Ice thickness

[whiteknut]

Hello all
I am planning another trip to Finland for some nerve-relaxing ice fishing, but due to very busy schedule at work i was wondering if the ice is still there on the first week of April?
I wouldnt want to come to pre-booked mökki only to discover that ice has melted.

So is there maybe some good site i could check ice thickness statistics for previous years. http://wwwi3.ymparisto.fi/i3/tilanne/fin/Jaanpaksuus/Jaanpaksuus.htm only show for the moment but i would be interested in historical data.

So i would apreciate on any tips regarding ice thickness - what date is the earliest the ice has melted and maybe what lake? (I know further i go to north, the longer the ice will be there). Last year i was at Nilakka at around 20. march and the ice was still 40+cm which was nice, but i remember more south i saw more open water when driving there.

So based on your experience:
1. Would it be smart idea to come ice-fishing in first week of April?
2. If no, what would be the latest you would still risk to go yourself? (knowing you have to pre-book mökki atleast month ahead).
3. Any good lake recomenndations for either first week of April or earlier (maybe maximum 500km from Helsinki)?

[Mikko_-Procyon-]

It depends on weather/year variation. Typically, 1st week of April is the best week for ice fishing. Fish eats well, weather is perfect... but sometimes, you may receive snowstorms or heatwave that melts ice.

But when comparing Gaussian averages, I would say "yes, it is a good choice", at least in northern parts of the country (lets say 100-200 km to north from Helsinki area).

[whiteknut]

Thank you very much for your reply. It helped me a lot.