being new to the cold and newer to ice fishing I was curious what the effects of all this snow will have on the ice making? From other posts it seems like there is good ice up north but south of the cities I don’t think we have good ice on most lakes.Will this snow slow down the process or are we far enough along that the ice is still building. Without getting too scientific will I be able to safely FISH SOON !! thanks for the info!! D.
D, the snow acts as a insulator and in your case is not good for the ice. The ice making process will slow down, now that there is a good amount of snow on it. Just be careful, 12 inches in one spot, could mean 3″ in another on the same lake! 
A heavy blanket of snow functions as an insulating blanket to some degree and will slow the ice making process. That said, temps next week look to be in 20’s for highs in southern MN so ice will continue to be made. Another week and most all lakes should have enough ice for some form of travel. (Remember… no ice is 100% safe)
An even blanket of snow is really nice. It is the large drifts that create a lot of problems. Drifts are heavy and over insulate the ice, thus leading to thin spots under the drifts. Also, the weight of the drift causes water to come up through the ice and accumulate under the drift. So, you want to avoid drift on the ice for serval reasons, especially if they are near a crack.
Like Scott said, avoid the drifts. You will find slush a lot of times and thinner ice.
thanks for the info! I’ll be sure to steer clear of drifts.
Does someone make mini ski’s or runners to mount on the bottom of my portable to aid in dragging it out over snow. I remember last year it pulled nice on clear ice but dug in pretty good in the snow. I don’t think I could convince my wife to buy a snowmobile or four wheeler to tow the house out before its safe to drive on!
The snow on the ice doesnt melt the ice, keep that in mind. It just slows down the process of making good ice. If you have those drifts, i can see how that would make plenty of sense as the other guys said. I have never seen a big drift on the ice, other than a few around shantys and stuff on windy days. Right now, here in lacrosse,wi, we have about 6 inches of ice in most backwaters with little current. Personally, i wouldn’t mind if it stayed that way for the rest of the season!
So, with this most recent snow being as heavy as it is,
is it still safe to go out on the ice?
Quote:
So, with this most recent snow being as heavy as it is,
is it still safe to go out on the ice?
Absolutely not. Rochester received a record snowfall of 7.1 inches of heavy wet snow and the ice could NOT handle it at Foster Arends Lake and almost cost someone their life. The snow that came was not the light couple inches condition that they are talking about. This was heavy wet snow and alot of it.
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