Ice fishing underway in Battlefords-Meadow Lake areas

“Green Lake is not the lake to drive on to begin with,” he said. “There is always five inches [of ice] in some places and 14 inches in some [other] places. There are people out on the ice, but you watch where the people are; you don’t go off on a tangent. Don’t go over by the river or down by the springs. On the west side, they are driving. A lot of people were walking on it until this last week. Now I think they are driving on it.”

With the milder weather so far this winter, Baldinus believes there are actually more people going out ice fishing since it’s more comfortable for the outdoor sport.

“I think the ice fishing has taken off, especially during Christmas and New Year’s. This is our busy time usually where people are out because the kids are bored,” he added.

North Battleford Fire Chief Lindsay Holm offers some safety tips for people planning ice fishing outings.

“If you are going to venture out on the ice, just make sure you’re checking the depth of the ice prior to going out because ice thickness can vary, depending on the body of water and whether it’s moving or not.”

Holm noted the river ice will be a lot thinner than the ice on the lakes because the water in the river is moving.

“It’s a good idea to check ice thickness prior to either walking on it or taking a vehicle on it, because it can have a dramatic effect on what happens if you do venture out on ice,” he added.

When measuring ice depth, for walking on ice there should be at least four inches (10 cm) of ice; for a snowmobile there needs to be at least eight inches (20 cm) of ice; for taking a vehicle like a small car out on the ice there should be 12 inches (30 cm) of ice; and for a larger truck there should be about 15 inches (38 cm).

“If people adhere to those guidelines, they should be fairly safe, as long as they check the ice thickness prior to venturing out on it,” Holm said.

He noted with the lack of snow this winter “the ice is freezing fairly decently.”

But Holm said with the milder temperatures and changes in weather, it can result in varying pressure changes in the lakes.

“You can get pressure heaves, and also with the milder temperatures in moving water in particular you could have some varying degrees of ice thickness,” Holm said. “It may not be up to that four inches [of thickness] to walk on, especially around the river.”

People planning to ice fish can measure the ice thickness at a location by drilling a test hole with their ice auger first.

“You can either put a measuring tape down or a stick down to make sure you do have four inches present prior to walking [on the ice], and do the same [appropriate depth test] with a vehicle,” Holm said.

He also recommends if people are driving onto the ice that they keep a window rolled down in their vehicle to make sure that if it does break through the ice, they are able to get out of the vehicle quickly.

Holm added sometimes ice looks thicker than it is, so measuring the depth is the safest way to make sure it can support them – whether they are on foot or using a vehicle.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @meadowlakenow

by Angela Brown

Ice fishing underway in Battlefords-Meadow Lake areas

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