Ice safety gains importance as temps fluctuate

The forecast for this week shows temperatures will barely get past the freezing mark. However, there are still plenty of risks for anyone ice fishing or anyone else who plans to venture out onto iced Iowa ponds or lakes.

Joe Larscheid, the chief of fisheries for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said the spring is a time when frequent freezing and thawing makes it tough to tell exactly how strong ice is in any one spot.

“We hesitate to ever truly call any ice completely safe,” Larscheid said last week. “But we generally say 4-inch thick ice is safe. If the weather is warming and cooling, water percolates and gets toward the top of the ices, so it has to be examined carefully.”

Larscheid said spells of cold, if those spells are dry, can help ice remain solid. However, heavy, wet snow or cold rain tends to sit on top of ice, pressuring it with weight and weakening the ice. He said central Iowa had 0.75 inches of rain in an early January weather event before switching to snow, in addition to near-record warmth during one week of January.

If this pattern is repeated in late February or in March, lake ice could be under stress again.

“We had a record amount of rain for January, and 10 inches of heavy wet snow,” Larscheid said. “That’s a lot of stressors for the remaining ice.”

Larscheid said thick, heavy snow acts as insulation during cold spells, preventing the cold from growing ice thickness as quickly as it would if there was no snow.

Also, wet snow can hide potentially hazardous areas, so he recommends safety techniques, such as cutting test holes or using a “spud bar.”

Anglers can remain safe by avoiding any areas that appear darker or off-colored, as those can potentially be weak spots or water on the ice. Iowa DNR regulations state ice fishing shelters may be placed on or over state-owned land or waters, but the cutoff date each year for removal of those structures was Feb. 20.

A Feb. 10 post on the DNR website states “Ice-shelter owners are encouraged not to wait until the last minute to get their shelter off the ice. If a shelter falls through the ice, the owner is responsible for getting it out of the lake.”

Larscheid said it might be cold enough in March for some anglers to venture out, but monitoring weather and ice conditions are critical.

“As March approaches, it’s important to stay on your toes,” Larscheid said.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com