MN/ND Fishing Exploits- 100 Already Rescued Off Rogue Ice Floe

Already one hundred people were set adrift as ice fishing gets underway.

The Associated Press just broke a pretty frightening story about the perils of being out on the ice especially this early in the season. It all took place Monday in Minnesota...

Officials in northern Minnesota said roughly 200 people were rescued Monday after they became trapped when an ice chunk broke free on Upper Red Lake.

The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office said on its Facebook page that it got a 911 call about midday Monday from people who were ice fishing who reported that a large chunk of ice broke free from the shoreline, stranding about 100 people. The sheriff’s office said first responders arrived to find about 30 yards of open water between the anglers and the shore.

The area of ice that became separated was so large, emergency cellular messages were broadcast to all phones in the area, providing them a GPS location leading them to where a safe temporary crossing point back to land had been established.

A strange phenomenon since the edges of the water are usually the quickest to freeze. No doubt, some other naturally occurring events led to the separation of the ice from the shore. The Dakotan shares these tips as to when to safely venture out on the ice.

The following minimums are recommended for travel on clear-blue lake ice formed under ideal conditions. However, early in winter it’s a good idea to double these figures to be safe: 4 inches for a group walking single file; 6 inches for a snowmobile or all-terrain vehicle; 8-12 inches for an automobile; and 12-15 inches for a pickup/truck.

I've experienced plenty of ice fishing. But many of you reading can't really ever imagine yourself driving on a lake. Like out in the middle of a lake. There are a lot of people who love it and live it. Ice fishing is a passion for many folks in both North Dakota and Minnesota.

Just make sure the timing is right to be out on the ice.

That all being said let's take a look at a couple of our neighbors who were practicing poor timing. First in getting their boat out of the water and finally procrastinating before pulling their icehouse off the lake.

It's all a question of timing.

This video posted on Instagram by @thequalifiedcaptain shows a boat owner taking their sweet time getting their boat off the water. Leaving them instead to bust through the ice on their way out. Some people say boat stands for Bring Out Another Thousand. This guy's out to prove them right. OUCH!

While we're having fun...and everyone is still safe.

Check out this story from 2021 near Kulm, North Dakota

What a great story! What a great rescue!

What a bummer for them guys with their trucks and their ice-fishing house. What a fantastic series of photographs posted on the Tri-State Diving Facebook page. Come back and click after reading more below.

Great time for this CAUTIONARY tale from Kulm North Dakota circa 2021.

I had just seen a great story on "Dirty Jobs" where Mike Rowe watched other people pull a truck out of the ice in Minnesota. Here's a Brainard YouTube video on how you do it...

Yup, that's how you do it. But what if the ice is already melted? Well, it was then Detroit Lakes' Tri-States Diving, arrived nearby Kulm, North Dakota to retrieve not one, but two trucks sunk in the muck after getting caught on crunchy ice trying to exit the lake after another great ice fishing season.

Clearly, they must have been trying to leave, the house was hooked up to a truck.

It seems as reported, they were all down in about seven to ten feet of water, which is pretty shallow if you were still out fishing.

Tri-States Diving Facebook

So that's like a whole different truck yes?

The dive team was notified on March 6th (2021) about the needed recovery mission...the ND Game and Fish website has March 15th as the official get-it-off-the-lake date. So the fishing folks were ahead of the deadline but somewhat behind 2021's 60-degree temperatures.