Now over 100 fishermen trapped on Upper Red

Cass Lake ATV rider fatality: https://youtu.be/yaIjeRMSMqU?si=t8jie5IA20eCoC4D

If I had an airboat or hovercraft at my disposal, I’d be looking for reasons to use it.

Heck – guides were shuttling people out in one the next day…

That said with nothing but respect for ANY fire/police/EMS people – thank you!

For cost reference…Wabasha County just purchased a fully loaded airboat that’s about as big as they come specifically outfitted for ice rescues on Pool 4 and immediate surrounding areas.

The price tag was $130,000…without regarding costs for fuel (they drink it), training, insurance, maintenance.

Yes – we all pay taxes and services should be funded by them. However, they are not funded in a way that allows them to launch crews multiple times per week with reliable equipment and “taxes will cover it”. I’d support our local fire and rescue levying some bills especially in situations like URL where it’s happened so regularly.

Let’s regulate our freedom to fish. No ice fishing till January!

Let’s double charge for tax paid government services! I don’t pay enough taxes. Please take more.

You’s crazy.

buckybadger wrote:

For cost reference…Wabasha County just purchased a fully loaded airboat that’s about as big as they come specifically outfitted for ice rescues on Pool 4 and immediate surrounding areas.

The price tag was $130,000…without regarding costs for fuel (they drink it), training, insurance, maintenance.

Yes – we all pay taxes and services should be funded by them. However, they are not funded in a way that allows them to launch crews multiple times per week with reliable equipment and “taxes will cover it”. I’d support our local fire and rescue levying some bills especially in situations like URL where it’s happened so regularly.

Yes, oh yes they are.

buckybadger wrote:

Yes – we all pay taxes and services should be funded by them. However, they are not funded in a way that allows them to launch crews multiple times per week with reliable equipment and “taxes will cover it”. I’d support our local fire and rescue levying some bills especially in situations like URL where it’s happened so regularly.

They aren’t?
Are they not funded to fight as many fires as necessary or help every old lady that happens to fall in the kitchen or report to every car accident.
If there are more than normal in a year do they stop going on calls?
The city I live in recently purchased a new truck last year that was state of the art and north of a million. They have probably used it to fight 1 small fire.
I’ll be happy as hell when it arrives if I ever need that thing.

Jimmy Jones wrote:

Minnesota has an opening day for open water fishing. Maybe it is time to have an <em class=”ido-tag-em”>ice fishing opener in mid-January to assure good ice is available and ticket the heck out of anyone on the ice with any kind of fishing tackle until that day and make it illegal to operate any form of mechanical conveyance on the ice until that opening day.

Preposterous SMH.
You clearly don’t ice fish.
Silly we have an opening day in the first place.

Ya I don’t think an “opening day” of ice fishing is the solution. It’s a big state from north to south. Ice forms in safe thickness based on individual lakes. Would be impossible to regulate too.

I don’t know what the solution is with upper red. It seems to happen every year and I think the sheriff is frustrated with it at this point, which is understandable.

It looks pretty cold later this week and beyond. The lakes I drove by today in the metro were still completely open water.

buckybadger wrote:

For cost reference…Wabasha County just purchased a fully loaded airboat that’s about as big as they come specifically outfitted for ice rescues on Pool 4 and immediate surrounding areas.

The price tag was $130,000…without regarding costs for fuel (they drink it), training, insurance, maintenance.

Yes – we all pay taxes and services should be funded by them. However, they are not funded in a way that allows them to launch crews multiple times per week with reliable equipment and “taxes will cover it”. I’d support our local fire and rescue levying some bills especially in situations like URL where it’s happened so regularly.

Please stop. How much does it cost to fund the massive illegal immigration problem going on in the country and state.

130k plus multiple launch fees per week is a bargain to be free in Northern MN.

Not red lake but Another guy died

tim hurley wrote:

‘Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded’
Yogi Bera

Yogi was a beauty. We could have a whole thread on him.

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

Coletrain27 wrote:

Not red lake but Another guy died

<div class=”ido-oembed-wrap”><iframe loading=”lazy” title=”ICE FATALITY: Bemidji Man Dies, Passenger Survives, ATV Through Ice On Pike Bay At Cass Lake, MN” width=”850″ height=”478″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/yaIjeRMSMqU?feature=oembed&#8221; frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” allowfullscreen=””></iframe></div>

Unfortunately happens every winter. Just like boating accidents every summer.
Sad every time.
Prayers for those family members.

gimruis wrote:

Ya I don’t think an “opening day” of <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>ice fishing is the solution. It’s a big state from north to south. Ice forms in safe thickness based on individual lakes. Would be impossible to regulate too.

I don’t know what the solution is with upper red. It seems to happen every year and I think the sheriff is frustrated with it at this point, which is understandable.

It looks pretty cold later this week and beyond. The lakes I drove by today in the metro were still completely open water.

Red Lake – Sheriff, he could be frustrated but this is big water that has big water problems. This happens every year and will continue to happen.

There has been a tremendous amount of people commenting negatively about these occurrences that I bet most have never been on ice on big water and have no clue. My wife fits in to this category and with each incident she thinks that she needs to chat with me like I have never been ice fishing before. Most people do not even understand the words “crossing a bridge on the ice”.

OG Net_Man wrote:

Red Lake – Sheriff, he could be frustrated but this is big water that has big water problems. This happens every year and will continue to happen.

I agree, but there’s no doubt more of it this year than normal because of poor ice conditions, rain, and warmer temps. To have it occur this many times over and over is not exactly expected. And correct me if I’m wrong but they normally don’t have to put out such a restriction like the one that is currently in place. I don’t blame him one bit for doing it. I think they are going to make an ice assessment tomorrow and make the decision on whether to re-open it or keep it closed.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Terry wrote:</div>
Red Lake – Sheriff, he could be frustrated but this is big water that has big water problems. This happens every year and will continue to happen.

I agree, but there’s no doubt more of it this year than normal because of poor ice conditions, rain, and warmer temps. To have it occur this many times over and over is not exactly expected. And correct me if I’m wrong but they normally don’t have to put out such a restriction like the one that is currently in place. I don’t blame him one bit for doing it. I think they are going to make an ice assessment tomorrow and make the decision on whether to re-open it or keep it closed.

Even though I hate the restrictions I do not blame him either. People were not going to stop crossing this specific crack. Just think about the amount of heat to come down with out this restriction with the number of issues and if one or 2 more rescues happened and someone actually died going in to the water.

However, I have never been happy about rules, restrictions or laws that do not apply to everyone equally.

If the resorts don’t manage this problem effectively, you can be certain that the DNR or Sheriff will. As I mentioned earlier, if that should happen the door could be open for the govt, DNR or Sheriff to gain control of how/when/where access is allowed. If that occurs, those entities will ALWAYS go far beyond what is reasonably safe when they make assessments.
There have been many billions of instances of travel on the ice by fishermen over the years that none of us heard about because nothing bad happened. We only hear about these issues when conditions are less than ideal. Like this season. Individuals and resorts need to use very good judgment right now, or we might all have to wait until every single lake in the state has a full 24 inches of black ice before any fishermen are allowed to walk out. That is probably not an exaggeration. Especially considering the current group of legislators in MN.

I think the resorts had enough too. They at least publicly bought into the closure which only allowed their vehicles on the ice.

As someone said above these resort crews are often the first responders. I will add that I doubt these ice crews are as well trained or equipped to assist in a more dire emergency or even an ice shift rescue.

Even the first responders with their training and gear can get injured or worse in these situations. It was also the Holidays and while they all know they can be called in a moment’s notice, it would become tiresome for it to occur over and over in such a short time with “management” not invoking some type of reprieve.

