Breaking ice

Jason R

Jason R

Active member
Looking for suggestions. Its been abnormally cold around here. Low temps have created and ice sheet that is ~75 yards wide consisting of 3-4 inch thick ice from the ramp to open water. It is melting now that we are back to normal, but not fast enough for me to use the ramp anytime soon. So what to do? Brute force + maul is my latest thought.
 
Jayson, Your describing some hazardous weather conditions,between thick ice & temperatures way below freezing. Considering the Danger's of Beating what your body & your boat, motor break down, etc. Decoys all Iced up in a very short time even if you did get to open water, where can you set up & make it worth your while. Having been their many times in my younger days,I realize the Hunt was not worth it,& I had the equipment to contend with it. Two many things can go wrong. I thing you should be willing to search out another area within 100 miles & go there. Remember MURPHY USUALLY FOLLOWS YOU ON THOSE KIND OF DAYS . PAUL
 
Thanks Paul,

The conditions are not as dangerous as the ice make it out to be. Right now down on the river (Columbia) its close to 40F (air temp) and should be raining tomorrow, which is normal. I hunted another spot yesterday with just a sweatshirt on. We just had a very very very abnormal week long cold snap. I stayed at home during that spell. I'm just trying to deal with the leftover ice. It will probably be gone next week and we won't see ice at the ramp again for a couple years.
 
I would recommend a maul/ sledge, my favorite time of the year. It does come with drawbacks but competition usually is not one of them! Also carry some rocksalt for the ramp.
 
I'm on a fresh water pond and checked it out yesterday. One hole in front of the blind about 20 yards out. Was going to try it today but figured on caution. I'm 68 and my brother is older, there's always another day. Going out tomorrow with my nephew [younger] and brother. Here to shoot another day...
Be safe guys...
 
Jason, I am glad to hear you stayed home during that Freeze up. Smart Move.Hope with Milder conditions ,the rest of your season goes well. Thanks PAUL
 
Yeah, last weekend it was -5F not including the wind chill. Kept the fireplace stoked all weekend, no way I was going out in that. Call me soft, but I rarely go out when it is 15F or less.

Mauled my way to open water, took ~1hour. A guy in a sea kayak actually helped out by trimming the edges. Shot some ducks. Now sitting by the fire.

Pup in her spot, wondering why I'm not in mine and shooting at the buffleheads that just came by:
11377767766_e5eafe268d_z.jpg

 
I like the advice that Paul gave you. Those guide lines you set seem to be good ones. By the way, Jason, not soft, just using your noodle. Continued good luck with your season. I really liked that shot of your pup.
Al
 
My favorite tool for ice chopping ramp opening is an old grub hoe. It has blades made to hold up to hitting rock, dirt and roots, the blades go both directions for chopping big squares of ice to push under the ice to the side or send down river in the current with enough mass behind it to go through some tough fresh water ice. Keeping the ice in chunks allows you to get rid of it instead of simply breaking it into a slushy that re-freezes almost immediately. Picture borrowed from ebay as I'm too lazy to take a pic of mine.

View attachment grubhoe.jpeg

Scott
 
What Scott said about keeping the pieces.big and shoving them under. Also, with an aluminum jon boat and an open channel further out, I've scooted over the ice pushing with an axe. Getting back on top coming back can be interesting if water is too deep to use a pole or oar to push back onto the thick stuff.

My guess is you probably didn't want to get this rough on your sneakbox.

Chuck
 
We had the same situation in pa yesterday with the ice being about 5 inches . Well after everything was said we had broke both trailer lights , a broken transducer and mount on our fish finder and zero ducks to show for it .We should have broke more ice then we did and we thought there was a drop off right where the trailer was so we back up another 3 inches and that was the end of the items we broke . We were at the lake the day before and the open water out from the launch froze to about 1/2 " over night . We seen some ducks in a 10x10 whole but as soon as the ice was broke up enough to set decoys everything would freeze back over . Good Luck if your gonna give it a try.
 
Reminded me of posts from some fellow CT hunters who would launch their aluminum boats at a CT River ramp when the river was frozen along the edges out to where the current kept it open.

