Ice Thickness Measuring

Hi All,

Was just curious about your quickest methods of getting a quick but accurate measurement of ice thickness?

I thought I had the brilliant idea of measuring and marking my scoop with permanent marker since that is often the first thing in the ice after the auger anyway… worked like gangbusters exactly once but the permanent marker pretty much came off immediately haha Might be redoing it with tape or something before going back out this weekend; or if y’all had some better, proven ways of getting a measurement that has been working out for you?

There are ice scoops that have engraved inches on them. Good for measuring ice, and fish.

Were fo you live?? With length restrictions on about every fish in Mn, I have the big yellow Northland fish ruler with me everytime I go out

Hook the lip on the wet side of the ice. Will give you a really good idea!

glenn57 wrote:

Hook the lip on the wet side of the ice. Will give you a really good idea!

This it’s rare I’m ice fishing without one.

glenn57 wrote:

Were fo you live?? With length restrictions on about every fish in Mn, I have the big yellow Northland fish ruler with me everytime I go out

Hook the lip on the wet side of the ice. Will give you a really good idea!

That’s all I use. Quick and easy to read.

glenn57 wrote:

Were fo you live?? With length restrictions on about every fish in Mn, I have the big yellow Northland fish ruler with me everytime I go out

Hook the lip on the wet side of the ice. Will give you a really good idea!

Northern UT. Not many length restrictions here or in ID that I’m aware of.

I think I’ll try black duct tape with white paint pen on that.

If that doesn’t work then I might just have to add a ruler to the gear. Was wanting to avoid if possible.

Stick a bump board down the hole and hook the lip on the bottom of the ice.

AK Guy wrote:

There are ice scoops that have engraved inches on them. Good for measuring ice, and fish.

This is what I have also. I have 2 in my sled with ruler engraved/embossed on them.

I like the Big Dipper scoops for this, because the handle is an easy to read measuring stick. Slide the scoop end down the side of the hole until the top of the big yellow cup clicks in place at the bottom of the hole then read the stick.

Search “big dipper ice skimmer”

ranger680t wrote:

I like the Big Dipper scoops for this, because the handle is an easy to read measuring stick. Slide the scoop end down the side of the hole until the top of the big yellow cup clicks in place at the bottom of the hole then read the stick.

Search “big dipper ice skimmer”

That is the one I use mostly.

Big Dipper or fasten a plastic ruler to your scoop (using tape, zip ties or screws)

I usually just stick the ole Johnson down there and wiggle a bit. If a pike or Muskie doesn’t nail it within a couple minutes I know there’s over 8 inches of ice and it’s time for dualies and dual axles

Stick with the slush scoop – just use a Dremel to engrave your numbers and lines on it. Then hit it with the marker if desired.

I had a few yardsticks laying around from when the use to give them out all over the state fair. I glued an angle bracket to the o end and then just hook the angle bracket under the lip of ice and look at the measurement. Also works great as a fish measure. I’ve also did the same to a folding measuring tape. More compact and easy to carry and stow.

As others have said, I have a scoop or two with measurements on there, and that’s all I use. Quick and easy.

Grab a ketch brand bumpboard, and once you get it fill the voids on the back side with great stuff foam. Works great for measuring the thickness, and if it slips out of your hand the foam keeps it topside. Came up with that when the kids were little, saved it a handful of times from disappearing to the depths.

Just wanting to cut down on the amount of equipment floating around in my sled and not wanting something that would easily be lost.

Fastening a ruler to the scoop or dremeling/engraving into the scoop are more along the lines of what I was thinking!

Sharpie on back of scoop handle has worked for years.

Tyrel Pehrson wrote:

Just wanting to cut down on the amount of equipment floating around in my sled and not wanting something that would easily be lost.

Fastening a ruler to the scoop or dremeling/engraving into the scoop are more along the lines of what I was thinking!

The folding rules would be great. Small in size and can be used to measure ice thickness or fish up to 60″

I have what you kind of mentioned with the tape on my spud bar. 3 strips of 2″ wide black gorilla tape spaced 2″ apart gets you in the ballpark up to 12″

or…….just bring a plain ole tape measure with………….

Thanks for all the replies guys haha

I was adding some DIY rod holders on the side of the sled for most of yesterday but I ended up re-doing my Sharpie work on the scoop with a White Paint Pen (only paint pen color I had on hand). We will see how it works this weekend and if it rubs off then I will be looking at folding rulers.

I also was switching out the SLA’s on all my electronics to lithium yesterday, so the scoop measurement was kinda last priority.

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