The Perils Of Ice Fishing

When you think about ice fishing (and I almost never do) certain thoughts could come to mind. Most of which have to do with being cold. I mean, brrrr! Ice fishing is a cold thing to do. Deer hunting is cold, and I've spent my share of time shivering in the woods. My feet always get cold, but you can always do some walking to help that. And if you're fortunate enough to get a deer, you have to clean it and drag it out, rather than throw it in the stack and wait for another. Plus, deer season is usually done by mid-December, before it gets super cold.

But with ice fishing you've got to stay put. No walking, or you might miss your chance at that lunker.

But now there's another hazard with ice fishing. You have to stay put, but you can't trust the ice to do the same! So found more than 150 ice fishermen and others who were caught on an 8-mile long ice floe which broke off from the Ohio coast near Toledo and started to drift north. Rescue activity is currently underway, and at least one person has lost his life.

The incident took place during a spring thaw. Although the ice was 2 feet thick in spots, the weather was conducive to the ice breaking up. Ottawa County, Ohio Sheriff Bob Bratton said that those on the ice should never have been there in the first place, and stated that "if there was a section in the code about common sense, we would have had 150 arrests out there today."