200 fishermen are trapped on Lake Erie Ice

[mako003]

                             I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR THE 1ST 911 CALL ABOUT THIS
                           AND DID THE DISPATCHER PUT MORE INTO IT THEN NEED BE


                           REALLY A C130 FROM NC ? AND THE COP THAT WAS TALK TO THE NEWS WAS HE THE PUBLIC SPOKES PERSON
    FOR THE INCENTDENT COMMAND CENTER ?

   IM SORRY FOR THE PERSON THAT PAST AWAY

[TeamTwoSticks]

Do you guys leave your equipment out there, and hope for the ice moves back. Or you just leave it.

when the coast guard rescues you, you are not allowed to take anything off of the ice with you.  therefore once you leave the ice and your equipment is still on the ice it becomes abandoned and treated just like a ship wreck.  anyone can come and lay a claim on it.

[Bailbuster]

Very unfortunate this has happened ,hate to see anyone lost .The  media has ice fishing people deemed as idiots ,And as far as the sheriff goes someone should abandoned him in the crack,It will cost the county more $$ in law suits if he starts arrestting people for fishing ,what an a$$ wipe!!BB

[duckman111]

just curious if there was a way to get off by ice why didnt search and rescue just use snow machines and get everyone off that way? its amazing how news media can distort something they dont know crap about.  my condolances to the family of the outdoorsman who lost his life.

[taxi1]

I agree The Sheriff the Fire Department and Coast Guard all Volunteered to do that job. Then they b***h when they got to do it. What I fear is in a time when Government is taking controll of everything,They will end up making it a crime to go Ice Fishing.
                                          Boyd

Actually there are waters where ice fishing is prohibited out east and also waters where the people that tell you when and if you can get on don't have a clue about what ice is safe and what is not. Typically they are overcautious and make people get off of perfectly safe ice.

Ask some of the guys on the Mass board about Quabbin reservoir or Wachusett. Incredible fishing in both but no ice fishing allowed whatsoever. At least with Quabbin you are allowed to fish in a boat in open water. At Wachusett you aren't even allowed to launch a boat.

Many towns out there take it a step farther by prohibiting fishing even in open water on town water supply reservoirs. Personally I think that is going too far. There are some beautiful little reservoirs out that that never see any fishing.  Either that if they do it's someone sneaking in.

My favorite little lake out there has been taken over by a government agency and although I commend them for trying to protect the lake, I can't even take my dog to that lake anymore. That really bums me out as my dogs I've had really enjoy being in the boat with me and I enjoy their company.

This is something we have to be vigilant about as populations get denser and our government sees a need to control more. Here in rural Indiana the government pretty much stays out of our business. That's one thing I like about this state.

[cnypanfisher]

Really tough that the guy passed when he fell through, our prayers are here in NY members hearts as well.

As for that sherriff, he is just an a@@h&&&, well there you have it.

I was also wondering, if the ice breaks free and you wind up in Canadian waters, will you get a ticket there for not having a Canada license, they are pretty tough here in the Thousand Islands region if you go off course a bit.

cnypanfisher

[taxi1]

Really tough that the guy passed when he fell through, our prayers are here in NY members hearts as well.

As for that sherriff, he is just an a@@h&&&, well there you have it.

I was also wondering, if the ice breaks free and you wind up in Canadian waters, will you get a ticket there for not having a Canada license, they are pretty tough here in the Thousand Islands region if you go off course a bit.

cnypanfisher

I don't know. I think I'd bring my passport though. 

I can just see it. "Honest man I floated over here on some ice and jumped to shore!" "Sure you did bud!" 

[NorthSouthOhioFisherman]

There was a coast gurad ice breaker that went threw the ice from the maumee area to point pellee last week about 7mi. out. This broke the ice up giving it room to move. We've gone out many times this year in a south wind so no one thought any thing of it because most didn't even know it went through.

The warm weather, water on the ice, board bridges, and cracks had nothing to do with why this happened. It was the wind and the ice having a place to move. Every year we fish the same thing happens, it's unavoidable, it's your love to fish and the adventure it is to go out there. The whole reason I fish is for the danger that gives you the "living on the edge feeling" Call me crazy but thats what makes it fun!

Hell the only guys that were rescued were mainly walkers or guys that were afraid to follow the pack who got across. If everyone out there would have gotten rides from these guys or walked the 10mi. (I know that a bit far but still) to get across we wouldn't be looking at it as we are today.

If you don't feel safe on the ice, esp Erie ice-IMO a 340 snowmobile is the best way to go(Affordably). It has less pounds per square inch than any person walking and can jump a 30ft. crack. Ice is crazy, life is crazy, fishing is fun The wind blew that crack open and the cracks are also move around starve island. Be careful anywhere you go-CHECK THE WEATHER!

