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Local officials warn anglers, snowmobilers to stay off ice

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Reggie James sets a tipup on the ice at Lake Koshkonong near Royce Dallman Park while his son Kellen, center, dog Conner and Jeff Letcher look on. They said the ice was about 8 inches thick, enough to support Letcher's trailer in the background.

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Bill Hartwich checks a tipup as he and friends Duane Suckow, left, and Juan Munoz fished on Storrs Lake. They said the ice was about 5 inches thick, and a shanty that had recently fallen through the ice can be seen behind them.

It’s like skin on a pudding.

It looks stable, but if you cover it with whipped cream, you have no way to know how thick it is.

That visual aide is courtesy of Sgt. Erik Voss with the Town of Delavan Police Department.

Voss hasn’t been out on Lake Delavan yet, and he thinks people who want to ice fish or snowmobile should wait, too.

“Personally, I would not go on the ice unless we had a two-week stretch of very cold weather,” Voss said. “We have not had anybody go through, yet. But invariably, we do.”

A man died Tuesday after he fell through the ice on Madison’s Lake Monona. The 63-year-old man was ice sailing.

The Dane County coroner said the man died of natural causes and not from being in the water for an extended period of time, The Capital Times reports.

Mild weather and lots of snow have prevented “useable” ice from forming on many lakes, said Dep. Tom Kunkel with the Rock County Sheriff’s Office.

It seems counter-intuitive, but the thick blanket of snow works like a blanket, said Kunkel, who is a member of the sheriff’s office’s recreational safety team.

“My recommendation is to stay off local lakes until we get some decent freezing weather,” Kunkel said.

From his office on Geneva Street in Williams Bay, Cmdr. Tom Hausner was looking at open water on Geneva Lake.

“You could take a boat out today without a problem,” Hausner said.

It takes a long stretch of cold weather for spring-fed Geneva Lake to freeze, said Hausner, who works for the Geneva Lake Law Enforcement Agency. Strong winds create waves that also inhibit ice formation, he said.

Still, the lake is popular all year long, Hausner said.

“Williams Bay is the ice boating capital of the world. It’s a heavily used body of water,” Hausner said. “Users have got to ensure the ice is safe and capable of supporting them.”

Hausner said he never likes to use the term “safe” to describe ice. He prefers “useable” and said it would take weeks of sub-freezing temperatures to make Geneva Lake “useable.”

Like Voss and Kunkel, he asked winter recreationists to use their heads and stay off the ice.

“Remind people that lakes are unpredictable,” Hausner said. “Erring on the side of caution is always recommended.”

ICE SAFETY TIPS

--Contact local sport shops to ask about ice conditions on the lake or river you want to fish or cross.

--Go out with others and let someone know where you are going and when you will return.

--Wear proper clothing and equipment, including a float coat to help you stay afloat and to help slow body heat loss. Take extra gloves and socks so you always have a dry pair.

--Wear creepers attached to boots to prevent slipping on clear ice.

--Carry a spud bar to check the ice while walking to new areas.

--Carry a couple of spikes and a length of light rope to help pull yourself or others out of the ice if you or others fall in.

--Do not travel in unfamiliar areas or at night.

--Know if the lake has inlets, outlets or narrows that have current that can thin the ice.

--Look for clear ice, which generally is stronger than ice with air bubbles in it or with snow on it.

--Watch out for pressure ridges or ice heaves, which can be dangerous because of thin ice and open water and could be an obstruction you might hit with a car, truck or snowmobile.

Source: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources