Thanks for confirming. I also saw photos of permanent houses lined up on the ice from Rodgers Facebook post on 11/29. I can’t imagine they put them out there after the incident.
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Myself and another buddy were actually in one of those houses that weekend. A bunch of small, 6.5×16 two mans. We hitched a ride out there in a Suzuki Samauri (Geo Tracker) and didn’t have any issues going out or heading in. And there was (what appeared to be) safe ice for thousands of yards in every direction, there were certainly ATVs and ice houses in every direction of us moving around all weekend with no issues. If those were the houses they were supposed to be staying in (and as far as we could see, they were the only permanents out on the lake at the time), they must have veered waaaaaay off course to get into trouble, because we never saw anyone remotely near us (or anyone at all, as a matter of fact) get into any hairy situations throughout the weekend. Obviously it’s easy to get turned around at night, but I would find it hard to believe any experienced, sober (key word?) ice fisherman would be able to drive into open water while intentionally seeking out those houses, they were relatively close to shore, and even if they set off in the wrong direction, anyone keeping track of how far they had traveled, with a rough idea of how far they needed to go, would have turned around before getting into a sketchy situation, IMHO. Obviously I’m not an expert guide or resort worker, and we didn’t have an ATV of our own, but I can tell you that there wasn’t any suspect ice within sight of us the entire weekend.
Ice is a gamble. Period. No guarantees. If you venture out you assume the risk. Too many variables. I go out and accept the risk each time. Personal accountability. I listen to guidelines and advise but then decision is all mine. Now if the jackbutt next to me plays with dynamite or drives up in a loaded cement truck thats different.
TMF89, I have no doubt about what you are saying as you were there in person and witnessed first hand the layout, conditions, and happenings going on out there that weekend. No doubt there is still controversy going on and perhaps will always be as nobody really knows exactly what happened to that couple after they left the bar Friday night. What has added to the controversy is that the following weekend (Dec. 3) Jim Staricha of Northland Recovery from Isle took his crew up to Red to pull a sunken fish house. He did not say which resorts fish house, but presumably Rogers. Video below, was this the same type fish house you rented?
That house looks awfully familiar….yikes!
Obviously a lot of opinions on this,…I think safe passage is implied when you pay to drive on the ice road. That obligation totally ends as soon as you leave the road. Resort operators should know what equipment is ok for the ice conditions they have on their road. They also should mark it well. Almost all do this well. Its their business. If there is a reoccurring problem, shouldn’t they be responsible?? How would someone visiting a lake from afar know what is locally ok and not ok? Would they be expected to drill a hole on the road and check for themselves?? Resorts wouldn’t want them to,…My 2 cents for what its worth.
Out of curiosity, is there any follow up on the Red Lake tragedy from last year? I know the families placed blame on the resort.
Have there been any lawsuits? Settlements? New info?
We’re getting to a busy time of the ice fishing season. Unfortunately if something tragic is going to happen, it will in the next 2 weeks.
BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!!!
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