It wasn't as bad as it sounds, the media makes a big deal of everything and we all know that. I'm still a bit ticked though on how the sheriff handled himself. He obviously doesn't know anything about ice fishing works here or anywhere else in this country and really hurt it for us ice fisherman on the media!

The ice is still thick the wind will soon be out of the north again and honestly I'd say once it cools down again we'll be back at it before long. Now that some have learned there lessons though I think they'll be a bit more careful Just be safe out there and learn from experience-
Good Luck-Good Fishing
Jonny


Talk about front page news!












Fox News is the only one that has given a true story all day!!!!!!!! Watch them!!!!!!!!!

[marcus]

let me know when it locks back up got to get me into some of those hog eyes' this was my one big planned trip of the year I hope it hasnt been shot down

[taxi1]

Seadog,

Good points but...

You forgot to mention the media attributed this all to warmer temps and possibly the strong south wind. No mention was made of icebreakers having anything do with it.

[quivr]

I fished this ice & this crack for 10 days the plywood worked great some days the crack was 2 feet or alittle more but we allways checked the wind before going out a lot of my buddys & me did not go out because of the wind 35 mile gusts we new it would open big time.   &  The man that died fell in 3-0 of water they drove around the crack to get off the ice he  had a heart condition the snow machine got stuck they just got done pushing it out . I think alot of these men were out of towners & did not know Lake Erie.Always check the wind on Erie what a Great Nasty lake.

[NFDWALLY]

As an ice fisherman and a full time fire fighter I understand both sides of this discusion.  BUT life safety always out ways recreation.  In the eyes of the rescuers they are putting there lives on the line for someone who is trying to catch a fish.  Doesn't make much sense.  As far as good judgement goes, putting a plank down to cross a crack is not using good common sense and If those are the poor decisions fishermen are going to make then the government ie. ODNR/Coast Guard/Fire Depts./Sherriff Depts. will have to make the decisions for the peoples best interests.  We all have rights to fish and live anyway we choose right up to the point that lives are put in jeopardy, then laws and rules are made.  Like many have said this happens every year.  Government agencies are not going to continue to spend tens of thousands of dollars every year without some changes being made.  As fishermen we have to use common sense, and make good decisions if we want to continue to exercise our rights and freedoms to fish on lake Erie.  We, the fishermen, are the ones responsible for this incident not the rescuers.     

[kidd2]

come on! you walk out on a pier/board, get on a boat/ floating slab of ice, you drift out to open water, you're boat dies, you're stranded, you need rescued... people just need to remember to be careful, and accidents do happen!

[taxi1]

 "IT DID GET EVERYONE TO STOP AND THINK ABOUT ICE SAFETY"! That's the Very Positive thing that

SeaDog1

Until next year. 

BTW we as sportsman are well aware of how important shipping is to the economy and the pockets of our politicians. If it wasn't we would actually see something done about the exotics that keep coming in via ballast water. 

[taxi1]

- Both the US and Canada work very hard to address this problem with new laws and regs. BUT this thread is NOT about that but about ICE SAFETY!!!

SeaDog1

I have serious doubts about that. Two new exotics since VHS hit the news: Blood Shrimp and Asian Tapeworm.

[Farley]

I think that this whole fiasco reminds us to use our heads.  I sometimes see a bunch of people out on the ice and think "Oh cool we finally have safe ice.  " Then head out and 1.5 turns on the hand auger and your through 2.5" and think holy !@#t.  Everybody has to use their own judgement  when it comes to ice safety, not just "look @ all of those people lets go!"  Good luck!

You people in Ohio ain't the only people that have a$$#0!e cops!  THEY'RE EVERYWHERE 

[Gary Piotrowski]

  all this about charging ice fishermen bugs me allot they don't charge when some idiot goes out in a 12 foot boat with 3 to 5 foot waves and needs to be rescued or how about these guys that come from all around the world to fish the spring walleye run and throw an anchor off the back of a boat with only 10 foot of rope tied to it or the guys with 6 guys in a 12 foot boat or all the party boaters out there in the river every weekend i see all my tax dollars downtown you got Toledo police harbor patrol,Ohio dnr,the coast guard ,and lets not forget Lucas county sheriffs dept trying to keep the drunk boaters from killing one another or one more thing that really gets me how much time in that same chopper is spent rescuing pepole trying to get into this great country of ours that all of us tax paying citizens are paying for or all the money we spend on war defending other countries
all I'm saying is someone needed our help and we Did it and thank to all that helped is is why our country is so great
now that i vented a little i will let someone else have the key board
                                                                              Thanks Gary

[Yogi]

It really bugs me too that they are trying to charge ice fisherman on the rescue.  We waste all these tax dollars on stupid crazy things and then try to charge icefisherman needing rescued.  That Sheriff on the news yesterday was an arrogant arse that acted like he had zero common sense!!

