Ice Safety

[me_and_myboy]

I know this is probably a dumb question to you Idaho natives but... what is up with all the noise coming from the ice? at Chesterfield today it popped, cracked and moaned so loudly that I could hardly pay attention to my rods. Is there a safety concern? Is there a way to determine what is safe ice? Is it just a matter of thickness?

Like I said, this is probably a dumb question to most of you but to a southern man these sounds are very unnerving.
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[jetsled]

No need to worry those pops and cracks are the sounds of more room being made for the new ice. Those sounds will be pretty common during the ice season. If you have at least 4 inches of clear blue ice under your feet you are generally good to go. I say generally because you can never say any amount of ice is 100% safe.

Good fishing,
Dan
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[prvrt]

Sportsman's was doing the same thing today. It is temperature change that does it. You will notice when the sun comes up it will start and go on for a few hours as things warm up. Then it will calm down for a bit for a few hours and then start up again when sunset gets close. It is just the ice expanding and contracting. As long as I am on ice 6" or more, I do not worry to much. You will notice it is worse with thicker ice and quite a bit louder. I took the other half out today for the first time ice fishing and she just about come apart at the seams a few times. Yesterday on Johnson you could actually feel the ice drop a bit when it cracked and see the water move in the hole, and that was 6-7".
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[MMDon]

I think those sounds grow on you after awhile. Besides ice growth. Having the moon or sun directly under foot, overhead, or on the horizon when it's cold seems to make for some good cracking noises. You don't hear them so much when the temps are around freezing. Wait until you see one of those cracks go right between your legs! The ones I love is where so much pressure builds up it causes an upheaval and a sheer goes screaming across the ice raising it a foot or two! I love it!
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[windriver]

I love the sound of the ice but then again I am a certifiable ice fishing nut. When I camped on Henrys the ice was "talking" all night. It sounded like whales in the ocean.

If you notice most of the big lakes have pressure ridges. This happens when the ice expands and finally pops with one sheet coming under or over the other sheet. Kind of like techtonic plates converging together.

If you are ever lucky enough to be on the ice when this happens you might mess your shorts as it is like a small earth quake except with water spewing out from inbetween the plates.

Windriver
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[OvidCreek]

I agree it s a complete rush to be sleeping on the ice and hear it pop all night long! One of the coolest sounds there is!

OvidCreek
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[me_and_myboy]

Thanks for the reassurance. I will try not to worry so much. My buddies back East can not believe we go ice fishing! I try to explain how much fun it is but they just call us crazy.
I still can't my wife out there but my son and I have tackled several different reserviors with varying degrees of sucess.

And if I ever witness one of these "mini earth quakes" on ice you will be able to recognize me as the man (followed closely by an 12 year old boy) trying very hard to make it to shore without setting foot back on the ice!
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[kentd71]

I like to hear the ice popping. Many years back I ice fished Bear Lake once a week all winter. One time when going to the "Rock pile" (at the south west end) the pressure ridge was not too big. After several hours of sun and wind there was a louder than normal pop. When crossing back over it there was a piece of ice 14" thick that was sticking up waist high. Someone had driven accross it some where in a newer surburban. There were times that it was a big step accross it if it just moved.
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[Widastick]

LOL- I remember my rockie year on the ice. When that dang ice would start popin and I thought for sure I was going to fall thru. Now when its popin I find it relaxing like a summer storm comin down the mountain. The only time I get nervous is when C-dragon has me on 2inches of ice early in the year and its crackin under my feet. I wish everyone a safe and fun 2010 season!
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