Ice fishing

[Moose1am]

Ice thickness can vary from lake to lake and from spot to spot on a lake.

Steve Ford (Evansville Courier and Press Outdoors Reporter) wrote a good article to day (Sunday) about ice safety.

He mentioned one thing that I had forgot about. Geese keeping a small area on a lake free of ice for as long as they can. That could make a small area of the lake have thinner ice. So be careful. Other things can create thin ice areas as well. Underwater springs or water flowing though a lake or pond can prevent the water from freezing for some time. This could create pockets of thinner ice on a lake.

It's a good thing to bring along some safety equipment and a change of cloths, warm blanket, some heat sources, towels, and a rope between you and something solid on the shoreline. And something on your person that will allow you to climb out of the water and onto the ice if you fall though. Something that can hold onto the ice and allow you to pull yourself out and up onto the ice if you are alone.

I heard some reports of ice at least 4.5" thick. 4" is considered safe ice thickness for one person.

I read a story about some guy driving a van out onto the ice at Rend Lake in Southern IL and the van broke though the ice. They closed Rend Lakes public ramps for now until they can post signs on them that reads" Road ends in the water".

Ice can expand and contract and weaken itself so take care if you venture out on a lake to ice fish in the Southern Parts of the State.

We don't normally get this long cold speed every year so most people down here are not use to ice fishing every year.

The ice is pretty thick right now on most shallow and small ponds. It's the deeper waters that take longer to freeze up that one should be used with care.

Hey ,
The board seems to be a little dead lately - anybody been ice fishing in southern IN ? Heard of some people going and doing well on bluegill . Just wondering how thick the ice is .

Tight lines

[bassmanic1]

Hey all ,
Thanks for the ice fishing saftey tips - its a good idea to play it safe . I have been trying to buy a ice auger - HA ! Bass Pro shops stopped carrying them due to the demand so I did a Google and found Peterson-Outdoors in PA and ordered a 8" hand auger for $55.00 plus postage . Hopefully it will be here before next week-end so me and my brother can try it out . We plan on wearing life jackets and tying a long rope to the bank just in case . I have a propane camping heater to keep warm and plan on using bee moths or meal worms for bait . I have heard you can use a depth finder through the ice to locate fish so I plan on doing that also - just load all the stuff on a plastic sled and pull it around . I stopped at Ringneck pit at Bluegrass Friday after work and it looks like someone had been fishing - I walked out from the ramp about 30 yds to see the hole they had used { it was refroze } and the ice seemed very thick and clear , no cracking or any noises at all so I would say the smaller lakes are OK . The big pit still had open water as did Loon and Otter , Otter pit was open a good ways out from the guardrail by the road so no fishing there Moose . I would like to try some of the pits you cant get a boat to like Buck or some of the others by the road , I will post the results when I get back .

Tight lines

[Moose1am]

Thanks for the report on the pits at Bluegrass. I almost drove by there today to check the ice conditions but I had to go somewhere else instead.

I was curious if the ice was formed over those bigger pits. Since they are so big and DEEP I was not sure how much ice they would have.

The shallow pits may be a lot better. I wonder what Bird dog pit looks like? I have never been able to get my boat launched from that pit ..yet. My boat is heavy and it's hard to get it to float off the trailer unless the ramp is pretty steep.

There are a lot of smaller pits that are not even visible from the road ways. I saw several using the Google Earth viewer.

Hey all ,
Thanks for the ice fishing saftey tips - its a good idea to play it safe . I have been trying to buy a ice auger - HA ! Bass Pro shops stopped carrying them due to the demand so I did a Google and found Peterson-Outdoors in PA and ordered a 8" hand auger for $55.00 plus postage . Hopefully it will be here before next week-end so me and my brother can try it out . We plan on wearing life jackets and tying a long rope to the bank just in case . I have a propane camping heater to keep warm and plan on using bee moths or meal worms for bait . I have heard you can use a depth finder through the ice to locate fish so I plan on doing that also - just load all the stuff on a plastic sled and pull it around . I stopped at Ringneck pit at Bluegrass Friday after work and it looks like someone had been fishing - I walked out from the ramp about 30 yds to see the hole they had used { it was refroze } and the ice seemed very thick and clear , no cracking or any noises at all so I would say the smaller lakes are OK . The big pit still had open water as did Loon and Otter , Otter pit was open a good ways out from the guardrail by the road so no fishing there Moose . I would like to try some of the pits you cant get a boat to like Buck or some of the others by the road , I will post the results when I get back .

Tight lines