[Aquafirma]

The following blog message was written on today's Sandusky Register website:

johnhunter wrote on Feb 8, 2009 10:39 AM:

" The Coast Guard ice breaker Makinaw opened up a 50 - 100 foot path a few miles north of the ice rescue area around 9:05AM, as they crossed the western basin of Lake Erie.
The crack was 18" then, 300 - 500 ice fishermen crossed it without problem, the wind was South, and the rescue occurred shortly after the ice breaker went through.
30 years of ice fishing experience tells me the ice would not have shifted more than a few inches if the ice breaker did not go through, it simply had no place to go. This has happened before. The Coast Guard was asked and agreed to notify the public then. They always do an excellent job of protecting the public on the lake, and I have the highest respect for their service and dedication. This time I think someone forgot.
I was not there yesterday, because crossing that crack with 30 mph South wind was not a good idea. "

Report Abuse

It seems to me after reading this post and talking to a number of different people about this matter, that a life, and a heck of lot of stress, anxiety and money could have been saved if a notification procedure was better coordinated between the Coast Guard, the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department and the media.  Everyone knows that the Western Basin of Lake Erie is one of the greatest places on earth to catch walleye.  The ice fisherman will come as long as there is safe ice (of course this term is relative).  Some will obviously also come when conditions warrant staying at home.  I'll bet $20.00 that 90% of the people on that ice flow had no knowledge of the coast guard activities.  Had they known, I'll bet the overwhelming majority of them would have stayed home or would have ventured off somewhere else.

Ice fisherman spend there hard earned money when they come to fish in Ottawa County.  They fuel up at gas stations.  They eat in restaurants.  They stay in motels and they shop at local bait outlets as well as stores.  Rather than criticize them, how about having the local officials work a little bit harder to advise people of this additional risk (that being ice cutter activities) before it happens?  If the State Park officials would have been advised of the matter (before it happened), they could have posted a sign of some sort or at least told people about it.  I just think that more focus needs to be cast upon better notification rather than criticizm.

[mako003]

      From what I understand this was a park and a  SIGN STATEING

                                        ICE IS CLOSED DUE TO Coast Guard OPERATIONS

  I dont think the the coast guard forgot to many rules they follow they just dont do thing on a whim

 COULD OF AVOIDED THIS MESS
      WELL THEN I DONT BLAME THE COAST GUARD

BLAME FALLS ON PARK SERVICE AND FISH AND GAME                                  got this from a local paper

[Ice Crazy]

Aquafirma! I could not say it better my self 8) 8) 8)

[Raquettedacker]

    I'm gonna hear it for this one but,,,,,


              Why couldn't the ice have been towed or pushed back to shore?

[JamesP]

    Cant believe the Mackinaw was opening up Ice in this area 1000 yards from shore.  He would have hit bottom that close in.

[argoholic]

WoW what a crazy scene all around. Seems like a ton of dumb moves. Firstly my thoughts go out to the family of the poor guy that died doing what so many of us love.

I saw a ton of guys doing crazy things putting cars and trucks at the bottom of Lake Simcoe.

What happens to all the gear and quads? Sure would pay to put the money out for an Argo.
By the way my name refers to the CFL team not the vehicle.

Scary, sad stuff.

[pole_smoker]

This below statement is not true. I have fished out of there many times and there is no signage stating anything of the sort. It is always at your own risk and that is one of the problems. If someone says there is then take a picture b/c I have never seen it. As far as the conditions that day, I thought of heading out of Catawba that day, but stood on the side of caution and did not. It was bad with a southwest wind to 30 and as a post below suggested the crack off Crane Creek was questionable less than two weeks ago and with the Mack coming no one should have gone. That raises the question shouldn't the Ottawa County Sheriff or State Park Rangers post a person with their PA system from their cruiser advising the fishermen of the route of the Mack. Sure you may have to pay some O/T but it is better than paying for the rescue op. The fishermen were wrong, but again that boils down to like the one poster said, going out in a rowboat in 5 foot waves. That equates to no respect for the lake and its raw power. Most of the people were not from the area and dont know or respect the lake like they should. That is my opinion and I have seen it over and over summer and winter. I am from the area and know what goes on. People drive all this way and don't want to waste their effort of getting here and not fishing.
The second issue was the breakdown of communication from the sheriff, yes OCSO has their ice emergency plan clearly listed on the SO website, but that is far as the communication goes. When Sheriff Bratton tries to communicate it is terrible. How can you sit there and say "If stupidity was a crime we could arrest everyone today" after a family has just lost a person that means something to many people , and then continue to scream at the camera on TV. Unprofessional but a great sound bite for the evening news! That is wrong and Sheriff Bratton needs to attend some classes on dealing with how to be a public information officer and how he spreads information during a critical incident. There were several breakdowns here and I believe all are equally responible in the blame for this incident, most importantly I believe everyone should learn from this incident and attempt to prevent a second occurance in the future. Thanks for reading my two cents. PS