Disclaimer, I don't recommend the following procedure, I have not tried it nor have I witnessed it working.

They would pair up - two guys to a boat, pull the boats off the trailers onto the ice. They would then each put on an ice creeper on opposite feet, one guy on his right foot on on his left. They would then get in the boats, with their ice creeper foot to the outside and push the boats accross the ice to the open water. Getting the boat back up on the ice was just a bit more violent than driving up onto the boat trailer. They'd give the outboard a shot to raise the bow and hit the edge of the ice with enough momentum to send it correning a ways across the ice. Ice creepers back on to finish the return.

Were they pulling our leg? I don't know I'm way too old and mature (scared) to try it.

Scott
 
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[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]Disclaimer, I don't recommend the following procedure, I have not tried it nor have I witnessed it working.

They would pair up - two guys to a boat, pull the boats off the trailers onto the ice. They would then each put on an ice creeper on opposite feet, one guy on his right foot on on his left. They would then get in the boats, with their ice creeper foot to the outside and push the boats accross the ice to the open water. Getting the boat back up on the ice was just a bit more violent than driving up onto the boat trailer. They'd give the outboard a shot to raise the bow and hit the edge of the ice with enough momentum to send it correning a ways across the ice. Ice creepers back on to finish the return.

Were they pulling our leg? I don't know I'm way too old and mature (scared) to try it. [/font]
Click to expand...

I've done something similar using a push pole with a modified tip similar to this
firemans-hook.jpg


I'd start by pulling the boat directly from the trailer onto the ice. Push the boat out as far as I felt comfortable then get into the boat. Grab the push pole, dig the point end into the ice and push the boat forward till it breaks thru the ice into the water. Upon return, give it a little gas and she pops right back up onto the ice. Pole my way back to the shore/ramp. Getting the nose of the boat started onto the trailer bunks was the hardest part. I'd have to unhook the trailer from the truck so I could tilt the bunks downward under the nose of the boat. Once started it winched right on and I could re-hook the trailer to the truck.

So, yes it can be done, even solo. Was it real smart? That remains a mystery. :>)
 
Thanks for posting that picture Scott. I've got one of those. It's kind of like a Pulaski, but with less of the wood cutting function. You are right though that it will bust through (some) rocks. I use it for digging shallow trenches around the yard.

At the boat ramp, I’ve been attacking the ice with an ax that’s got a heavier maul-like head. But I may have to give that hoe a try. If anything, it’ll keep the ax in better shape for wood splitting!
 
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You guys need a chainsaw--and help from the ice harvest crew at Bradford's Camps on Munsungan Lake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYAWGuTpExU
 
Scott et al~

Here is the way it's done with a boat made for working in and out of ice:

Scooter-HuntersEncyclopedia1small_zpsd56995a5.jpg


This image is from The Hunters Encyclopedia. (I would quibble only with plan view of the Scooter - few were double-ended; most either had a fantail or square transom.) It shows the shape of the "scooter hook" - the fitting made for the pike pole. Because we deal with saltwater ice on Long Island, we need the spade-like edge for pulling the boat onto or through soft ice. The other handy thing is the grapnel anchor. These are a good idea for anyone working around ice - they could get you out even if your engine fails ('though I recognize that freshwater ice is much harder than salt - so harder to "grab" with a grapnel.)

BTW: I love hunting in and around ice. I was breaking shelf ice on a local river this morning. I used a combination of perforating it with my wading staff and sitting on big sheets to break them off (water depth about 2 1/2 feet). Rivers conveniently take the big sheets away quickly.

All the best,

SJS
 
I went out to Meyer state park on Sunday thinking the Ice would be somewhat gone. I was wrong. It was still about 4" thick still. I managed to break up the ice at the ramp enough with a piece of conduit I had in the truck to launch the boat and broke a path with my boat so its open now.... Not used to doing that around here. The best part is my buddy calls me and says its open water only a little Ice at the ramp. He didn't realize that since the top of the ice had melted so it was "wet" and looked open.
 
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