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Ice Fishermen Stranded on Lake Erie

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Sheriff: 1 dead, 134 rescued from Lake Erie

OAK HARBOR, Ohio - A miles-wide ice floe broke away Saturday from Lake Erie's shoreline, trapping more than 130 fishermen offshore, some for as long as four hours. One man fell into the water and later died of an apparent heart attack.

A Coast Guard spokesman, Chief Petty Officer Robert Lanier, said 134 people had been plucked from the ice by late afternoon. Rescuers in helicopters lowered baskets onto the ice, and people climbed in and were lifted to safety. Others boarded air boats that glided across the ice.

"We were in no danger," said Norb Pilaczynski of Swanton, Ohio, who was rescued from the lake along with several of his friends. "We knew there was enough ice out there."

The day began with fishermen setting down wooden pallets to create a bridge over a crack in the ice so they could roam farther out on the lake. But the planks fell into the water when the ice shifted, stranding the fishermen about 1,000 yards offshore.

"We get people out here who don't know how to read the ice," Ottawa County Sheriff Bob Bratton said. "What happened here today was just idiotic. I don't know how else to put it."

Leslie Love, 65, of New Albany, Ohio, died of an apparent heart attack after his snowmobile broke through the ice while he was searching for a safe place to cross back to shore, according to the Ottawa County sheriff's office.

Love collapsed after he was helped back onto solid ice, the sheriff's office said. A relative performed CPR until a helicopter transported Love to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Ice on western sections of Lake Erie was up to 2 feet thick Saturday, National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Randel said. The ice cracked as temperatures rose and winds of up to 35 mph pushed on the ice.

"The crack blew up," said Chuck Hasty of Holland, Ohio, who has been out on the ice all week. "It was a matter of a minute or so."

When fishermen realized late Saturday morning that the ice had broken away, they began to debate the best way off. Some chose to sit and wait for authorities, while others headed east in search of an ice bridge.

"I don't know how many snowmobiles and four-wheelers took off like a gold rush to the east," Hasty said.

Fishermen closer to the ice break used their cell phones to warn those farther from shore.

For entertainment while they waited, one angler dropped a recently hooked walleye - the target catch of the season - back into the water as a group gathered to watch it swim, said fisherman David Hudzinski of Muskego, Wis.

Others managed to get to land on their own by riding their all-terrain vehicles about five miles east to where ice hadn't broken away.

A second fisherman went into the frigid water when he tried to drive his ATV over a small crack in the ice, Lanier said. A rescue boat pulled him out within a few minutes, and he was brought to shore and wrapped in blankets. The man was not treated at a hospital and went home, Lanier said.

Those rescued had to leave behind most of their equipment, including coolers, snowmobiles and ATVs. Hasty, who was rescued by an air boat, said he was allowed to haul a five-gallon bucket filled with his electronic equipment.

When the rescued fishermen made it to shore, authorities had them line up single-file to take down their names, Hasty said.

"So if we got caught on the ice again, they would charge us a fine for being out there under those conditions," he explained.

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jimotis4heisman;1403162; said:
thats about as smart as drilling a hole in 315 (or just using one of the moon craters that litter it) and setting up shop on the freeway to go fising...

this is coming from a guy who routinely drives pickups on ice and this winter put a bulldozer on the ice to clear it off to play shinny.... (not in ohio)
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:lol: I never claimed it was smart.
 
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BUCKYLE said:
:lol: I never claimed it was smart.
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thats what they said when i put a d4 on the ice this winter! granted one of my buddies plowed himself in. :rofl: i mean seriously you have a truck with a snow plow and 3 feet of snow, he pushed it all up and then was sitting there like, oh shiz ive got 8 ft banks all the way around me... so i got a d4 and got in there expanded it a tad then stepped on the decclerator, next thing you know you hear all this shouting... everyone thought i went for a swim. i let off it and pushed back and area for the truck to get out.
 
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The Columbus Dispatch : Lake Erie ice rescue leads to idea of warning system
Authorities who plucked 130 stranded ice fishermen off Lake Erie last month are looking into whether they can set up a warning system that would alert anglers when the ice isn't safe.
Right now, no such advisories are in place.
State Rep. Dennis Murray, D-Sandusky, says someone has to be in charge of saying when it's safe to be out on the ice. He says he might propose legislation that would create such a system.

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jimotis4heisman;1431507; said:
The Columbus Dispatch : Lake Erie ice rescue leads to idea of warning system
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I've got your warning system. If you're dumb enough to need rescued, then you have to pay for the rescue operation. These fuckers said that they knew it wasn't safe, and they jumped the crack in the ice anyway. No warning system would have kept these fucksticks from doing what they did. Just make them pay for the full cost of the rescue (monetarily or otherwise) and move on.
 
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jimotis4heisman;1431614; said:
or 35mph winds. warm air temps and/or high wind dont mix. and ill say no matter what ice is never "safe" full precaution should always be taken, even if youve had subzero temps for a week straight.
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bingo, just like the ocean ice is never safe. best it gets is less dangerous.
 
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IronBuckI;1431620; said:
I've got your warning system. If you're dumb enough to need rescued, then you have to pay for the rescue operation. These [censored]ers said that they knew it wasn't safe, and they jumped the crack in the ice anyway. No warning system would have kept these [censored]sticks from doing what they did. Just make them pay for the full cost of the rescue (monetarily or otherwise) and move on.
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do we really want to go down this path? a charge for needing any "rescue" operation. i mean car accident surcharge or emt surcharge, etc. im not saying i disagree but im not sure thats how we want to make these things. call the cops, well then you need to fork over $50 to cover it before they help you?

granted maybe theirs some misdemeanor you slap on these fools, i really dont know.

martinss01;1432012; said:
bingo, just like the ocean ice is never safe. best it gets is less dangerous.
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pond ice is never "safe" either. ice isnt "safe" sorry folks.
 
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