Don't Take Chances With Ice

A phone call came in an hour ago. A friend, bored out of his skull with doing little other than house chores for the past couple of weeks, took off to go ice fishing. He went to a small lake here in northern Michigan, got about 20 feet from shore, and the ice let go.

He plunged into five feet of water, sucked air for a few seconds, tried to climb out and broke through again. He kept breaking ice as he headed for shore, and finally made it. He had trouble fumbling the button to unlock his car, but eventually got in and turned on the heater. He lost several pieces of fishing tackle but can return in the spring and recover most of it providing someone doesn't beat him to it.

The above anecdote about the embarrassed ice fisherman points out something very important: it may be January, and we may have had plenty of cold days and nights behind us, but we've also had about 100 inches of snow. Heavy snow on top of ice acts as an insulation and prevents solid freezing. It may hold you up for two or three trips to the car, but again, it might not.

Never take chances with first- or last-ice.

People go through the ice every year. Some, like the guy above, was lucky. He went through in water shallow enough that he didn't go in over his head. He said he's never been so cold, and has never had such a gut-wrenching feeling as when the ice suddenly gave away and he plunged through. He got lucky because another 20 feet farther out, the water was over his head.

I seem to have developed some notoriety among ice fishermen. They tell me there is two inches of solid ice, and I still won't trust it. I usually wait until there is five or six inches of ice, and by then, I've missed the first-ice bite. But, at age 70, I'm still able to decide when and when not to try the ice. I'd rather be safe than dead after making a major mistake.

I've got through the ice on three occasions, and all were many years ago. Once was while running my trap line as a kid. I was trapping a deep ditch, and was walking the ice when I plunged through over my head, and when my feet hit bottom, I pushed hard and came back out the same hole I went through. I was near shore, caught hold of a tree root and pulled myself out.

Another time i was fishing a pond, and got too close to some pilings near the dam, and the ice gave way. I cut my leg on the way down but was able to grab a piling and hang on. A buddy came to lend a hand with a rope, and he pulled me to safety. Wet, had a nasty gash on my leg, but I was still alive.

Once while fishing near Standish on Wigwam Bay I headed out to fish. The wind was blowing hard from offshore, and I checked the ice where it was attached to shore. It looked do so I went out, caught two or three walleyes, and as the wind picked up, I looked toward shore. There was now an open lead between the ice shelf and shore. I grabbed my gear, ran for shore, and was facing a 10-foot-wide lead of open water. I knew the ice was going out and heading for Canada so I backed up, got a running jump, and cleared five or six feet before splashing down near shore in three feet of water.

Was I a slow learner?

No, I don't think so but I'm a firm believer in my sense of danger Everyone else who ignored my warning shout that the ice was going out went for a ride. They were picked up nearly a mile off shore, but when the Coasties come to get stranded anglers, they only take the people. Their catch, fishing tackle, snowmobile or whatever stays where it is. They don't haul gear.

So what is the status of ice conditions in northern Michigan? It's about the same as it usually is about now. There is some safe ice, and there is a lot of slushy ice, and when slushy ice is crossed, it can give way at any time. Thick snow from two weeks ago, when mixed with lake water coming up out of ice holes, leads to weak ice and the risk of falling through.

As a rule, and this is not carved in stone, but usually shallow lakes freeze solid faster. Barring heavy snow, a few really cold nights and days, can set up fairly safe ice conditions. Again, as a rule, deep lakes may freeze near shore but have unsafe ice 200-300 yards off shore over deep water. Big lakes, such as Big Glen, Crystal, and Higgins lakes are slow to develop safe ice. The same holds true for the ice on Lake Michigan and both arms of Grand Traverse Bay. Saginaw Bay ice can take quite long to form if the wind blow strongly for a few days.

Lakes that set down in a valley often freeze quickly because the valley is colder. Lakes with an abundance of underwater springs, wood pilings, and slab wood on bottom (such as Manistee Lake at Manistee), often have very unsafe ice. Such a lake as this, with the Big Manistee River entering the lake at the northeast end and the Little Manistee River entering at the southeast end, have currents running through the lake. Pilings and old slab docks from the timber era means the ice doesn't freeze at a uniform rate.

Ask questions and look the situation over before venturing out.

Develop good sources of information wherever you fish. Just because there is a distinct trail through the snow on the ice doesn't mean the ice is safe. Always carry a spud to check the ice every five or 10 feet, and if it starts to move or feel soft, back up, spread your legs out, and get off while you can.

Ice fishermen should always fish with a buddy, and they should wear a life jacket and carry a lengthy piece of heavy rope. A couple of big 10-penny nails can be used to grip like a dagger and stab into the ice to help pull yourself out. If you can manage to reach safe ice, roll away from the ice hole to safer ice.

In the end, every ice fisherman is responsible for their own actions and safety. If they fall through and perish, it is a very sad event, but those who go through and lose their life, were looking for trouble when they found it. Sadly, people drown every winter, and the only way to avoid becoming a winter statistic, is to use common sense.

If you have a gut feeling that the ice isn't safe (even if other people are on the ice) don't go. It's better to be thought spineless than to plunge through and drown. There aren't enough fish in any of the lakes around here that will cause me to tempt fate.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors