.google.com/search?q=site:ksl...80&bih=907
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[BearLakeFishGuy]

I didn't go to your link, but I will maintain that ice is NEVER safe! I simply report the average thickness of the ice and let anglers make their own decision on whether they feel the ice is safe enough for their liking. Too many springs, methane vents (Bear Lake), current, or other variables to tell anglers whether ice is "safe".
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[Jedidiah]

The link is just a Google search of "site:ksl.com ice fisherman". It lists some articles about people going through the ice, there might be a more efficient search though. That's right though, people need to know the ice conditions themselves. People need to know the basics, carry the right equipment, stay in sight of other folks, make the right decisions based on the conditions, and BE CAUTIOUS.

The springs and vents all over the place are a big part. Big Hole and those methane vents eat stuff all the time, be mindful of history and watch for changes in the surface snow. Go slow. Well except when you're on a snowmobile and the ice is already sagging under you, then go as fast as you can and make a wide U-turn while getting ready to bail, lol.
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[SkunkedAgain]

It’s true that every lake has its secrets and bad spots. That is the scary part of not checking as you go and I’m guilty of this. Once I find good ice I’m way less likely to keep checking and last year we were fishing 12+” of ice on the gorge and as we came in there was open water holes towards the ramp. So you really do need some local or experienced guidance so you avoid those anomalies. Would be so easy on a sled or wheeler to run right into those spots without a clue until it was too late. Always need to be prepared for a bad day. Later Jeff
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[RockyRaab]

I was fishing Mantua some years back when what appeared to be a high school field trip showed up in two buses. About 50 teens flowed out onto the ice from the boat ramp and proceeded to act like teens. Knots of 10 or so stood tightly together, with some of them yahooing and jumping up and down.

There are springs and weak spots in that corner of Mantua, as we all know, and I was certain I was about to witness a mass dunking - and possible tragedy. Miraculously, the ice held and after a half hour, they all wandered back onto the buses.
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[wormandbobber]

How do you tell if the ice is safe?

1) Walk on it.
2) Drill a hole through it.
3) Remain on it and see.
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[Fishrmn]

👍👍👍



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[RonPaulFan]

Here's a link for my last year write up on what I do for safety and rescue preparedness for thin ice:

http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gfo...7;#1054347
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[catchinon]

I also look for others standing on top of it instead of just their heads and shoulders sticking out above the ice.
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