Things are getting dicey out in SD

Yes very sad prayers for the families

Horrible, I couldn’t even begin to imagine.

My deepest condolences to the family. You will forever be in my heart.

Dash Adams wrote:

Here’s an update from yesterday. Sad news. https://www.keloland.com/news/local-news/two-dead-after-falling-through-ice-at-lake-poinsett/

That it so sad I have an 8 yr old grandson. Hard not to cry. PRAYERS 🙏

Very sad. Same thing happened in Alexandria in 2015.

https://m.startribune.com/atv-goes-into-icy-alexandria-lake-man-dies-grandson-in-critical-condition/294992471/

On Wed I checked a local lake in Alexandria. There was 8.75″-10″ on most of the plowed road. There were 1 tons and tandem axle houses driving all over it. Crazy how strong the ice can be.

Driving on Ice that thickness though does not give you much margin for error. A little warm up and things will start falling through.

What amazes me the most though is people just don’t check the ice thickness. They see a plowed Road and start driving. Even though the plowed Road was done by ATVs.

Joe Scegura wrote:

Very sad. Same thing happened in Alexandria in 2015.

https://m.startribune.com/atv-goes-into-icy-alexandria-lake-man-dies-grandson-in-critical-condition/294992471/

That was a bad one. I’m friends with the child’s father. Lost his child and his dad that day.
DT

Ugh…So sad thoughts and prayers tonight. I have a 4 year old that I hugged extra tight tonight before bed.

One of the issues we have every winter in SD is many of the popular ice fishing lakes were also popular with flocks of nearly 250,000 snow geese while icing up. There are lots of lakes that had snows on them until the week of christmas. Those areas have less ice than other portions of a lake that may have truck traffic on it, and those areas also became snow covered in some instances further preventing quality ice from building since the birds left.

I drilled nearly 100 holes on saturday on one of the lakes that a truck went through and 75% of them had 11 or more inches of ice, but 2 had less than 5 inches. Both of those were snow covered areas with old cracks underneath.

Also, don’t park your truck/trailer on the ice right at a flooded road bed or access. Shallow rocky areas (roadbeds) are seeing rapid ice deterioration as well.

There was a ton of “monkey see monkey do” this past week on SD lakes. My buddy found an indirect route to an area we were fishing where every hole he drilled was 11.5″-12″. He drove his truck out. Somebody saw that there was a truck out that far and took a direct path, right over a shallow sandbar that had maybe 8″ of ice. He was damn lucky he didn’t drop in, and we told him as much and showed him a safer return route. He had never even looked at a map for the lake, and it was second time ever on that lake.
I also watched some guys a few hundred yards west of us wave a snowbear off and kept him from driving into a heave on saturday.

If you’re coming out to SD this week, know where you are in the daylight. wouldn’t hurt to bring binoculars and glass the lake for heaves or open water. Approach with caution so you can mark bad areas on your GPS. Don’t go buzzing around the lake blind to the conditions. and PLEASE plot your route out on GPS so you can follow it back safely to the landing should you stay past dark.

Joe Scegura wrote:

Wed I checked a local lake in Alexandria. There was 8.75″-10″ on most of the plowed road. There were 1 tons and tandem axle houses driving all over it. Crazy how strong the ice can be.[/quot

Same here in Hutchinson area, 8 to 10 inches and trucks everywhere

So I guess this ice thickness safety guideline is a moot point then huh

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The law of numbers and averages says that as the number of people ice fishing skyrockets, so will the number of people pushing the limits without clearly knowing what they are doing. Let’s hope and pray for no more disasters.

I used to scream at people and think most were intentionally taking stupid chances, but now I’ve learned that there are far more ignorant people who dabble in outdoor recreation than ever before. Just because some guy has the latest fancy shack and sonar gear, a $500 float suit, etc. it does not mean they have a ton of experience. People are pouring money and free time into ice fishing like never before with everything going on in the rest of the world. Hopefully they find a way to gain more experience safely or have some experienced anglers there to help if danger arises.

gimruis wrote:

So I guess this ice thickness safety guideline is a moot point then huh

while this is a good yardstick to go by…….this guy…add 4-5 inches to it before i go out!!!!!!!!

and like bucky said some just dont get it!!!!!!!

buckybadger wrote:

The law of numbers and averages says that as the number of people <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>ice fishing skyrockets, so will the number of people pushing the limits without clearly knowing what they are doing. Let’s hope and pray for no more disasters.

This is what I have been thinking this year also. I was reminded this weekend on my local lake of this. I walked out with my daughters and wife, my first time taking my whole family out ice fishing. There were trucks out there and while I walked out there I was thinking “Man, why didn’t we drive out?” Then I popped a few holes to find 7-8 inches of ice.

A good reminder that because others are doing it, doesn’t make it the right thing to do. Especially this year when there are so many new ice anglers out there.

What a disaster – hope the family finds peace at some point. I wish there would be some formal investigations of these incidents stockpiled and readily accessible to get an idea of what really happened for the broader learning and improving ice safety. Also, I would probably give a large sum of money for some technology that can reliably and in real time give ice thickness readings 10 to 20 feet in front of you. Maybe farther out if you are driving a vehicle. I would love to see that for ice and a similar technology but longer scanning distance for water depth in front of a moving boat.

Seems like the collective outdoor community shrugs their shoulders every year when catastrophe strikes and nothing really ever changes.

mahtofire14 wrote:

A good reminder that because others are doing it, doesn’t make it the right thing to do. Especially this year when there are so many new ice anglers out there.

I’ll jump on this bandwagon. It will be better next week. I saw someone else do it. We are always driving this time of year. Etc. Doesn’t mean the ice is cooperating or consistent.

Thankfully we’re not melting like SD but seeing very nominal ice growth. We seeing an inch or less build each week. Check first and take only what nature allows. May be February before we can really have trucks out.