Hopedale Pond locks up early and stays frozen late because it is shallow, small, and not spring fed, plus it is fertile making it a popular place to ice fish. There is no ice fishing between the boathouse and the dam, as that area is reserved for skaters.
Over four inches of solid, black ice. Four inches is the minimum recommended safe ice thickness for walking on.
We lost a fish here. Some gamefish, like pickerel, will bite onto the shiner and swim away with it, but not put the shiner, and hook, entirely into its mouth right away. That is why I allow the fish to run before pulling the line in.