Beltrami County (poorest or 2nd poorest county in MN) will figure out what they need for their budget and tax appropriately. If I lived there or had a cabin up there I sure would hope they would not simply increase property taxes for resolving the URL situation on a financial basis.

Rescues (ie mountain, forest, National Park) most often DO NOT incur a fee. That is probably a really good thing.

Most often rescue teams are a mix of professionals and volunteers …

I could see people refusing rescue or eluding rescues if fees were invoked. They would delay or refuse and then the situation would further escalate to a more dangerous or dire situation.

Interestingly an ambulance ride is out of scope for free support. Most ambulance rides are above a grand with insurance often not covering much of the cost.

I think the resorts had enough too. They at least publicly bought into the closure which only allowed their vehicles on the ice.

Yes, the key is it only allows their vehicles….. They surely would have a different view point if this was not the case.

There are a couple of resorts that were not effected much by this active crack due to their distance from it. I would imagine that these couple of resorts probably are not too happy with the resorts that had the problems which now affects them.

And then you have at least 1 resort that states currently that they will shuttle out to 14′ of water.

They have to cross this exact crack that has been the problem to get to the 14′. Does this make any sense? So, what is this restriction doing? If the crack opens up again they will still have people stranded but there will most likely not be any atv or sxs on the mid lake side of the crack?

Too funny the reactions. People sound like they are floating away and are in grave danger and the ice rescues are saving peoples lives. They are saving time. It’s a crack in the ice that happens on every big body of water. More extreme this year do the the temp fluctuations. You can drive around it on other bodies that have more resorts accesses. Can most likely drive around it on red if you have any sense of fishing big water.
Some resorts have had zero issue the whole year. It’s ice fishing people. If you have never been on a big body of water ice fishing then you should probably just stick to your local pond fishing.

OG Net_Man wrote:

And then you have at least 1 resort that states currently that they will shuttle out to 14′ of water.

They have to cross this exact crack that has been the problem to get to the 14′. Does this make any sense? So, what is this restriction doing? If the crack opens up again they will still have people stranded but there will most likely not be any atv or sxs on the mid lake side of the crack?

They are all shutting people out. There is a foot of ice which is plenty to go ice fishing.

My daughter had a $4600 ambulance bill that we paid (despite having good insurance). The trip was 76 miles in the local ambulance and she had nothing done other than monitoring. She was awake and breathing the entire time and did not make any decisions that resulted in that situation. My wife and I paid just under $10k in local property taxes last year, get hammered on income taxes, etc etc to fund these services just like everyone here says.

Comparatively, how is it outrageous to expect someone who makes a questionable or uninformed decision on ice and needs to be rescued/recovered with a tax funded airboat after countless warnings and similar scenarios in the same spot the previous day?

I hate taxes. I hate stupidity even more. Charge the people a fee who can’t listen to a resort and need to be fetched.

^^^^ THIS

buckybadger wrote:

My daughter had a $4600 ambulance bill that we paid (despite having good insurance). The trip was 76 miles in the local ambulance and she had nothing done other than monitoring. She was awake and breathing the entire time and did not make any decisions that resulted in that situation. My wife and I paid just under $10k in local property taxes last year, get hammered on income taxes, etc etc to fund these services just like everyone here says.

Comparatively, how is it outrageous to expect someone who makes a questionable or uninformed decision on ice and needs to be rescued/recovered with a tax funded airboat after countless warnings and similar scenarios in the same spot the previous day?

I hate taxes. I hate stupidity even more. Charge the people a fee who can’t listen to a resort and need to be fetched.

My cities fire department has nothing to do with a ride to the hospital in an ambulance. Completely different entities.
I also don’t believe anyone took a 76 mile trip in an ambulance in this case.

^Did anyone ever say it did or reply to you directly? I must’ve missed that.

It was a generic response to the idea that taxes pay for these services to be available and used. Some services’ bills are passed right on to taxpayers a second time, and others aren’t.

