- At Flanagan Lake, Daryl Bauer with Nebraska Game and Parks (NGP) offers ice fishing safety tips.
- Video shows safety strategies to test the ice yourself.
- Join NPG on Jan. 27 at Flanagan Lake for an ice fishing event.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
If you want to get out on the ice this winter, it's important to take some precautions like using a spud bar like this to check the depth of the ice. I'm Jill Lamkins your Northwest Omaha reporter at Flanagan Lake - where I'm learning all things ice safety.
Hear that sound?
That's the sound shifting ice and it's music to Daryl Bauer's ears.
"I always grin when I hear that cause that's good cause we're making ice, the ice is good and solid."
As an avid angler, "My theme of ice fishing is drill baby drill."
And NGP fisheries biologist, Bauer is no stranger to the ice.
And although local lakes have frozen over, he says people venturing onto the ice shouldn't assume anything.
"And surprisingly even as cold as it's been you're going to find variation in ice thickness and there may be some spots yet that are still pretty thin."
That's why proper equipment like a spud bar can come in handy.
"If I punch through in four or five strikes it's probably not thick enough."
This ice measured here at Flanagan turned out to be 10 inches thick. Bauer says ice is safe once thickness reaches four inches
"You might get by with less than four inches, I will admit that but that four inches gives you a little bit of a safety buffer again."
So, if you're unsure of its thickness, it's better to ease on the side of caution.
"There's been days where I wanted to ice fish really bad and you know got on the ice and started checking it and just nope, you gotta walk away from it so... but today, it's on."
And if you're ice fishing like Bauer, he advises to bring some sort of flotation device, rope, ice spikes and even a buddy to help if things go wrong.
If you've never tried ice fishing and want to give it a go, there will be an event here on Jan. 27 from 1-4. More information can be found on Nebraska Game and Parks website under fish.
