We can’t stress this enough: If you are unsure about the thickness of the ice when ice fishing, either find a thicker location on the lake or river, or simply call it a day and head home. While few people drown or freeze to death from falling through thin ice every year, it’s still a non-zero number. We advise that you talk with the local park ranger of whichever spot you choose to ice fish, and get their input on the thickness of the ice.
As we covered, the minimum safe thickness for ice fishing is 4 inches, but 10-12 inches is favorable for larger groups or the use of snowmobiles and ATVs. Now that you know how much ice is safe for ice fishing, get out there on some thick ice and catch some fish this Winter!