Submitted by zombienutz1 t3_111e6ah in vermont
ranaparvus t1_j8e7ewd wrote
Seriously. I was driving down route 30 yesterday and there were countless people on the ice of Lake Hortonia and Bomoseen. It was 44 degrees!!! And some were out there with kids. ☹️
Playingwithmyrod t1_j8ebg5h wrote
You can ice fish in warm weather just fine as long as the ice is still thick. I've done it in 60 degree weather in March before. The top layer starts to melt but the integrity of the ice under it doesn't just instantly fail.
meinblown t1_j8elnsz wrote
Yeah but the problem is the ice never got thick in the first place this winter.
Playingwithmyrod t1_j8epu1c wrote
How thick was it?
Fromage_Damage t1_j8fy23v wrote
A guy at my work was out there earlier in the day. He said it was 8-10" close to shore, and got thinner as you went out. They got to where it was 5" and turned around. 4-6" is recommended for ATVs. The guys were in a side by side which is almost a VW beetle sized ATV. I'm guessing 4" of ice. In the first week of January, the lake temp was still in the 50s! Crazy.
meinblown t1_j8f1bzu wrote
No fucking clue. I don't take my ass out on the lake ever.
Playingwithmyrod t1_j8f22du wrote
Oh I figured you must know since you're saying it wasn't thick enough all winter.
meinblown t1_j8f37it wrote
I actually talk to other people believe it or not.
Playingwithmyrod t1_j8f5c66 wrote
How thick did they say it was?
Raekwaanza t1_j8f6lcs wrote
To get to the point, because of how warm December and January were it is likely that no where on the lake got thick enough to safely walk on on warm days like this. Even when it was very cold these past few weeks I wasn’t even seeing ice where I am.
meinblown t1_j8fqkon wrote
Not very
Playingwithmyrod t1_j8frk5n wrote
Ah yes, the scientific unit of measurement we've all been missing out on
Dead_Squirrel_6 t1_j8epryd wrote
I'm sure that's what all these guys told their families before they went in. Not worth the risk.
SkiingAway t1_j8fy2s2 wrote
What matters is ice thickness, not air temperature.
They're not that closely related, and there's plenty of times when it's warm out, there's big puddles all over and it's perfectly safe to be on the ice. (and plenty of times of the inverse).
That said, common sense should prevail - if it hasn't been a very cold winter and it's recently been warm....you ought to be checking more carefully than normal. And certainly shouldn't be winging it.
Playingwithmyrod t1_j8ert2r wrote
The air temperature has very little to do with ice safety. If some temporary warm air makes it unsafe it wasn't safe to begin with. People who go ice skating when it's 20 and don't bother to check the ice thickness are at much greater danger than an ice fisherman fishing in the 40s who spuds their way out onto the ice. Things like underwater springs, birds, pressure ridges, rocks, and flowing water are what you should be worrying about because they'll turn a foot of ice into nothing within a few steps.
Dead_Squirrel_6 t1_j8et2hy wrote
Oh? How many old, experienced Vermont ice skaters have fallen through the ice this year?
Playingwithmyrod t1_j8ew4wj wrote
Bottom line no ice is safe until you check it. Ice is variable, there is no "it's safe" or "it's not". It could carry a semi truck and be completely unsafe 100 feet way. Someone falling through isn't indicative of some blanket "the ice isn't safe anyone that's out there is an idiot". Now could they have been idiots fishing on 2 inches of ice? Sure. But we don't know that. When people make assumptions about ice conditions is when people die is my point.
Divio42 t1_j8fexpa wrote
That all sounds like it adds up to "Not worth the risk."
Playingwithmyrod t1_j8ffqht wrote
It's about being careful. Life is full of risks. It doesn't mean we can't enjoy the things we love to do.
Fromage_Damage t1_j8fyft0 wrote
One year, a few years back, we had some guys on December 24th ice fishing on 2 inches of ice. But the water was only 4 feet deep. Even if I know the ice is thick , I bring spikes around my neck, to pull myself out with. I've fallen through over a spring when the ice was thick enough, luckily it was shallow water.
Playingwithmyrod t1_j8fymwq wrote
2 inches is sketch but if it's solid black ice it will still hold you. 3 is my number to feel safe but like you said, I wear spikes always and spud my way around until I'm comfortable with an area.
TheMobyDicks t1_j8em5ud wrote
Lake Bomoseen is weird. The channel at the south end freezes before the lake and then once the lake is fully frozen the channel opens up.
SmoothSlavperator t1_j8expu5 wrote
Bomoseen has springs and shit in it that create thin spots even during cold winters...and then you have all that milfoil which causes soft spots in towards shore....and then you have pressure ridges. You kind of have to look at it, pay attention and talk to people to kind of know where everything is year to year.
[deleted] t1_j8ngcng wrote
Channel is almost never safe to walk on. It's moving water.
TheMobyDicks t1_j8rola0 wrote
Yeah. Grew up there. Never saw anybody on the channel. But the lake was like a city for ice fisherman. This is a long time ago when winters were a lot colder and longer. Way before the digital age and everybody was into ice fishing.
[deleted] t1_j8rwv3d wrote
I would blast top speed up the channel on a snowmobile when I was young and dumb.
TheMobyDicks t1_j8rysua wrote
That's bad ass.
When I was a kid - in the early 80s - some drunks were smashing shantys with their truck in the middle of the night and they killed a guy sleeping in one.
What I did a couple times - admittedly completely asshole move and deserved for the fisherman to beat the shit outta me - was borrow my brother's Big Red Three-Wheeler (yeah, I'm that old) and ride down a line of tip-ups snapping them like twigs while doors busted open on shantys and some angry ass Vermonter would come flying out howling at me. I know it's bad but I'm laughing right now at it because that memory is so damn vivid. Good times.
Of course, as an adult, I got my jeep stolen in DC, so, y'know...karma.
zombienutz1 OP t1_j8e8sy7 wrote
Crazy. Saw people on Indian Brook Reservoir in mid December ice fishing with active open water around the edges.
bcodding t1_j8ehazv wrote
It's pretty normal to have open water around the edges when there's good ice. It's very common for experienced ice recreation folk to bring a plank or ladder to access ice. There's a lot more nuance to each day, time of day, and body of ice for calculating risk, and that's very likely going on for a lot of folks that you might see on the ice. Check out the various local ice recreation groups social media, you'll probably feel a little better about humanity.
zombienutz1 OP t1_j8ej2yd wrote
I guess my post should have been more clearly aimed at the dumb Vermonters.
Disastrous-Baker-914 t1_j8epyyl wrote
How many people have you heard have fallen threw the ice?... is it a epidemic?.. I haven't heard of any and I drive by emerald lake every day and there are people out there living life!. I personally don't have a urge to ice fish, mainly because of the cold but to each there own
zombienutz1 OP t1_j8eqki7 wrote
Did you not click the posted link? Yup living life, for now...
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