Ice anglers have been itching to get out and try their luck, but mostly have found little or no ice to support their fishing habit.
The subzero cold should start to change that, firming up ice where there was no ice and building thickness in places where the sheet was thin.
For safety info, we’ll go to the experts in ice-fishing-crazy Minnesota where wintertime can create entire towns out on its many lakes. Here’s what the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has to say about safe ice thickness:
For new, clear ice only:
- Two inches or less of ice - STAY OFF!
- Four inches - ice fishing or other activities on foot.
- Five inches - snowmobile or ATV.
- Eight to 12 inches - car or small pickup.
- Twelve to 15 inches - medium truck.
It’s also worth noting that no ice thickness is totally safe. And you should look at all ice sheets as potentially having weak spots due to wind, underwater currents, underwater springs or, in Montana, areas where gas bubbles to the surface.
Minnesota DNR advises that anglers check ice thickness frequently. You can check the thickness with an ice chisel, augering a hole or using a cordless drill with a long, auger-style bit.
Other safety tips include not driving on ice whenever possible and, if you do, be prepared to get out of the vehicle in a hurry by keeping windows down, unbuckling seat belts and having an emergency plan that you’ve discussed with your passengers.
Snowmobilers and ATV drivers at night shouldn’t overdrive their headlights. Fatal accidents have occurred because people were traveling too fast for the operator to stop when they spotted a hole ahead or a trouble spot.
It’s also a good idea to wear a life jacket under your winter gear or purchase one of the new flotation snowmobile suits. Carrying a pair of ice picks is also advisable, keeping them handy if an unplanned swim (are winter swims ever planned by ice fishermen?) takes place.
If disaster does strike and someone falls through the ice, here’s what the DNR advises companions:
- Keep calm and think out a solution.
- Don’t run up to the hole. You’ll probably break through and then there will be two victims.
- Use some item on shore to throw or extend to the victim to pull out of the water such as jumper cables or skis, or push a boat ahead of you.
- If you can’t rescue the victim immediately, use a cell phone to call 9-1-1 and get medical assistance for the victim.
- Handle victims gently - they may seem fine but could suffer a potentially fatal condition called “after drop,” which happens when cold blood pooled in the extremities starts to recirculate in their body.
If you happen to fall in yourself, the DNR advises you try not to panic, but stay calm and turn back toward the direction you were coming from. Place your hands and arms on the unbroken surface of the ice and use ice picks if you have them. Work forward on the ice by kicking your feet.
If the ice breaks, repeat and slide forward again. Once you are lying on the ice, don’t stand. Instead, roll away from the hole. That spreads out your weight until you are on solid ice.
The DNR notes that this may sound simple enough, but it’s far from easy when you’re freezing in the cold water and weighed down with wet clothing.
Perhaps the best information of all is when the Minnesota DNR says, “The best advice is don’t put yourself into needless danger by venturing out too soon or too late in the season. No angler, no matter how much of a fishing enthusiast, would want to die for a crappie.” Or perch, or walleye, or trout, or salmon.
Contact Mark Henckel at henckel@billingsgazette.com or at 657-1395.
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