News & Events

Reminders from the Safety Committee:

• Drill a test hole near shore.  Your test hole should show at least a four-inch thickness of clear ice like the ice you get from your freezer.
• Wear a life jacket for extra warmth and safety.
• Not all the ice on the lake is the same thickness.
• Ice strength can also change. Thick ice is rotten after rain. Old honey-combed ice or slushy ice is weak ice.
• Wind, waterfowl, and beavers can also keep areas of ice from being thick.
• The water in the area near Lily Creek may still be flowing into the creek.  Flowing water under the ice makes the ice unreliable.
• Water near an aerator may freeze with inconsistencies in the thickness.  
• Underground springs and wind can cause weakness in the ice.

Ice Thickness	What to do
One Inch of Ice	Stay OFF
Four Inches of Ice	Needed for safe ice fishing
Five Inches of Ice	Needed for snowmobiling
Eight Inches of Ice	Needed to support the weight of a car or light truck
Ten Inches of Ice	Needed to support a medium weight truck

If you see a pet or other animal in distress on the ice, do not venture out after it.  The ice may be able to support the pet or animal, but not you.  Instead, contact local emergency response personnel, who are trained and equipped to make rescues on thin ice.

Remember Indiana law limits ice fishing holes to a diameter of twelve inches.  Fishing shanties must have reflectors on each side so snowmobiles won’t crash into them at dusk or during snowstorms.