I’m just stating that in my own opinion related to these repeated rescues/retrievals/recoveries or whatever you want to call them, a fee should be passed on. Many of these involve dumb decisions or a lack of listening…not random luck events that are health related, accidents, fire, etc. Spend more tax dollars on stuff people can’t control and need help with, rather than stupidity. A fee may even end up being something of a deterrent.

I’m with ya 100% BuckyBadger. Big difference between stupidity vs. non-controllable events. We will see the stupidity in just over a week at Methodist and that $130k airboat will be out trying to save lives because – well – stupidity.

buckybadger wrote:

^Did anyone ever say it did or reply to you directly? I must’ve missed that.

It was a generic response to the idea that taxes pay for these services to be available and used. Some services’ bills are passed right on to taxpayers a second time, and others aren’t.

I’m just stating that in my own opinion related to these repeated rescues/retrievals/recoveries or whatever you want to call them, a fee should be passed on. Many of these involve dumb decisions or a lack of listening…not random luck events that are health related, accidents, fire, etc. Spend more tax dollars on stuff people can’t control and need help with, rather than stupidity. A fee may even end up being something of a deterrent.

Didn’t realize you were the only one that can have an opinion.
Carry on.

buckybadger wrote:

^Did anyone ever say it did or reply to you directly? I must’ve missed that.

It was a generic response to the idea that taxes pay for these services to be available and used. Some services’ bills are passed right on to taxpayers a second time, and others aren’t.

I’m just stating that in my own opinion related to these repeated rescues/retrievals/recoveries or whatever you want to call them, a fee should be passed on. Many of these involve dumb decisions or a lack of listening…not random luck events that are health related, accidents, fire, etc. Spend more tax dollars on stuff people can’t control and need help with, rather than stupidity. A fee may even end up being something of a deterrent.

How many tax dollars of yours are going into these rescues? Do you even live in MN? Are you a voter in the county affected?

There is currently no stupid ice fisherman law in MN. Fishermen on Upper Red lake or any other lake in MN cannot legally be charged a bill for being rescued. You can’t just make up a law because your outraged.

Please let me know how this new nanny law should be worded and how would it be enforced? How much money should the stupid people be required to pay?

Let’s face it most people in a rescue situation probably didn’t make the best decisions.

The Sheriff is the chief law enforcement official in the county and is also responsible for searches and rescues within his or her county.

Read about the stupid driver law in Arizona. People stopped calling 911 to get rescued from other situations as the perception was everybody that does something that’s not smart gets arrested or fined.

Arizona Sheriffs then put the word out they would not enforce the stupid driver law. Everyone will get rescued free of charge just call 911 and we will respond. It was a stupid law.

Well guess what, both smart and stupid people should be rescued in this country.

And even if the MN legislators passed a stupid fisherman bill and the governor signed it into law.

The Sheriff could simply not enforce. That’s totally up to the Sheriff and the voters in the county who elected them or could elect a new one.

So let the people up in the Northern counties of MN decide what course of action they want to take and stop trying to make decisions for them.

It’s truly non of your business if you don’t have an election type vote in this.

Where the heck does it not become any of our business dependent on what part of the state you come from. That is, well, a “st&$!*”, comment for sure. Last year so many were fortunate to not die at Methodist in Frontenac. Signs were up, barricades were up, was on the news (even national news) weekly and people STILL even brought there young kids out there. I had friends have to go out and rescue people in terrible weather, terrible conditions, just so many – that yes, were from northern Minnesota, out of state, southern Minnesota could try to prove some sort of stupid point on a very, very dangerous point. In fact, it just wasn’t tax money that paid for that $130,000 airboat to save the lives of individuals that should have known better in the first place. It was gambling money that we like in our local sportsman’s club here in Lake City to spend on kids education, etc. You know – where we teach kids to respect the outdoors, educate on ice safety, etc. Instead we are donating to save peoples lives because they either refuse, or think they are invincible to the ice gods. So yes, it is every damn bit of our business.