Is anyone else getting tired of all the media hype? This is the star tribune, all the news stations, etc…
I finally made it back out yesterday in the north metro.. to have about 8″ of ice with minimal surface damage from the warm weather. There were 4 wheelers buzzing everywhere, people walking all over on the lake. Does this mean the ice is safe in general? NO, but it is in some, possibly most locations in many areas.
The recent warm snap did not do as much damage as everyone presumed at many locations. If a person uses caution, there are lots of places where ice fishermen can safely fish using better judgement.
As for the media… earlier this week Myself and MrKeb were fishing on a Minneapolis lake in the midst of the fog.. standing on 7″ of solid, clear ice.. only a couple people yelled that morning the ice wasnt safe. The night before there were several people yelling from shore, calling 911 saying there are fishermen on the lake.. the game warden checked us in that location a couple times and was very comfortable on the same ice, or SAFE ICE in that situation. There were ice skaters usin the entire surface of the lake.. the lake was like a giant ice rink with clear, solid ice. The ice skaters geting yelled to by onlookers, us ice fishermen getting yelled at, people getting kicked off some of the lakes because many people are calling 911 and reporting people on the ice …. its rediculas! Today, A story is in the star tribune with our picture again, and blind comments on how bad the ice is… well, I want to know which one of them is experienced with ice and went out to drill holes to get actual conditions.. they sure didnt come out and ask when they took the picture.
All the media hype that ice isnt safe and some people have found themselves in bad situations around the state, mostly as usal, not using any good judgement or common sense… but the media blows it out of proportion so much that people are flooding the emergency lines because people are on the ice???
I use proper precautions on the ice and I know EXACTLY what I am walking on. I am growing increasingly tired of people calling emergency services when I am just trying to catch a fish mindng my own business, and I can really care less what someone elses opinion is about the ice conditions where I am at that was based solely(sp?) on what the newspaper, or news said on the tv last night.
Many forums are now flooded.. where is the safe ice, how much ice, etc, etc.. and afraid to go out and drill a few holes and find out themselves.. when they do finally get out, they learn the ice took minimal damage in most locations, and using care, most places are still fishable.
No guys and gals, the ice is not safe everywhere, it never is. There are plenty of *safe* places to go fishing right now.
I wish people could reserve emergency calls for emergency situations! A person ice fishing is not an emergency! The person standing on the lake ice fishing really cares less if the person standing on shore thinks its safe, and we really dont want to hear their opinion.
Go save a whale or something, I dont need saved while fishing unless I run out of bait andd your bringing more!
..3 yes 3 me, my buddy with me and a old river rat killer the 
but have to say s long as your smart and know your basics to ice saftey you are just fine just have to use your head
Right on. A few years back(12?)I was out on Nokomis with 5-6 others fishing. We had people yelling every couple of minutes “GET OFF THE ICE-IT’S NOT SAFE! DID’NT YOU SEE THE NEWS?”, and as if that’s not annoying enough, someone says they are calling the police-the police???? Sure enough about 45 minutes later a park cop shows up-with his speaker and all- and starts yelling through it, telling us we have to GET OFF THE ICE(5++inches). We refuse, he calls for “BACK UP”. We now have 3 cops yelling and threatening us to get off the ice. We keep telling them the ice in this area is plenty safe and there is no LAW prohibiting us from being here. We finaly convince 1 of them (after 1.5 hours) to come on out and look for him-self. After walking him out to where we were fishing, Showing him the holes we cut every few feet to check the ice depth, he agrees it’s OK for us to fish…..But some time during this whole event, one of the local news cameras showed up and filmed for a second or two, (we didnt notice)And when I got home later in the evening I had 20 messages waiting on the machine from friends and family members heckeling me because the MEDIA had made us out to be a band of reckless nomads putting the lives of our police and rescue/firemen in danger by being out on the ice!!! I did not see the newsclip my self- but I sure caught crap because of it. 