Youre Skating On Thin Ice

How do you know if ice is thick enough for safety to walk and drive on?

As mentioned in the previous chapter, you can tell if ice is safe by its location, its color and texture, the environment itself, and if it measures no less than four inches thick. Just remember for walking on ice to use good common sense and take your time. Be careful during the beginning of the season when the temperatures are not yet cold enough to create a solid and safe ice surface as well as the ending season at which time the ice is starting to break up.

The one thing you want to avoid is walking on snow that is on the water. Remember, snow will insulate the ice not allowing it to freeze strong enough to hold any weight. Additionally, if you see any areas that are bubbly looking or resemble scrambled eggs, avoid it. These areas are where the water wicked up, froze, and then blowing bits of snow attached to the frozen water. The result is this appearance and the ice is weakened.

When it comes to constructing an icehouse or driving on ice, you need to first check with the state where you will be fishing, as most have individual laws to be followed. For instance, the state of Minnesota is an ice fishing paradise since it offers thousands of lakes and freezing temperatures. For this particular state, there needs to be from 12 to 15 inches of ice before an icehouse can be built. For vehicles, the guidelines are as follows:

1 Walking and Ice Fishing - Minimum of four inches
2 Snowmobiling or Riding an ATV - Minimum of 5 to 6 inches
3 Small Cars or Trucks - Minimum of 8 to 12 inches
4 Larger Cars or Trucks - Minimum of 14 to 16 inches

Outside of Denver, Colorado is a small town called Georgetown where jeep ice racing is an annual event. People come from all around the country to participate in this sport, which consist racing around street cones. Whether participating or simply watching, the thrill is unbeatable. With each turn of the 4x4 vehicle, everyone holds their breath waiting to see if they will make it. Interestingly, very few accidents occur primarily because the people know the lake and they take special cautionary measures to ensure it is thick enough to handle the heavy load of the vehicles.

No matter what type of weight is being put on the ice, you want to look out for pressure ridges, which are something every lake has, especially if the lake has a bay. These ridges form at the location where the main body of water meets with the bay. While the ice within the bay remains solid, all along the ridge the ice will fracture in shapes that resemble a piece of pie. The fracture can occur both inward and outward with the outward fractures being far more dangerous. At the location of the fractured wedge, the ice is extremely unstable and any weight at all will cause the ice to break wide open.

As mentioned in the previous chapter, you have some solid guidelines of what you should and should not do when walking or ice fishing on ice but below we have provided safety guidelines for driving as well:

1 Ask some of the local bait and tackle shops for information on any problem areas

2 If possible, stay off ice with a vehicle. The key to driving on ice is that you need to be prepared should you break through. This means to have all the windows down, the seatbelts unbuckled (just in this case), and make sure you and your fishing buddy are on the same page regarding an emergency.

3 Avoid overdriving the headlights since even if you are driving slowly, the distances to stop on ice are obviously greater. Unfortunately, far too often people driving on ice that are overdriving their headlights are not able to stop when they see open water. The result in many of these situations is a fatal accident.

4 Make sure you and your fishing partner always wear a personal flotation device. For snowmobiling or riding your ATV, you can even purchase special suits. If you are driving a car or truck, keep the flotation nearby but never have it on. Should the vehicle fill with water before you can get out, you will find it almost impossible to get the jacket off to escape the vehicle.

5 As mentioned, you can use nails for gripping when walking or ice fishing, for vehicles, keep a couple of ice picks in the vehicle to be used for gripping. Remember, when in the water, once your clothing is wet, you will now weigh anywhere from 40 to 80 pounds more. The ice picks will provide you the added support to pull up and out of the water.

6 Whether walking, ice fishing, snowmobiling, riding an ATV, or in a car or truck, should you break through the ice and go underneath the ice, look for the dark spot - NOT the light, which is the mistake that most people make, often costing them their life.

By: Icewcf

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