2020 Ice thickness thread

[Skoaltender]

Thinking of hitting up pigeon tomorrow anyone been out yet?

[marlin1]

buddy was at Magregor . Sketchy ice 1-4 " . Some open water

[Sigmet]

Anyone hit Wizard in the last couple days? Heard there was enough to walk on but that's not enough information for me. Thanks.

[Fishingforjoy]

Little bow provincial park north side of boat launch,
30 yard from shore about 3" ice yesterday.
Lots of signals, but most of the whities
won't bite. Got 16 bites and landed 7 whites.
Landed a walleye and released.

[CatchingWithChris]

Thanks for the info guys.

Just wondering if anyone has been to Upper Kananaskis Lake or the lakes around Caroline like Birch or Burnstick?

Thanks!

[ragweed]

I saw folks on burnstick and birch last week.


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[RACKER]

I got out on Pigeon today at Mulhurst. Got to about 100 yds from shore and set up. Where I was fishing it was 4-5 “ thick. Ice at shore was about 8 and it ranged from 4-6 all the way out. I was doing ok till 2 of the spots where I put pins in the ice caused cracks when the wind picked up and the inside of the tent was starting to fill with flood water so I called it quits. There is the usual ice heave right at the launch and it was cracking as I was packing up. Be safe everyone if you venture out on any lake and good luck.

[slingshotz]

Originally Posted by Fishingforjoy

Little bow provincial park north side of boat launch,
30 yard from shore about 3" ice yesterday.
Lots of signals, but most of the whities
won't bite. Got 16 bites and landed 7 whites.
Landed a walleye and released.

That is still pretty decent as I've seen a lot of people get skunked there (myself included). What did you use that they were biting on?

[Cold lake guy]

6” on mana token slow pike bite good to get out though

[Talking moose]

7” on dried meat.
4” at rochon sands.
7” diplomat pond.
Dried meat is about 10” visibility. Murky.

[raw outdoors]

Newell was two inches on main lake. To thin for me to risk it open water around cracks. Bays where 2-6” depending. Thin around water edge and cattails.

[kc_okotoks]

[IMG][/IMG]

talked to a few fishermen at McGregor Lake . 4 " ice and they are staying close to the dam.
they got a few bites . saturday nov 21 . 2pm

[kc_okotoks]

[IMG][IMG][/IMG][/IMG]
keho lake sat nov 21 3pm
iced up , not sure how thick but looks like someone already drilled a few holes just past
the boat launch

[kc_okotoks]

[IMG][/IMG]

Twin Valley near stavely. iced up . the guys there said 4 inch ice. 5-12 ft of water .
and there were a few ducks swimming further out .

[Fishingforjoy]

Originally Posted by slingshotz

That is still pretty decent as I've seen a lot of people get skunked there (myself included). What did you use that they were biting on?

Red wireworm

[xblindsidex]

Crawling valley reservoir 4-5 incvhes

[Skoaltender]

Originally Posted by RACKER

I got out on Pigeon today at Mulhurst. Got to about 100 yds from shore and set up. Where I was fishing it was 4-5 “ thick. Ice at shore was about 8 and it ranged from 4-6 all the way out. I was doing ok till 2 of the spots where I put pins in the ice caused cracks when the wind picked up and the inside of the tent was starting to fill with flood water so I called it quits. There is the usual ice heave right at the launch and it was cracking as I was packing up. Be safe everyone if you venture out on any lake and good luck.

Seen ya out there at about 1, the heave was lookin pretty nasty. How deep was it where you were? I’m assuming 5-7fow?

[RACKER]

Originally Posted by Skoaltender

Seen ya out there at about 1, the heave was lookin pretty nasty. How deep was it where you were? I’m assuming 5-7fow?

You guessed exactly!In the tent was 7 and where my jawjacker was located it was 5.Lol I was just itching to get out and normally i wouldnt fish that depth but I have seen people set up there when the ice is good and they must be catching.Next outing will be with the quad out at Silver Beach when we get some more ice.Be safe if ya head out.

[Skoaltender]

Originally Posted by RACKER

You guessed exactly!In the tent was 7 and where my jawjacker was located it was 5.Lol I was just itching to get out and normally i wouldnt fish that depth but I have seen people set up there when the ice is good and they must be catching.Next outing will be with the quad out at Silver Beach when we get some more ice.Be safe if ya head out.

Used to fish that spot when I was a kid for whites, haven’t been out there for a long time, just moved back to the area so I’m go a try to figure that lake out again.

[Talking moose]

Skeleton lake today. Up by Boyle.



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[curtz]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

Skeleton lake today. Up by Boyle.



