What's a good option for quickly testing ice strength while walking out?
Jan 3, 2021 10:21:33 #
This winter will be my first attempt at ice fishing so I'm kinda nervous about venturing out onto the ice with limited knowledge of how best to test its thickness/strength, especially with snow cover.
Short of drilling a hole every couple of feet, what do you guys use to quickly test ice integrity in front of you? To know "maybe I shouldn't step there"?
I'm thinking something along the lines of a trekking pole, but don't know if that's good enough. An ice chisel / spud bar on the other hand would work, but at ~10lbs that seems like overkill and a good way to exhaust myself.
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by PtboFungineer
Short of drilling a hole every couple of feet, what do you guys use to quickly test ice integrity in front of you? To know "maybe I shouldn't step there"?
I'm thinking something along the lines of a trekking pole, but don't know if that's good enough. An ice chisel / spud bar on the other hand would work, but at ~10lbs that seems like overkill and a good way to exhaust myself.
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by PtboFungineer
Jan 3, 2021 10:43:05 #
Do you want to be exhausted or dead? You can rest up while fishing.
Jan 3, 2021 10:49:25 #
smitty
Loc: maine
up here in maine my "tecnique" is to go where somebody has already tested it
if theres a family with their truck and a tent pitched on the ice i figger its probly safe
but seriously, guys i know from different areas call their wardens to get info on ice; rangely lake might be a foot thick frozen but sabattus lake might not be safe
if theres a family with their truck and a tent pitched on the ice i figger its probly safe
but seriously, guys i know from different areas call their wardens to get info on ice; rangely lake might be a foot thick frozen but sabattus lake might not be safe
Jan 3, 2021 11:13:48 #
Well a #10 spud bar isn't as heavy as your wet cloths. Walking out on the ice isn't the place to skip caution. A trecking pole isn't heavy enough to bust ice.
Jan 3, 2021 12:52:22 #
FixorFish
Loc: SW Oregon
When we wanted to determine whether the ice was thick enough to skate on, being kids we did the "kid at a pond" thing....we picked the biggest rock we were able to heave, and did just that.... the farthest and highest we could.
Easy-peasy after that..... you either put your skates on and go retrieve the rock, or you "thank the rock for the sacrifice !" & go home and try another day !
Trekking poles ?...lol.....if you can test with them, you're already tempting fate !
My Oregonian buddies who ice fish, usually wear cross-country skis and leave'em on. Distributes the weight on marginal/unknown/uneven ice.
Easy-peasy after that..... you either put your skates on and go retrieve the rock, or you "thank the rock for the sacrifice !" & go home and try another day !
Trekking poles ?...lol.....if you can test with them, you're already tempting fate !
My Oregonian buddies who ice fish, usually wear cross-country skis and leave'em on. Distributes the weight on marginal/unknown/uneven ice.
Jan 3, 2021 12:58:21 #
Slide a wrapped box out as far as you can, then tell your X it's her Christmas gift. Better safe than sorry.
Jan 3, 2021 13:11:32 #
GaryH wrote:
Slide a wrapped box out as far as you can, then tell your X it's her Christmas gift. Better safe than sorry.
Best test yet!!
Jan 4, 2021 10:14:40 #
john1470
Loc: Sandy Hook, CT
.,., duh waiting for other person to walk on da ice; if dey fall in, ice not thick nuff for u to go on it.
Jan 4, 2021 10:19:14 #
Like Egg said. Spud bar. If you get on the ice early, you need one.
Jan 4, 2021 12:15:45 #
Well, a spud bar woulda been handy for a friend of mine yesterday. He didn't want to be close to anyone else. So he went a hundred yards south of everyone. And walked out in new ice. No bar, no spikes to pull himself up.he walked about 20 feet from shore. He said it didn't feel right. He turned to go back, and fell thru. He wasn't wearing his float coat or float pants. They were in his back seat. He was lucky to get out alive. A spud bar woulda let him know before he got out that far.
Jan 4, 2021 14:13:51 #
Jan 4, 2021 14:25:24 #
Jan 4, 2021 14:38:32 #
Coors wrote:
Spud bar ahead of you as you walk
Just walk out there and jump up and down a few times. If it's thick enough you will still be on top of the ice.
If not, it wasn't thick enough.
Jan 4, 2021 15:04:35 #
GaryH wrote:
Slide a wrapped box out as far as you can, then tell your X it's her Christmas gift. Better safe than sorry.
Good idea, those with out a X the current wife will work also.
Jan 4, 2021 16:56:05 #
Able Man
Loc: North Coast (Cleveland, Ohio)
I've been on ALOT OF ICE (& fishing through it){& have fell THROUGH the ice, more than once.} my recommendation is: leave the "trekking poles" behind & carry that spud bar in your hand. Attache it to your wrist with a lanyard that is EASY TO GET OUT OF in case you end up THROUGH the ice. USE IT.
They sell "studded snowtires for your boots" online, somewhere... I would invest in a set or 2 of those... We pretty often spent the day in our ice skates. I had those "spring-loaded" rubber "skate-blade protectors" on my skates, for walking on the hill, then take them off, upon reaching the ice.
Better safe than sorry. (I'm still breathing.)
They sell "studded snowtires for your boots" online, somewhere... I would invest in a set or 2 of those... We pretty often spent the day in our ice skates. I had those "spring-loaded" rubber "skate-blade protectors" on my skates, for walking on the hill, then take them off, upon reaching the ice.
Better safe than sorry. (I'm still breathing.)
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