Scattershooting

Use caution ice fishing

Sun, January 15, 2012

This is no time to rush out and go ice fishing in Illinois.

Yes, we’ve finally had a stretch of cold weather. But as the recent drowning of an angler in Knox County near Victoria proves so sadly (Click here to read the story), caution is still of the utmost importance.

Just days ago, many lakes in the area were open, particularly deeper strip-mine lakes. And Canada geese have worked to keep holes open in other lakes even still after frigid temperatures the past few nights.

So be careful out there.

Here are some guidelines for ice safety from the Minnesota DNR.

For New, Clear Ice Only

  2” or less - STAY OFF
  4” - Ice fishing or other activities on foot
  5” - Snowmobile or ATV
  8” - 12” - Car or small pickup
  12” - 15” - Medium truck

I’ve been on 2-inch ice and it’s not fun. One time, Chef Todd and I were fishing a small pond that had been frozen for more than a week. We are big boys. We had 2 inches of ice. We were scared. And when a dog ran on the ice to come visit, we got real scared. I’ll never forget Chef trying to shoo that dog away in fear he might be the weight that caused a break. We were fortunate. Not everyone is so lucky, as the recent case near Victoria proves.

So please be careful.

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