The Dangers on Ice

For Anglers Who Chase Trout On Lonely Remote Streams

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Ice fishing can be a great time out on the ice with buddies sharing stories and catching fish. Ice fishing does have it’s dangers that we’ll talk about it here. Fisherman start treading on ice when it gets to a thickness of 3” of good ice. 5 to 6” for sleds, snowmobiles, 7 to 12” for light cars, and 14 to 16” for full size trucks. In areas where a swift current is, you may see open water or very thin ice. Beware of areas like these because of the dangers. On the Great Lakes, winds off shore will break square miles of massive chunks stranding many people and vehicles. Such a problem happened on Lake Erie in February 2009 stranding 100 or so fisherman. Rescue teams had to be sent out, and one man who fell in the water later died on the life flight.

Warm spells late into the winter wreck havoc to ice texture, while still at a required thickness, will not always support weight. This is called “rotten ice” or soft ice and is very dangerous. A few fisherman will still venture out despite the flaws in the ice. A Self rescue device made of two spiked handles connected by a string to pull yourself out of the water and onto the ice can be purchased for safety.

Every year snowmobiles, cars, trucks, and ice fishing houses fall through the ice every year. Environmental laws require quick recovery of the vehicle or structure when this situation arises. Divers and helicopters are then needed to hoist vehicles and structures from the depths.

Other dangers involving ice fishing include frostbite due to long periods in the low temperatures combined with wind, and carbon monoxide poisoning from ice house heaters.Today new houses come with air exchanger systems for air flow to prevent poisoning.

Over the last 20 years ice fishing practices have changed quite a bit. Today it’s a whole new world of ice fishing, and fisherman have become quite innovative. Back in the days of drilling one hole, wishing and hoping a fish will eventually swim to your hook and take the bait are becoming a memory.

The ice fisherman of today are using new fast augers doubling that with the latest sonar devices. Ice fisherman are amazingly drilling from 50 to 100 holes in just a day to catch fish and just like warm weather fisherman they are using sonar to locate the fish. If their sonar picks up no fish at one hole they will move on to another until they locate fish. When the fish stop biting they are moving on to check other holes with sonar. When they finally locate a school the hooks are dropped.

Modern ice fisherman are locating and catching more fish today than ever before. They are covering more ice with great success.

I am wondering if the sport has been taking out of this practice and fisherman are just fishing in a barrel and depleting fish stock. I am sure many fisherman are practicing state fishing and hunting regulations, but with the ease of today’s ice fishing more and more people are doing it and taxing fish population. For every 10 ice fisherman, 9 will follow rules and regulations, but it is just that one using today’s technology that does the most damage. Add that to the thousands and you’ll see where this is going.

Would love to hear commentary on this subject. If you have an opinion or thought we would love to hear it.

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