snow on ice

[lesterl]

We finally got 9 inches of ice and now we have a foot of snow on it with another foot coming today, Will that make the ice unsafe? And will it turn the fish off?

[Buckeye]

I've seen the weight of the snow push the ice down hard enough to get water seeping up through the cracks. What you get is deep snow, a layer of slush, then ice. It's still fishable if it was thick enough prior to the snowfall. Ice thickness will not improve with all the snow on top and could actually thin down if there is current under it.

[Fish For Fun]

>I've seen the weight of the snow push the ice down hard
>enough to get water seeping up through the cracks. What you
>get is deep snow, a layer of slush, then ice. It's still
>fishable if it was thick enough prior to the snowfall. Ice
>thickness will not improve with all the snow on top and could
>actually thin down if there is current under it.


The water will get pushed up through the holes and really make travel difficult until it gets cold enough to freeze the slush or the snow melts off. Snowmobiles can get plugged with the slush and if it's cold enough the slush will freeze them up solid. With that much snow a 4 wheeler will have a tough time and walking will be difficult at best. It will also be very difficult for any additional ice to form because of the insulating from the snow. The only good part is that the insulating from the snow may help the ice last longer and it will provide more cover for the fish.

[eric1]

Was checking out the ice today in N. Mi. It's been very, very bad ice fishing this year..Haven't even baited a hook yet..Was cruising on my Recon when I broke through a 2 inch layer of ice into a foot of slush..Scared the tar outta me..Ice below seemed strong enough but I didn't stick around to find out!! The only good I can see coming from this crappy fishing is better fishing this Spring and next winter..Hoping the perch bite kicks in any day now..Most guys are finding their shanties sunk 6 inches into the ice and frozen solid..Major bummer! My thoughts are the once you have a good layer of solidy frozen ice, snow won't effect it unless it's heavy, wet snow..

[Seedtree]

Some of the mountain lakes around here are prone to this type of setup. Hard ice, than heavy snow which turns to slush. Over the course of 5 months, this can be a real problem. Depends on when warm weather, heavy snow and cold hit. Real crap shoot, but something I definitley want to know about before heading to a distant lake. tip - don't count on local sources. They will all give you the green light to come spend your money.