Pond Ice Thickness

[JUNGLE JIM 1]

With the really cold weather behind us I was curious how thick the ice had gotten so I went to a local city park to check it out. Fortunately there was a couple of gentleman from Minnesota there and they had a gas auger and were drilling some holes. There was four inches of clear ice with an inch of white slush on top. I thought it would be thicker but the snow must have acted as an insulator. Hopefully we will see open water by early March.

[FishnDave]

That's good to know!  But why would guys from Minnesota...Land of 1,000 Lakes... be icefishing in MO?

Even in central Iowa, the coming of open water has been, oddly, pretty consistent over that past decade.  Spring Break when our kids were in high school and college was always the 2nd week of March.  We'd usually take a trip somewhere warm.  I'd be in contact with friends/anglers who would give me updates on the ice situation.  The ice would almost always go out a day or two before we returned from our trip.  It was great!

The sun is getting pretty strong, now that we are 2 months past the shortest day of the year.  4" of ice can disappear very quickly when we get a couple days near 50 degrees.  The ice around StL might be gone later this coming week.  Sound optimistic?  That's what anglers are, right?     

[Gavin]

Saw some folks standing on the ice at Tilles yesterday and fishing the hole the Geese kept open. Looked like 5-8 inches. Years ago the county would shovel and we could skate on the county ponds. Not today.

[JUNGLE JIM 1]

I think the guys from Minnesota are living in Missouri now. They had a dozen holes made in minutes. The gas augers sure make it easy. Hope the ice is gone in a few days with the warmer weather and sunshine.