Strawberry 2/1/25 with a bonus fish

[percheye]

First ice fishing trip to Strawberry this year.  Thanks to UDOT the roads were plowed and I made decent time.  Set up in the ladders area away from the main tent city. The fish were being picky and after several hours of fishing I only had caught a rainbow.   Decided to leave early.  Got to the truck and a DWR officer was checking licenses etc.  He asked if I wanted a slot cutt that someone had illegally kept.  I said sure and I was on my way home with 2 fish.  The cutt had beautiful red meat.  Hopefully faster action next time but it was nice to just be on the ice.

[SkunkedAgain]

How thick is the ice up there by now? Is it plenty thick to hold snowmobiles? I know you mentioned wheelers on the ice, but sometimes folks arent as careful as I like to be... So just wanting to make sure there is at least 6" of ice.. Thanks Jeff

[Bduck]

I find it amazing how folks take a lot of heavy equipment ranging from ATVs, snowmobiles, snow dogs plus more equipment on sleds in tow and their body weight onto the ice. Thats a lot of weight to be trusting ice to hold and you have neighbors next to you contributing their share of weight with similar like equipment. I always see news reports across this country of how some break thru with either a tragic ending or just lucky to be alive. I know the question is always about thickness suitable. Is it calculated for just an individual or is the thought involved with heavy equipment to be supported?

[MWScott72]

This info comes from the MN DNR. It’s for clear ice. Grey ice would hold somewhat less (probably a lot less…)

Ice Depth (in.) / Max Weight (lbs)

4” 800

5”. 1,250

6” 1,800

7” 2,450

8” 3,200

9”. 4,050

10” 5,000

11” 6,050

12” 7,200

13” 8,450

14” 9,800

15” 11,250

16” 12,800

17” 14,450

18” 16,200

19” 18,050

20” 20,000

There are always those that are going to push the limits. I imagine that MN DNR is going to be conservative too, so the real numbers are probably somewhat higher…but…do you want to be the one to test that? Not me!!

To Jeff’s question - the ice on the Soldier Creek side was about 6” clear where we were at last week. I don’t know what this warm spell has done to it. It hasn’t been good for our lower elevation lakes though.

[SkunkedAgain]

Thanks for the info on the ice thickness, I was hoping for more than that by now, but it has been that year... Funny Hyrum has more ice than the Berry, that doesn't make a lot of sense, but neither does this whole winter... I'll have to be careful... Thank you... Jeff

[Mildog]

MW Scott’s info from MN IS Very interesting and good to know. But there are many variables as have some have mentioned.

***My question are the weights listed per SQ. foot/yard etc?*** makes a big difference**

I know in some places they take vehicles like trucks on 8 inches!! Not my truck!!

Temperature and purity of the ice makes a huge difference in its ability to hold weight. The other thing that makes a big difference is the surface area that is holding up the weight.
As in a person where just his 2 feet on the ice supporting all the weight. If he were on cross country skis he could likley be supported on much less thickness as it is dispersed over more surface area, and could probably be supported by 1 inch of hard fresh ice. I knew a guy that used to do that on the duck marsh knowing it was only 18 inches beneath him he could go everywhere in a hurry on very thin ice. Saw ice skaters with special long skates, wearing wetsuits and life vests and other gear skating on about 1 inch at Utah lake! They loved the thrill of the clear fresh smooth ice!! Prepared to ms Be go through and Travelled in groups so they could self rescue (crazy) Not for the faint of heart or me!!
Vehicles like 4 wheelers have the weight dispersed over a large surface area and by 4
“Soft tires” with large a footprint/surface area, some lighter ones might be supported by less ice than a real big guy on foot?
Snowmobiles track and skis disperse the weight over a large area light ones may have less weight loss per square foot than a few people standing close together.
With all that being said I don’t take my wheeler out unless there is 6-7 inches of very solid fresh ice, never had a problem.
Many years ago on Flaming Gorge near the end of ice season in March , I remember our “LAST” day out on, about 18” in the early morning all seemed great, but by early afternoon it was very sunny probably got to 50 degrees
The ice color changed and the texture started changing and it was eerily quiet, no cracking or popping like fresh growing ice. Noisy cracking is is usually a sign that’s it growing expanding!
The ice turned into granules/crystals that were held together when cold but as it warmed the integrity and strength turned to crap!! You could kick your heel down and make a slushy hole with very little effort. I told my buddy we need to get the H*** off of here now!! The wheelers were leaving tracks in the surface and the edges were very rotten we were lucky to find a spot to drive them off as the edges were rotten too. It was as dicey of ice as I have been on !!! It was like we were on a frozen slushy ! When it warmed it lost all its strength and yet it was 18 inches thick! I think if you jumped up and down you could have punched through that afternoon. That ice blew off the next day!! So long story but always check the conditions and verify it , use good judgement and caution, the thickness alone isn’t the whole story no Fish is worth a cold dangerous dip or far worse!