Booming!

One of my favorite sounds is the “booming” that ice sometimes makes.  I tried recording those sounds last winter:

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I did not do a very good job, you can hear more of the sounds of my depth-finder and the crunching of my ice-creepers, two other favorite sounds by the way, but if you listen close, you can hear what sounds like doors being slammed and that was the sound of the ice that day.

Recently I got a better version.  Watch this:

Sure, I know it is Kansas, but you should check out the website sometime too, Mike Blair Outdoors.  There is a lot of excellent content there!

Let me talk a little bit about the booming sounds made by ice sheets on lakes.  I have heard the icecap make sounds on a lot of waters under a lot of conditions.  Generally, you will be a lot more likely to hear those noises on large, open bodies of water, but I will not tell you that you will not hear some cracking and booming on small waters.  I have not decided if the sounds result from the ice expanding or contracting?  Maybe both?  I am betting it has something to do with changing temperatures and maybe even sunlight striking the surface of the ice.  However, I cannot recall that I have heard the ice make much noise on days when temperatures are warm and the ice is melting.  Most of the time when the ice is booming it is cold, and often when I hear the booming I say “We’re making ice!”, although I do not know that is necessarily true.  I have seen times when the wind was blowing and ice sheets started moving and you can see and hear some spectacular things at those times.

Besides the excellent fishing, just another reason “I wanna Ice-Fish, Baby”!

GO FISH!