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Wth were they thinking, little soon for vehical's.

[MaxxiD]

Gonna start ice fishing this year. I think I'll be real into it. Anyone have any tips for me. Was advised to go to spray lakes. How do you check if the ice is thick enough? How thick does the ice need to be? What gear should I get? Was thinking about a hand auger, maybe with a drill attachment. Can you have a fire when you're out there?

Sorry if this hijacks the post

You guys can PM me if you want?

[Talking moose]

Originally Posted by MaxxiD

Gonna start ice fishing this year. I think I'll be real into it. Anyone have any tips for me. Was advised to go to spray lakes. How do you check if the ice is thick enough? How thick does the ice need to be? What gear should I get? Was thinking about a hand auger, maybe with a drill attachment. Can you have a fire when you're out there?

Sorry if this hijacks the post

You guys can PM me if you want?

Keep drilling holes in the ice every so often as you walk out. I don’t fish on anything less than 4” myself. Just start off with a hand crank auger. Later in the year get a powered auger when the ice is thicker. Keep the hand crank as a back up incase your powered auger piles up.

[MaxxiD]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

Keep drilling holes in the ice every so often as you walk out. I don’t fish on anything less than 4” myself. Just start off with a hand crank auger. Later in the year get a powered auger when the ice is thicker. Keep the hand crank as a back up incase your powered auger piles up.

Thanks. That will get me off to a great start. I'll keep you posted on how it goes

[Jigsalot]

Originally Posted by MaxxiD

Gonna start ice fishing this year. I think I'll be real into it. Anyone have any tips for me. Was advised to go to spray lakes. How do you check if the ice is thick enough? How thick does the ice need to be? What gear should I get? Was thinking about a hand auger, maybe with a drill attachment. Can you have a fire when you're out there?

Sorry if this hijacks the post

You guys can PM me if you want?

Where you located. Welcome to join when I get going. I usually wait till mid December and walk on. I drive in January when I got about 14 inches of ice. Electric strikemaster is your ticket for an auger and a tent is a must if the weather turns. Follow already made paths on the ice is a good habit

[AlbertanGP]

Be extra careful with the ice this year, especially early on. Early ice has been all over the place with the weather this Fall. I scouted a local trout lake on Friday, confirming a safe path out to where I wanted to fish with my trusty spud bar. 18 hours later on Saturday morning I was the first one on the ice in the dark following my trail. As I walked with my headlamp on, I noticed an odd "spot" that looked like an old hole in my path. I hit it with the spud bar and it went through in one hit. Then the ice started creaking... Fortunately, I was able to get the smitty sled turned on a dime and retreated to a different spot without doing a polar bear swim. These people out half a mile from shore to shoot YouTube videos recently really make me cringe. This lake had 3" of clear ice on it a month ago, and 1" of cloudy ice on Rememberance Day. With the forecasted weather for this week, I'll probably have to check it out again before going out in the dark next weekend. Stay safe.

[PlayDoh]

Originally Posted by Poppa

Saw some pics from Eagle Lake by Strathmore with about a half dozen tents out this past weekend. I'm shocked it would be thick enough yet. Anyone from this messageboard been out there yet? I don't walk on until I've got 6" consistent, so I'm curious about Eagle....

And Aaron Wiebe might be ballsy to the point of dangerous, but he's no idiot, that's for sure. He teaches ice safety and has purposely put himself through the ice many times to teach others how to deal with it. Unnecessarily dangerous in order to get on some first-ice Crappies? Absolutely. But if anyone can handle it, it's him. Dude is a brilliant angler and extremely experienced on thin ice...

“Ballys” “Dangerous” “unnecessarily”, sorry those all qualify him for idiot status IMO.

Nobody’s an expert at walking on too thin ice abs getting out. Done it a thousand times, some times to teach, matters not when sh1t happens and your dead from trying to catch a fish.

This simple fact an ‘expert’ fell through is all the evidence needed to know he’s not an expert. Frozen ice is like a book. You just need to know how to read it, and take the time to read it and understand what it’s telling you.

Some ******* who risks their lives for YouTube views is a complete idiot. Not only for doing it, but publicly broadcasting for some to consider its ‘ballsy’ ‘a good way to get special fish’ or plain misguided attention.

[AK47]

McGregor yesterday, solid 4 inches. Bite was slow and picked up just about 30 min before sunset.

[HuyFishin]

about 7 inches of ice right off the wabamun town launch yesterday

[darren32]

There is 6" of fairly good ice on the South side of Wabamun near RR 55.
I didn't venture out too far but the sleds were going by quite a bit.
There was one tent out on Saturday.