I tried a few locations over the last couple of days to see where the ice would be safe on my days off this week. I did not see promising results. I checked Falls Pond because it is walking distance from my house. So if I got snowed in I could fish there. No luck. The ice was crystal clear but only 2 inches thick. Two inch thick ice will supposedly hold a man's weight, however I am not taking the chance of my next step being on on 1 1/2 inch thick ice.
I checked a little canal in northern Rhode Island. It was safe. it had about four inches of solid clear ice. Then I checked a little pond yesterday before dark. It is extremely small and protected from the wind. I jigged it for an hour and caught about a dozen sunfish, no bass.
This morning I fished the little canal without any luck. I planned on ice fishing all day in various locations for different species. On my way home for lunch I checked the ice at a little pond on Route 1 called Lake Como. This is mudhole is very weedy in the summer and maybe 5 acres. I stepped 5 feet onto the ice and started hand drilling my hole. I heard a huge crack and got the hell off of it.
My big plan for the day was to fish a pond loaded with pickerel in Wrentham this afternoon. I'm not even going to try it. If a smaller pond like lake Como isn't safe I'm betting a bigger windswept lake would be more dangerous.
The good news is that there is some extremely cold weather the next few days. Hopefully by the time you read this all the ice will be safe. Remember though that snow acts as insulation. With this blizzard we are currently getting, if we get a foot of snow, the ice will freeze at a slower rate than if it were snow free. My advice if you live in southeastern Mass or Rhode Island is to try the smaller lakes and farm ponds first, they might be your best bets. Use common sense and be safe!
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