A poster below put it best, saying that there

      From what I understand this was a park and a  SIGN STATEING

                                        ICE IS CLOSED DUE TO Coast Guard OPERATIONS

  I dont think the the coast guard forgot to many rules they follow they just dont do thing on a whim

 COULD OF AVOIDED THIS MESS
      WELL THEN I DONT BLAME THE COAST GUARD

BLAME FALLS ON PARK SERVICE AND FISH AND GAME

[mako003]

ok let me ask this the coast guard has choppers why not have them in the air in front of the cutter scouting out the ice  if people are out they could use a load speaker saying the cutter is under way

and I sure folks would leave

I know when we are offshore fishing and the Navy is out of sight and plans on coming thur we ge chased out of the area !

[CMFISH51]

Has anyone heard how the salvage took place the following days?  Was there simply some "certified" airboat salvage company that was "allowed" to go out there and transport the machines and equipment across the crack?  Did the ice shift back to the south or once it moved north did it stay that far off shore?  How about the actual cost of the salvage operations...was anyone involved to find out how much each person was charged?  I read that they can charge up to 20% of the value, but do they? 

[Aquafirma]

The following article appeared in the Port Clinton News Herald this evening:

Coast Guard ice breakers not a factor in ice floe

February 9, 2009

In the wake of Saturday's successful mass rescue of 134 ice fisherman near Oak Harbor, media reports have quoted individuals who have suggested that a Coast Guard icebreaker may have contributed to the ice floe breaking free.


The Coast Guard has reviewed its icebreaker movements and determined that Coast Guard vessel movements were not a factor in the case.

The Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, homeported in Cheboygan, Mich., departed 9 a.m. Saturday from Cleveland Harbor on a scheduled trip up through the Detroit River via Pelee Pass north of Pelee Island, which is more than 26 nautical miles from Saturday's incident. Pelee Passage is the established shipping track. At 11:28 a.m., Coast Guard Sector Detroit diverted the Mackinaw to assist in the mass rescue efforts off Locust Point.
“In cases like this where a larger number of people are in danger, we call in all available units,” said Lt. Dave French, External Affairs Officer for the Ninth Coast Guard District. “That call included one of our icebreakers, whose services may have been necessary to help rescuers access the scene. However, on-scene rescuers were able to the pull the 134 ice fisherman to safety before the icebreaker arrived.”
The Mackinaw arrived at a point north of the northern tip of Kelly's Island where the ice edge began, east of the Barrier Islands at 12:43 p.m. and monitored the rescue operation without entering the ice field. Locust Point was approximately 18 nautical miles to the southwest of the Mackinaw's position. Mackinaw was later released from the case and returned north on their intended track at 1:38 p.m.
The Coast Guard has also determined that there have been no U.S. Coast Guard icebreaking efforts in the western Erie basin since Jan. 24, when the Coast Guard Cutter Neah Bay escorted a commercial vessel from the Maumee River north toward the Detroit River.
“There is no such thing as safe ice,” said French. “There is always some open water on the Great Lakes. When warm weather combines with winds pushing ice in the direction of open water, people should exercise extreme caution if they intend to go out on the ice.”

[pole_smoker]

I am not saying the Mack contributed or not. I am saying guys were on the news saying they should have been advised of the IB in the area, because they felt it contributed to the incident. If they felt that was the case and there was somebody there at Crane Creek advising them of the change in the ice alot of this could have been prevented. I am saying there is a lack of communication all around. I raised the question in another post on ice shanty several days before this happened if this was the end of the good ice, because I thought Friday would be the last good day. Several guys said it would be fine. Many people saw this coming with the Mack or not, it was just many people did not care. A guy from Wisconsin was quoted on AOL news today saying that "I thought the lake was all covered with ice all the way to Canada" when 20 miles away near Kelleys there is open water. People don't know and don't care to be informed before they go. There was no communication at all on all fronts.

[Raybob]

10-4 I agree!

Code: [Select]

Many people saw this coming with the Mack or not, it was just many people did not care.
It did really PO the Ottawa law enforcement didn't it, but I can understand why he lost it ...the main problem was like you said "it was just too many people did not care & let fish over-ride common sense"...