01-05-2010, 05:35 PM
Here are some of the safety tips I post on other web sites I own or manage:
1.Bring your own 2x12x10' for an ice bridge in lakes with changing water levels. Do not use someone else's bridge.
2.Safety Ice picks on a spring cord should be around your neck.
3.A CO2 Flotation Device if fishing alone.
4.A heavy metal "Spud" bar on with a long rope to pick the ice in front of you each time you take a couple of steps. The ice can form pockets of different thickness.
5.A 100 ft. rope made of material that doesn't have memory.
6.A change of clothes and boots.
7.Extra pairs of gloves.
8.A cell or satellite phone.
9.4" of clear ice or 7" of white ice minimum.
10.Never go on the ice alone.
Getting Out if you Fall through the Ice!
11.If you fall through don't panic. Wait 30 seconds or until your breathing returns to exit the ice.
12.Place your arms up on the ice edge as far as you can reach.
13.Do not try to lift your leg up on to the ice.
14.With your fore arms, pull your body up and begin to kick your legs into a swimming position.
15.Swim out of the water.
16.Do not stand up when you exit the water. Belly crawl away from the hole.
17.In an attempt to rescue someone do not walk to the entrance hole edge.
18.If someone falls in make a emergency call before attempting rescue.
19.If you fall in alone and cannot get out, clear any snow away from the ice your arms are on. You need to attempt to freeze the arms of your jacket to the ice. You can be successfully rescued up to 8 hours later this way.
20.Most of all do not panic. Hypothermia can be reduced and you will be fine even in the event of rescues that take an hour or more.
Notes: Do not drill your holes in a haphazard fashion. It should not look like Swiss cheese where you are fishing. Drill your holes 3' apart in a wide arch away from the center. This allows for a wider span to catch schools of moving fish and you are not walking between 3 drilled holes in the ice. It also allows everyone to see every pole at the same time.
Do not stand in groups of three. If you are fishing with one other person on 4" ice, maintain a distance of 5 feet away.
Carry your rods in an empty 5 Gallon bucket with a handle. If someone falls in tie this bucket to the rope and use it as a weight to throw the rescue line to the victim.
Never cut a hole with a circumference larger than 10”. A child could fall through it.
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1.Bring your own 2x12x10' for an ice bridge in lakes with changing water levels. Do not use someone else's bridge.
2.Safety Ice picks on a spring cord should be around your neck.
3.A CO2 Flotation Device if fishing alone.
4.A heavy metal "Spud" bar on with a long rope to pick the ice in front of you each time you take a couple of steps. The ice can form pockets of different thickness.
5.A 100 ft. rope made of material that doesn't have memory.
6.A change of clothes and boots.
7.Extra pairs of gloves.
8.A cell or satellite phone.
9.4" of clear ice or 7" of white ice minimum.
10.Never go on the ice alone.
Getting Out if you Fall through the Ice!
11.If you fall through don't panic. Wait 30 seconds or until your breathing returns to exit the ice.
12.Place your arms up on the ice edge as far as you can reach.
13.Do not try to lift your leg up on to the ice.
14.With your fore arms, pull your body up and begin to kick your legs into a swimming position.
15.Swim out of the water.
16.Do not stand up when you exit the water. Belly crawl away from the hole.
17.In an attempt to rescue someone do not walk to the entrance hole edge.
18.If someone falls in make a emergency call before attempting rescue.
19.If you fall in alone and cannot get out, clear any snow away from the ice your arms are on. You need to attempt to freeze the arms of your jacket to the ice. You can be successfully rescued up to 8 hours later this way.
20.Most of all do not panic. Hypothermia can be reduced and you will be fine even in the event of rescues that take an hour or more.
Notes: Do not drill your holes in a haphazard fashion. It should not look like Swiss cheese where you are fishing. Drill your holes 3' apart in a wide arch away from the center. This allows for a wider span to catch schools of moving fish and you are not walking between 3 drilled holes in the ice. It also allows everyone to see every pole at the same time.
Do not stand in groups of three. If you are fishing with one other person on 4" ice, maintain a distance of 5 feet away.
Carry your rods in an empty 5 Gallon bucket with a handle. If someone falls in tie this bucket to the rope and use it as a weight to throw the rescue line to the victim.
Never cut a hole with a circumference larger than 10”. A child could fall through it.
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