South East Idaho Ice?

[jandjflyfish]

Anyone have any updates on ice conditions they would be willing to share? Looking to take the boy out this weekend, thinking maybe Weston/Deep Cr. Didn't want to waste the day to find out no safe ice. Seems like with this recent cold that Treasureton should be good to go, but I am not that familiar with when Weston usually gets safe.
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[BMURR]

Weston and Treasureton are usually pretty close to one another. With Treasureton having the winter kill last year, I can't imagine that its going to be that good this year. It's hard to say if either will be fishable, but its got to be close.

Brady
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[SteelieNut]

I checked Glendale this evening, it is probably fishable...with caution. Deep Creek is usually the same as Glendale, so go hit it this weekend. The ice is 3 inches but its not very good ice, maybe due to the snow the other day? You should be good to go by Saturday. Let us know how you do at Deep Creek, I'll do the same from Glendale.
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[wackmaster]

[:/] Devil creek and Deep creek had 2.25" of ice today. Someone tried to get on Devil Creek today and took an icebath about 15' off shore. Hope they are OK, the hole in the ice looked awful cold Brrrrrr.
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[jandjflyfish]

Sounds like we better be very cautious. With these cold temps, it should be thicker by the weekend. I know there are many variables that factor into it, but does anyone know any general "rules of thumb" for ice growth? Assume daytime temps in the 20's and low teens to single digits at night.
I will let everyone know how we do.
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[BMURR]

The ice will be great with temps like that. The thing that messes it up usually is the wind.
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[fishingrocket]

J & J,

My experience is that when you have bare ice and temperatures are in the range of 0 F to 20 F (staying below freezing all day is a must), the ice will freeze at about 1" per day until it is 3" thick and then it slows to about 1/2" per day. After it is 4" or so it is usually safe as a general rule unless you are dealing with springs, current or large tension cracks. The key for what I just told you is that it must be bare ice.

All bets are off when ice is snow covered. The most dangerous conditions occur with the weather conditions that occurred this year as the ice formed. When ice forms as the snow is coming down, you get voids and inconsistent density. One could call it rotten ice. Then the snow insulation layer on top prevents the quick freezing that I just described.

It is counterintuitive, but the safest ice is the clear stuff that scares the crap out of you. You can see the cracks and and it looks much thinner than it actually is, but clear ice is what I trust most. The conditions we have now are ideal for trouble. This is the year for "picks of life", long poles, lots of checking by testing spots with an axe as you go out and using your sled as a boat if you go in.

There is great advantage to living at the scene and watching daily for the tension cracks and last areas to freeze. Unfortunately, most of us don't live there and have to use our wits to figure it out at the scene. Following somebody else will not always keep you alive so I have never relied on that feature alone.

I am surprised to see many experienced ice fisherman ranting about how the ice is going to be safe based on temperatures alone. They are wrong.

FR
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[maghunter]

Hopefully this wind we are getting today will blow all the snow off the ice and then its going to be sub zero tonight, and we can be ice fishing by christmas.
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[BMURR]

Wow, with what has been said, it's a miracle that there is ever safe ice to fish on.
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[fishingrocket]

BMURR,

I can see now that my wording may have been confusing and also could have hurt your feelings. My post was not directed at you personally but was intended to shock the readers into listening and understanding the risks. People were breaking through ice at Devils Creek and Mud Lake as I wrote that. It also looked scary for the weekend since several of the lakes had a thick blanket of snow and our forum members predicting safe ice -- based on weather forecasts and past temperatures.

Part of what I said was to help describe how to use the rule of thumb for ice formation so that people would not misinterpret. Ice formation is fairly straight forward. When the top interface temperature is less than freezing, ice forms. It thins when the interface temperature is above freezing. The rate of formation is a function of the temperature difference (or delta T). Snow acts as an insulator and the interface temperature becomes only slightly below freezing (say about +30 F) when you have two foot of snow and -30 F air temperature. Under these conditions, folks that only have experience with bare ice behavior draw false conclusions (and predictions) about how quickly ice will form based on previous years where the conditions were different.

As far as how thick ice needs to be before it is safe, one of the best answers can be found at the following web site;

http://www.fishandgame.com/icesafe.htm

The short answer is that ice is never "safe". The web site listed above recommends several safety measures that I described (and use) including "picks for life".

No hard feelings......

FR
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